Ranking Tom Brady's 5 worst years with Patriots feat. 2002 season
Tom Brady is undeniably the greatest quarterback of all time. From hoisting the most Super Bowl victories to quarterback wins, touchdowns passes, yards, comebacks, you name it, Brady is widely considered as the best quarterback to ever play in the NFL.
Drafted in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft out of Michigan, Brady wasn't supposed to be anything special, but he rose to the ocassion. He took over as New England's starting quarterback during the 2000 season when Drew Bledsoe suffered a season-ending injury. The rest is history.
Brady led the Patriots to nine Super Bowls and had a 6-3 record in the big game, winning four Super Bowl MVPs. He then won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which was his NFL record seventh Super Bowl.
Tom Brady is a three-time MVP, two-time Offensive Player of the Year, six-time All-Pro, and 15-time Pro Bowler in his 23 season NFL career. However, he has had a few lean seasons with the Patriots. Let's have a look:
Tom Brady's five worst seasons as a New England Patriot
Tom Brady retired from the NFL with a 251-82 record in the regular season and a 35-13 postseason record.
As a starting quarterback for 22 seasons in the NFL, he only suffered one losing season, which came in the last season of his career with the Buccaneers, who finished the season 8-9.
Brady never had a terrible or even bad season. Every single year as a full-time starter (excluding his rookie season and 2008 season where he tore his ACL), he led his team to the playoffs. Any quarterback who's that consistently good is deemed to be playing great football.
So, it wasn't easy putting together a Tom Brady's five worst seasons as a New Engand Patriot. Nevertheless, here's the list:
#5 2019 season (Brady's last season with Patriots ends in first-round playoff loss)
Tom Brady's last season with the New England Patriots ended in a first-round playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans.
He had a subpar game, complting 20-of-37 passes for 209 yards and an interception. His interception late in the game resulted in pick-six by cornerback and former teammate, Logan Ryan.
It was Brady's last game as a Patriot in a season where he completed only 60.8 of his passes with a 88 passer rating.
#4 2009 (Brady suffers first-round playoff exit with three interceptions)
Coming back from his season-ending ACL injury in 2008, Tom Brady led the Patriots to the playoffs during the the 2009 season with a 10-6 record.
He had a good statistical season despite throwing 13 interceptions. It was Brady's poor performance against the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the playoffs that fans will remember, though. The Ravens held Brady to 154 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, earning a 33-14 victory.
It was New England's first home playoff loss since 1978.
#3 2000 (Brady plays one game as a rookie)
Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. The Patriots had no plans of playing Brady, as they had starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Brady didn't play much in his rookie season, as he appeared in just one game, completing one pass for six yards on three attempts.
#2 2008 (1-0 record, missed season with ACL tear in opener)
Before the 2008 NFL season, Tom Brady had already cemented himself as a future Hall-of-Famer, securing three Super Bowl wins and leading the Patriots to a perfect 16-0 regular season in 2007.
After the Patriots got their perfect season spoiled by the New York Giants, Brady got and the team endured worse luck the next season. In the Patriots' season opener, Brady was hit by Kansas City Chiefs' safety Bernard Pollard and suffered a torn ACL and MCL.
It forced Brady to miss the entire season and remains the only season he missed significant time due to injury. His stats in the one game played were 7-11 for 76 yards.
#1 2002 (9-7 record, no playoffs)
Tom Brady was so good that he only missed the playoffs two seasons in his career. The 2002 season was the first season Brady was the team's full-time starter after taking over the job in 2001.
In his first season as a full-time starter, Brady led the Patriots to a winning record, as the team finished 9-7 but failed to reach the postseason. Brady led the league in passing touchdowns, 28, but had half as many interceptions, 14, and had one of the lowest passer ratings (85.7) of his career.
It's weird to say that Tom Brady missed a playoff season as a full-time starter, but it happened in 2002.