Tom Brady has a brilliant reaction to Buccaneers' win over the Falcons
Everybody is pleased and excited with Tom Brady's start this season. At least for everybody except Tom Brady himself. Even with a record-breaker performance against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Brady said the following after the game:
"I know I can play better. I could make some better throws."
That is clearly a personal point of view, not shared by his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates, head coach Bruce Arians, or anyone else who watched Brady pass for five touchdowns and lead his team to a 48-25 blowout win against the Falcons.
HC Arians even said that Brady is light years ahead of where the quarterback was this time last season.
Brady mentality
When asked about his favorite ring, Brady always says, "The next one." A quote, almost a mantra, he repeats since his time with the New England Patriots.
Brady adopted this mentality while studying and playing at Michigan. In college, Brady had contact with equipment manager Jon Falk. Falk won 17 Big Ten titles with the Wolverines, Michigan's previous nickname. While Brady and Big John, as Falk is known, lived together in Michigan, the QB learned to stay hungry.
"I'd walk in the locker room, and I'd take my ring finger and roll my Big Ten ring around and go, 'Hey, I've got this many Big Ten championship rings.' And people would always ask me, 'What ring is my best ring?' I always told them my best ring was going to be my next ring."
Falk revealed this in a 2015 interview. He also said that Brady loved this quote, and whenever the QB saw the equipment manager, he would always shout, "What is your best ring?" only to hear the "The next one" answer.
Brady fantastical Sunday
Brady attempted 36 passes, completing 24 for 276 yards and five touchdowns. He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 129.2. It is the first time in the QB's career that he has nine TDs in two weeks. His previous best was seven in the first two weeks of the season.
With Sunday's TDs, Brady collected other records, such as:
- He now has thrown for at least four touchdowns in four consecutive games dating to last season, tying with 1984's Dan Marino for the second-longest streak of its kind in NFL history (Peyton Manning had a streak of five in 2004)
- And his 35 career games with four TDs passes made him tie with Peyton Manning for 2nd all-time (Brees 37).
Can Brady improve?
With 44 years and seven Super Bowl rings, the obvious answer would be no. But when talking about Tom Brady, nothing is ever obvious. Just ask for the numbers. And Gronk.