LONDON - The idea was out there that this would be a chance for Tom Brady’s iconic status to be evaluated on a larger stage.
In the end, the Brits got from Brady just what New England has since the quarterback’s return from reconstructive knee surgery.
Some good. Some bad. And improvement as time wore on during a breezy 35-7 victory yesterday over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Fact is, anyone who’s waiting for Brady to look like the guy from 2007 probably also waits for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
Start by acknowledging that no quarterback ever has put up the kind of numbers Brady did to start that season. Add in the fact that just about every player goes through a reacclimation process coming off that injury, and know that there’s been revolving doors at receiver and running back all year.
Then, you’ll come to the realization that the quarterback never really fell off track in his recovery process. He leaves London with a 308-yard, three-touchdown, two-interception effort that shows that while he’s not all the way there yet, he’s on his way.
“I’m feeling great,’’ Brady said. “I keep rolling. Two wins in a row, and we’ll do some self-scouting, and reflect on what we’ve done, what’s been successful, what hasn’t.
“Certainly, [there are] a lot of good things to take from being 5-2. We played two poor halves of football there against the Jets and Broncos. Those outcomes might’ve been a bit different. That’s why today was exciting. We went out there and put two touchdowns on the board there in the second half.’’
If you want to take the good and the bad from this one, it can be that simple. In the first half, Brady was 11 of 16 for 151 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. In the second half, his numbers looked similar (12 of 16, 157 yards) but he cleaned up the mistakes.
He avoided the interceptions. He suffered his only sack in the first half.
“It was good enough,’’ Brady said of his performance.
The good was the way he piloted two 10-play, second-half drives, the first covering 73 yards, the second going for 89. On 15 of those 20 plays, the Patriots had three receivers on the field - meaning either Sam Aiken, Brandon Tate, or both were out there - and the offense didn’t skip a beat.
The bad was how he tried to feather a throw to Randy Moss in the back of the end zone in the second quarter, a ball that was clearly in peril when he let it go, and Tanard Jackson picked it off. Or how a ball intended for Tate, who took the blame for running the wrong route, was into the area of two defenders, one of whom, Aqib Talib, registered the interception.
