Time has yet to take down New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. In fact, he's actually performed better with age, at least in the playoffs.
The 41-year-old quarterback will appear in his ninth Super Bowl when the Patriots play the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday. Despite all the criticism Brady has received about his perceived decline in ability, he's playing at a level as good or better than we've seen his entire postseason career.
The stat below serves as evidence:
Here's a look at all of his playoff game stats since turning 40 in August of 2017.
--2017 AFC Divisional Round vs. Tennessee Titans: 337 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
--2017 AFC Championship Game vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: 290 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
--Super Bowl LII vs. Philadelphia Eagles: 505 yards (SB record), 3 TD, 0 INT
--2018 AFC Divisional Round vs. Los Angeles Chargers: 343 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
--2018 AFC Championship Game vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 348 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
So, to recap, Brady is averaging 364.6 yards per game with a total of 10 touchdown passes and just two interceptions in five playoff games since turning 40 years old.
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His next challenge comes against a Rams defense that has struggled against the run all season, but does have a formidable pass rush with the likes of Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh up the middle. Protecting Brady is the No. 1 goal for the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII because as we've seen over these last five games, he's very likely to play at an elite level if he has enough time to throw the football. The Patriots offensive line hasn't given up a sack all playoffs, so there's reason to believe this unit is up for the challenge come Sunday.
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