Deflate this! Tom Brady brilliant in NFL return with 3-touchdown, 406-yard gem
Expect anything different?
After serving a four-game suspension that barred him from playing, practicing, training and even talking to his New England Patriots teammates, Tom Brady was back with a vengeance on Sunday, throwing for 406 yards in a 33-13 win over the Cleveland Browns. He sent a resounding message to the NFL that there will be no rust, no transition period and no period of vulnerability. Brady is back. and it's like he was never gone.
In the first 17 minutes of his comeback, Brady led the Patriots to three touchdowns on their first three possessions, going 13-of-15 for 185 yards and two touchdowns (oh, and one of those incompletions was a drop). The next 43 minutes were just as good, and now the Pats are 4-1 with their boss back in the saddle. All is right in New England, after four weeks of things being pretty darn okay anyway.
In the first half alone Brady completed passes to seven different receivers. One of those receivers -- Chris Hogan -- had more than 100 yards at the half. Another (Martellus Bennett) had two touchdowns. Yet another player officially kicked off his injury-affected, Brady-less season (Rob Gronkowski, who had his biggest play of the year on Brady's second throw and then had a bigger 34-yard catch that was right out of the Gronk playbook on his second catch -- nice hands, athletic cutback, deceptive speed and some Earl Campbell rumbling that led to five more yards as the defense converged). The king was back, and his court responded accordingly.
Had there been any doubt Brady's return would be a seamless transfer of power, indistinguishable from any of the other Week 5s he's played in his career, it was immediately shut down. Like, immediately. The Pats kicked off, the Browns went three-and-out and then Brady went to work. The first play: Bing -- three steps back -- bang -- perfect quick-strike to an in-stride Julian Edelman -- boom -- Edleman tiptoes for a first down. Throw No. 2: The first connection with Gronkowski. Four plays later, the Pats were in the red zone after the big gain by Gronk and Brady's first drive was quickly in the books -- 80 yards, eight plays, seven points in 3:13. Textbook. Brady went 4-5 for 65 yards.
After the first quarter he was 10-for-12 for 137 yards and a TD. At halftime it was 18-for-25 for 271 yards and two TDs. Brady crossed the 300-yard mark early in the third quarter with a 37-yard touchdown to Bennett, who, no disrespect to Gronkowski, is currently the best tight end on New England's roster. (Gronk had 109 yards, by the way. Rust?)
Overall, Tom Brady finished 28-of-40 for 406 yards and three touchdowns.
Is there an asterisk because it came against the Browns? No. No way. Brady's worst three games in 2015 (statistically, at least) were against the Eagles, Bill and Dolphins. Inferior opponents don't automatically lead to huge numbers or big games. This is the NFL, and despite recent speculation to the contrary the Cleveland Browns are a professional football team capable of beating other professional teams (not to mention laying a beatdown on Ohio State, but that's a topic for another day).
Let's dispel one more narrative about Brady's big day. The echo chamber that is Twitter was filled with people making the same joke about Brady sticking it to Roger Goodell, the judge, jury and executioner of the Deflategate controversy that dogged Brady for a year-and-a-half. The idea is that the four-game suspension turned Brady into a man possessed, like he's out for vengeance and living a Quentin Tarantino movie. To listen to these theories, Brady spent the last four weeks in Russia, growing a beard, working out with unorthodox equipment that includes lifting Gisele on some sort of wagon, listening to Survivor (the band, not the show) and staring into a mirror that had a picture of Goodell crudely taped to the frame.
That's an insult to Brady. It suggests the only main reason he had for returning was some sort of requital -- to gain his name and reputation back after the NFL essentially called him a cheater and liar for 18 months. Stop. Brady is a pro. He's been doing this since 2001. He's won four Super Bowls and goes 12-4 as easily as the Jaguars get into the top 10 of the draft. He's won with superstars (Randy Moss) and nobodies (much of his running back and receiving corps over the years). Nobody is more consistent in big games or when the pressure is the greatest. Tom Brady doesn't need bulletin board material or inspiration to play well. He just goes out and does it.
All that being said, yeah, that had to be pretty sweet.
