Tom Brady's 1 Take (or More) on Every Wild Card Matchup This Weekend

For Tom Brady, this year's playoffs might be as unpredictable as any he can ever remember. 

The seven-time Super Bowl winner believes that the parity has been "unbelievable" across the league this season, saying on Thursday's "The Herd" that the playoffs will come down to the key details this year more than ever. But now that the postseason has arrived, Brady has some thoughts on who is entering the playoffs hot and what certain teams might need to do in order to win in the wild-card round.

So, let's take a look at one notable take Brady gave about five of the wild-card matchups this weekend as he prepares to call Sunday's 49ers-Eagles game on FOX. 

Tom Brady on 49ers vs Eagles, MVP, Super Bowl or Bust for Bills?

San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One)

The Eagles are as "dangerous" as anyone; 49ers can't face a deficit

Brady seems to think that the Eagles should've played their starters in their regular-season finale loss to the Washington Commanders, saying in the most recent edition of his power rankings that holding the NFC's No. 2 seed wouldn't have been bad for Philly. However, Brady is bullish on the Eagles' outlook entering the postseason. In fact, he said the Eagles are "as dangerous as a playoff team as there is" entering the postseason. 

And if you think that drop in production that Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown and running back Saquon Barkley saw during the regular season are causes for concern, Brady wants you to settle down. 

"When you cover the team, you’re always looking for little chinks in the armor," Brady said. "I think that ends up feeling like a distraction or drama because A.J. Brown’s not getting every target or Saquon Barkley’s not rushing for 2,000 yards again. In some ways, those are anomalies. That season Saquon had last year was an anomaly. He’s a phenomenal player. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer. But no running back rushes for 2,000 yards every year. So, when it’s less than 2,000, we all make a big drama that it’s not 2,000 again. This year was probably a little closer to being down for him for a number of different reasons, but he’s still a phenomenal player. 

"The Eagles, they’ve still got a great football team. If there’s drama in they’re sitting in the position they’re in, I’m sure Coach Sirianni would take the drama every single week."

To add to Brady's point, Brown and Barkley have been more productive as of late than they were in the opening months of the regular season. Brown has 40 receptions for 546 yards and four touchdowns in his last six games, while Barkley's logged 400 rushing yards on 4.9 yards per carry in his last four games.

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If those two can get going early on Sunday, that might be key for an Eagles victory, according to Brady. Brady believes that it's more imperative for the 49ers to get out to a fast start and an early lead because of head coach Kyle Shanahan's offensive system. 

"The 49ers have always been built to run the football, play good defense and use a lot of play-action pass to get explosives," Brady said. "The strength of the team isn’t the wideout position this year. With [Brandon] Aiyuk’s situation, they’ve kind of brought in — Jauan Jennings, I kind of like — I would say the strength of their team is throwing to the halfbacks, tight ends and it’s not what we kind of see in a traditional Kyle Shanahan offense. That doesn’t mean they can’t come back, I do think it’s sort of difficult with these systems that are built on the run game and play-action pass to come back."

To Brady's point, the 49ers have only logged three fourth-quarter comeback victories this season, and they weren't able to do much in the second half of their 13-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18. Shanahan has also struggled to overcome deficits for much of his head coaching career, holding a 12-44 all-time record in games that he's trailed at halftime. 

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"When you’re playing good teams, you’re trying to get those teams to play left-handed," Brady added. "You’re trying to take away their stars. You’re minimizing their strengths and maximizing their weaknesses. There’s always a formula to win, and I think the 49ers, if they’re going to win this week, they better get out to a lead, play from ahead and create some issues for this Eagles’ offense to get them off track, too, because they play so well and they have performed very well in the biggest moments."

Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app): 

Matthew Stafford is the MVP

Brady tripled down on his Stafford is the MVP take after saying the Rams quarterback should win the award on "FOX NFL Sunday" and in his power rankings earlier this week.

"I see Matt Stafford as a Hall of Fame-level quarterback who has played his best season of football," Brady explained. He’s done it in any conditions. He’s thrown 46 touchdown passes. He’s just been incredible. I just love the way he leads his team. There’s no bad choice at this point. You’re talking about some of the best players in the league. But Matt has, in my opinion, really exceeded everyone’s expectations this season. What an incredible quarterback and what a career he’s had."

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Beyond his league-leading touchdown passes (which are 12 more than any other quarterback), arguably the biggest thing going in Stafford's favor to win MVP is the numbers he's put up against elite competition this year. He threw for 1,879 yards, 23 touchdowns and one interception against teams that won at least 10 games this season.

One of the teams Stafford struggled against, though, was the Panthers. Stafford completed 18 of 28 passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the Rams' Week 14 loss to the Panthers. So, Stafford will certainly have to avoid having a similar performance on Saturday. 

Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET)

Who'll be more fundamentally sound?

The Packers and Bears were about as evenly matched as possible between their two games in December. Both teams each won one game by a touchdown, with Green Bay taking the first game at Lambeau Field before Chicago got a dramatic overtime victory at Soldier Field two weeks later. 

For the rubber match, Brady suggests that scheme and talent won't determine the final result.

"They know each other so well, so it really comes down to the fundamentals, possession of the football, knowing your assignments, details," Brady said. "These are really tremendous programs this season, great coaches. We’ll see who’s the most prepared when they take the field."

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The Bears needed some good fortune in their win against the Packers in late December. They were able to recover an onside kick before Caleb Williams threw the game-tying touchdown in the final seconds on a fourth-down play. Packers quarterback Jordan Love also departed that game early with a concussion. Love threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers' win over the Bears earlier this season. 

Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET): 

Bills will feel pressure; what Liam Coen has done to get the most out of Trevor Lawrence

Is Sunday's Bills-Jaguars game a matchup between one team that's dealing with a ton of pressure (Buffalo) and another that's just happy to be there (Jacksonville)? Brady certainly seems to think that the former is true, and it could impact their play on Sunday.

"I think it’s very psychological, very emotional. When they’ve been in these situations, they haven’t played the winning football needed in order to advance," Brady said of the pressure the Bills are dealing with this weekend.

Of course, the Bills are looking to finally get over the hump in the Josh Allen-Sean McDermott era, and they might have their easiest postseason path to reach the Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow all at home. However, Allen and McDermott have gone 0-4 on the road in the postseason. 

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Still, Brady believes that the Bills have the talent to get over the hump. It just might be a matter of having the right mindset. 

"[The Chiefs] are out of it this year, so can Buffalo find it within themselves to play their best football at the biggest moments? Some weeks, they’ve looked great," Brady said. "The passing game looks great. Obviously, their runner’s one of the top backs in the NFL and the way Josh plays at his rhythm, he’s virtually impossible [to stop]. MVP-caliber season last year, and I thought he played very well this season. The good part about the playoffs is it’s not where you play, it’s not who you play, it’s how you play."

On the flip side, the Jaguars have been one of the NFL's top surprises this season as Trevor Lawrence has suddenly emerged as an efficient passer as of late. Lawrence has thrown for 1,600 yards, 16 touchdowns and an interception to go with a 113.2 passer rating and four rushing touchdowns in Jacksonville's last six games. 

While Lawrence has elevated his game, Brady credited Jaguars head coach Liam Coen for the quarterback's emergence. 

"The coach has got to give the players a lot of layups," Brady said. "Good [offensive coordinators] give their quarterbacks layups. You don’t have to thread the needle on every single throw. You’ve got guys that are wide open. There’s a big margin for error on a big portion of the passes. That’s the goal of an offensive coordinator — it’s how do we create through our scheme, in our route concepts or run concepts, to give our players a little bit of an advantage? 

"The reality is, if you don’t give them an advantage — I liken it to a golfer, would you rather hit a 3-iron or 4-iron into a green, or would you rather hit a pitching wedge? Over time, the more pitching wedges you hit when your opponent hits 3-irons or 4-irons, the more of an advantage you have. 

"These guys are hitting sand wedges into greens." 

Los Angeles Chargers vs. New England Patriots (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET)

Credit Josh McDaniels for getting the most out of Drake Maye

Brady might not have Maye as his MVP. However, he still thinks the Patriots' quarterback is having a great year, pointing to his former offensive coordinator as a big reason for his success.

"I love Drake Maye and what he’s done in his second year, working with Josh McDaniels in his second year and he’s done such a great job of understanding what Drake’s capable of and Drake’s taken advantage of every opportunity that he’s gotten," Brady said. "I always think with these awards, when you say one thing that’s positive about someone, that means you’re saying something negative about the other. [Maye and Matthew Stafford] both had incredible years." 

Maye has certainly had a season worthy of winning MVP. While Stafford has Maye beat in passing yards and touchdowns, Maye led the league in completion percentage (72%), passer rating (113.5) and yards per attempt (8.9). He also put up 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdown passes, 450 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to emerge as one of the game's top quarterbacks this year. 

Maye will likely have to play with a similar efficiency to help the Patriots take down the Chargers on Sunday. The Chargers have actually been one of the better teams at stopping the pass this season. The 75 passer rating that the Chargers have allowed to opposing quarterbacks this season is the best mark in football. 

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