Buccaneers QB Tom Brady is closing in on an unbelievable statistical accomplishment
Tom Brady has already set all kinds of NFL records, especially in the postseason. We know this. It's not a big deal for the greatest quarterback of all time.
With the five touchdown passes Brady threw in the Buccaneers' 48-25 win over the Falcons on Sunday, Brady has already extended a record that may never be broken. Including the postseason, per Pro Football Reference, Brady has thrown 154 touchdown passes in his 40s.
No other quarterback in pro football history age 40 and older has thrown anywhere near that many touchdowns – Drew Brees ranks second with 57, then Brett Favre with 41, then Warren Moon with 37, then Vinny Testaverde (!!!) with 24. Which means that Brady is six touchdown passes away from throwing more touchdown passes in his forties than those other four quarterbacks combined.
But that's not the most amazing part of the story. Brady's first NFL season was in 2000, when he was 23, and he became the Patriots' starter in 2001 at age 24. Including the postseason, Brady threw 167 touchdown passes in his twenties.
So, right around the middle of the 2021 season, as long as he stays healthy, Brady is a slam-dunk to throw more touchdown passes in his forties than he did in his twenties. He's 13 touchdowns away from it, and he already has nine touchdown passes on the season.
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The Buccaneers set an NFL record on Sunday with their ninth straight win scoring 30 or more points. The two previous teams that did so with eight straight games? The 2007 and 2010 Patriots, led by Tom Brady.
We know that some of the greatest young quarterbacks of today will choose to play into their forties, and given what we now know about nutrition and conditioning, it's safe to say that some of them will perform very well. But can you imagine, say, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, or Aaron Rodgers throwing more touchdown passes in their forties than they did in their twenties? It truly boggles the mind.