New England Patriots

Tom Brady says Super Bowl LI wasn't best performance ever

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:16 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says Super Bowl LI wasn’t one of his best games ever, despite a 25-point comeback and setting several Super Bowl records in the process.

Brady completed 43 of his 62 passes for 466 yards and two touchdowns, helping to lead New England back from a 25-point third quarter deficit. The passes completed, attempted and yards thrown for in the game all set new Super Bowl marks.

Brady made the comments about the game to MMQB.com's Peter King in his weekly Monday column.

While everyone else seems to think that Brady played one of his best games in his career, the four-time Super Bowl MVP doesn't think so.

“I think it was one of the greatest games I have ever played in, but when I think of an interception return for a touchdown, some other missed opportunities in the first 37, 38 minutes of the game, I don’t really consider playing a good quarter-and-a-half, plus overtime as one of the ‘best games ever’ but it was certainly one of the most thrilling for me, just because so much was on the line and it ended up being an incredible game," he said.

The Patriots ran 93 offensive plays and rolled up 546 yards with 37 first downs against the Atlanta defense.

"There are so many things that played into that game—a high-scoring offense, a top-ranked defense, the long Super Bowl, four-and-a-half-hour game, the way that the game unfolded in the first half versus what happened in the second half … so it was just a great game," Brady said.

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