When star New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was overlooked in this year's Pro Bowl voting, his reaction demonstrated exactly what he is all about.
"There's only one bowl I'm interested in and it's not the Pro Bowl," he said.
After Sunday's win over the New York Jets, Brady is two wins away from getting back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time. He's 3-0 in pro football's biggest game and 11-1 in NFL playoff games, the main reason his team might be the scariest one still standing.
PHOTO: AP
In fact, San Diego, Baltimore and Indianapolis saw what they knew -- and possibly feared they'd see -- in the Patriots' 37-16 win over the Jets: Brady completed 22 of 34 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns as he simply picked apart a team that battered him less than two months ago at the same venue, when New York won 17-14.
That's classic Brady: Resilient and remarkably consistent.
In six seasons as New England's starter, he has thrown for about two touchdowns for every interception. He was right there this season, despite a receiving corps that might have been the worst of any playoff team's with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
That makes the failure to be chosen for the Pro Bowl even more curious, although Pro Bowl selections are usually curious by definition. The other AFC quarterbacks are Peyton Manning, Cincinnati's Carson Palmer and Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, who is in his first season as a starter and slid a bit toward the end of the season.
One simple stat from Sunday's game illustrates how good Brady is: Jabar Gaffney, unemployed until October, had eight catches for 104 yards after having only 11 all season and just a single 100-yard game since 2001.
"Tom has been harping all year that if we get open, he's going to get us the ball," tight end Daniel Graham said. "Today it was Jabar's day."
Receiver Reche Caldwell said: "When we need key plays, he makes them. Even if he had to run, whatever it takes to get us into position to win the ball game, that's what he's going to do when he's out there."
Run? That's what happened in the 17-13 win over Chicago on Nov. 26. With the game tied at 10 in the fourth quarter, Brady took off on a third-and-9 from the Bears 14, getting a first down by dodging fearsome Brian Urlacher, last year's defensive player of the year and an All-Pro this season. Then he threw a 2-yard touchdown pass for the go-ahead score.
Against the Jets on Sunday, it was as much his mastery of the offense as his skills as a passer or runner that won the game.
"As a quarterback you always like it when the defense is off balance," he said. "I think we got into a situation where we were forcing them to get their stuff called and lined up the right way or else they were going to have a hard time stopping us. I think, at times, we really forced the issue on them."
Brady made his remarks modestly, of course, with little hint that few other quarterbacks can get a defense off balance the way he can.
"He's the field general," tight end Benjamin Watson said. "He never sits down when we're off the field and he's always rallying the troops. He's a fiery guy and a great competitor. He was locked in from the beginning. He lets us hear it when we don't do stuff right, but it's constructive and we know he just wants to win."
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