New England Patriots

Tom Brady was uncharacteristically bad on quick throws vs. Broncos

Published Jan. 26, 2016 3:18 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

By now you've probably heard that Tom Brady was beat up pretty badly in Sunday's AFC Championship game. He was hit 20 times, more than any other quarterback this season. The Denver Broncos' duo of Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware was a handful for the Patriots' offensive line to handle all day, and they were unable to keep their quarterback upright.

It's clear the Patriots were trying to get the ball out of Brady's hands quickly as that's helped slow the pass rush in the past, but it clearly didn't work against Denver. It was a result of the Broncos' quickness off the edge, but Brady was also very inaccurate when making quick throws.

Via Ryan Hannable of WEEI:

Three-step drops and quick passes were a staple of the Patriots offense this season, and have been for most of Brady's career. The fact that the Broncos were able to knock him off of his game in such a big way is telling of how great their defense is.

If Brady isn't able to get quick completions to guys like Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, the Patriots are usually unable to get the offense going. Of his 27 completions, just 12 went to receivers, with those being Edelman and Amendola.

Additionally, 31 of his 56 pass attempts took less than two seconds from snap-to-throw, which is a fairly large amount -- even for Brady. That's both a good and bad sign. The Broncos certainly had a hand in forcing Brady to get the ball out of his hands quicker than he would have liked to. All in all, it was a dominant performance by Denver's defense.