Tom Brady’s injured knee appeared to be worse than the Patriots’ star let on Sunday — until it mattered.
Forced to miss two days of practice during the week, Brady fought through the pain to start against the Jets but looked uncharacteristically pedestrian for much of the late afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
But faced with a potentially embarrassing loss to a last-place division rival, Brady reverted to vintage Brady in rallying New England to a 22-17 victory that continued the Jets’ downward spiral.
Taking over at his own 17 with 5:04 left, Brady methodically completed six of his nine passes on a nine-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that ended in a 4-yard throw to Malcolm Mitchell to put the Patriots in front for good.
When Chris Long subsequently stripped Ryan Fitzpatrick to seal the outcome, the large contingent of New England fans serenaded their quarterback with a “Brady! Brady!” chant that echoed throughout the stadium.
“I’m happy the week is over,” Brady said, referring to the heavy speculation about his health. “It was a long week.”
The payoff to that long week was huge — both for Brady and the Patriots. Not only did New England stay tied with the Raiders for the AFC’s best record, but Brady also tied Peyton Manning for the most victories by a quarterback (200) and became just the fifth player to pass for 60,000 yards.
“That says a lot about him and about what he’s been able to do for this franchise,” Belichick said of Brady’s personal victory mark.
The last drive, though, was in sharp contrast to Brady’s performance up to that point.
The surgeon who had carved up opponents since coming back from his Deflategate suspension — winning two AFC Offensive Player of the Week awards and the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Month honor for October in the process — was nowhere to be found through the game’s first 55 minutes.
That player was replaced by a noticeably unsure Brady who repeatedly sailed throws while completing 20-of-34 attempts for 154 yards and one TD through three quarters against a mediocre Jets defense that came in ranked 19th in the league against the pass.
Brady also struggled all game against an opponent he routinely has dismantled in his career. Brady came into the game averaging almost 300 passing yards with 21 TD passes and just four interceptions in his past 11 games against the Jets.
But the knee injury Brady apparently suffered on a hit by the Seahawks’ Kam Chancellor in a Week 10 home loss to the Seahawks seemed to trouble the Canton-bound quarterback as much or more than anything the Jets did.
Until the final drive, that is.
Whether it was a 4-yard completion to running back James White on fourth-and-4 or finding Chris Hogan for a 25-yard completion, Brady repeatedly put daggers in the Jets with the game on the line.
“The quarterback’s job is to win, and he’s won a lot,” Belichick said. “That’s good. I’m glad he’s our quarterback.”