Tom Brady notched another milestone under his belt while leading the New England Patriots in their 27-13 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday, November 25. For the five-time Super Bowl champ, the number of Vince Lombardi Trophies he brings home may be the name of the game – but ensuring that his legacy in stone as the most accomplished passer of all time has got to be just as sweet.
Sports Illustrated reports that the 283 yards Brady threw for during his Week 12 match-up versus the Pats’ AFC East rivals was enough to give him the most total passing yards in NFL history. Coming into the contest, Brady trailed combined regular and postseason leader Peyton Manning’s mark of 79,279. The gains made as a result of his 20 completions on 31 attempts against Gang Green helped Brady just edge Manning out to stand alone atop the field at 79,280 yards. With five games remaining in the season and New England staring down another probable playoff berth, the 13-time Pro Bowl play-caller stands a good chance of becoming the first player to ever throw for 80,000 total yards throughout the course of an NFL career.
The closest active quarterback to Brady when it comes to combined regular and postseason yards would be Drew Brees, who currently has 77,789 in his 18th season. While Brees may lack the playoff opportunities that Brady has had throughout his illustrious Patriots career, the New Orleans Saints great actually holds one over Brady’s head when leaving the postseason out of the equation. As ESPN previously reported, Brees breezed past Manning to become the all-time regular season leader of record following the Saints Week 5 win over the Washington Redskins. In addition to Brees and Manning, Brady also continues to trail Favre on the regular season passing yards list.
RECORD-SETTER: Tom Brady becomes NFL’s career leader in total yards passing in regular-season and playoff games (79,416) in @Patriots ‘ 27-13 win over @nyjets : https://t.co/TjolBdXTs8 pic.twitter.com/VltMGCgeSs
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) November 25, 2018
According to Bleacher Report , Brady now holds records for Division titles (15), Playoff games started (37), Playoff wins (27), Playoff touchdown passes (71), Playoff passing yards (10,226), Super Bowl appearances (8), Super Bowl wins (5), Super Bowl MVP awards (4), Super Bowl touchdown passes (18), and Super Bowl passing yards with 2,576.
As the Washington Post notes in its coverage of Brady’s historic accomplishment, it appeared that he was more focused on the collective effort of his Patriots team than he was of his personal success during Sunday’s post-game presser. “Just wins,” Brady is quoted as having responded when asked where his head was at. “That’s what we’re here for. I’m trying to be a part of as many of these as I can,” he said.
