Wiedmer: Tom Brady looks ready to win sixth Super Bowl title

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady smiles after winning the AFC championship NFL football game 24-20 over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady smiles after winning the AFC championship NFL football game 24-20 over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Let me begin this column by saying there is no way - nada, zip, zilch - any NFL offensive line should be able to give its quarterback the amount of time New England's Tom Brady often had to pick out his receivers against a pass defense as good as Jacksonville's in Sunday's AFC championship game. Not when New England was flagged just once the entire game - and that was on a kickoff.

You can call a hold on almost every offensive snap, but the Patriots have one flag thrown against them all afternoon?

That said, unless Brady somehow has both his left and right hands cut off between now and Super Bowl LII, rather than merely being forced to play with 12 stitches in his right thumb (as he did against the Jaguars), there would seem to be little chance of the Pats failing to win their sixth Super Bowl title with Brady at the controls when they face Philadelphia on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.

You want to know why they call Brady the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time)? Return to Sunday's fourth quarter, the Pats down 10 points and Brady's favorite target - monstrous tight end Rob Gronkowski - knocked out of the game with a concussion.

Even San Francisco 49ers great, the forever cool Joe Montana, might have come unnerved by that challenge.

photo New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates a catch by wide receiver Phillip Dorsett during the second half of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

But not Tommy Touchdown. He simply hooked up twice with glue-fingered Danny Amendola for scores, then watched his defense keep the Jags out of the end zone in order to return their 40-year-old QB to the biggest stage in sports for the eighth time in his career.

Because of that, it might not be hyperbole to call Brady the Eighth Wonder of the World, or at least, as Amendola said of his quarterback while talking to ESPN after the 24-20 win over the Jags, "the toughest guy I've ever met."

Tough as Brady and the Patriots are, they'll face a similarly tough-minded bunch in the Eagles, who absolutely crushed Minnesota in the NFC title game Sunday night.

Though the Vikings won the playoff game of the entire postseason a week earlier when quarterback Case Keenum found Stefon Diggs for a 61-yard score at the close of their divisional round win over New Orleans, there would be no such Minneapolis Miracle to return the them to their home city for the Super Bowl.

In a performance that should make the Patriots no more than a three-point favorite in the big game, the Eagles watched the Vikes take a 7-0 lead, then ran off the next 38 points.

In fact, at least for one Sunday evening, Philly quarterback Nick Foles - who was the Eagles' backup until gifted starter Carson Wentz was lost for the season in early December - looked almost Brady-esque against a defense that befuddled the Atlanta Falcons during the regular season, with Minnesota winning 14-9 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (The Eagles' defense proved problematic for Atlanta in last week's 15-10 divisional round win in Philadelphia.)

But on Sunday night, Foles flummoxed Minnesota throughout, hitting his final 15 passes, including all 11 in the second half.

"Very humbling, very unbelievable," Foles said afterward.

And it was. But good as the Eagles were, vanquishing the Vikings may or may not be proper practice for playing the Patriots and Brady.

And it's not just that Brady is appearing in his eighth Super Bowl since 2001 or attempting to win his sixth. The guy's now 40 and still looks 30. Sunday was his 54th fourth-quarter comeback victory and his 11th fourth-quarter playoff win. He has won three straight playoff games from 10-point fourth-quarter holes.

Beyond that, it's only a mild joke to imagine a 58-year-old Tom Brady quarterbacking against his then-25-year-old son Ben in Super Bowl 70, which might make his TB12 health products line break the stock market.

"It's unbelievable what he does," Patriots running back Rex Burkhead told ESPN afterward. "The injuries he fights through and playing football at 40 years old is unreal. For him to do that and go out there and continue to make plays is unbelievable. It's why he's the greatest."

Burkhead was probably the happiest Patriot of all Sunday, for it was apparently his collision with Brady in practice this past week that caused the cut on the quarterback's right thumb that somewhat threatened to derail this latest Super Bowl run.

Said Brady early Sunday evening: "I thought, 'Of all the plays, my season can't end on a handoff in practice. I didn't come this far to end on a handoff.'"

No, he came this far to rewrite his own Super Bowl records. The Pats stunned a different flock of NFC birds a year ago with a fourth-quarter flourish. Expect a more methodical victory this time against the Eagles. Something along the lines of 27-21, New England on top throughout.

Because if 12 stitches in his right thumb can't stop Brady, nothing can.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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