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December 30, 2007

As Good As It Gets

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- "It doesn't get any better than that," said Tom Brady, flashing that winning smile.

It surely does not get any better than 16 wins in 16 games -- a perfect record in what, so far, has been a perfect season for the Patriots and Brady, their just-about-perfect-in-just-about-every-way quarterback.

"My job," Brady said Saturday night, "is to figure out what's going on out there, and get the ball to the open guy."

Nobody has the game of football figured out better than Brady, who rallied his team from its largest deficit of the season -- 12 points, midway through the third quarter -- to not just a thrilling, but a truly historic, 38-35 victory over the Giants.

He threw 42 times and completed 32 of them, for 356 yards and two touchdowns, without an interception. The two TD passes brought his season total to 50, breaking the NFL record of 49 set by the Colts' Peyton Manning in 2004.

Brady broke the record in dramatic fashion -- with a 65-yard bomb to Randy Moss four minutes into the fourth quarter that gave New England a lead it never relinquished.

"Individual records," he said, "aren't as important as what I experienced tonight. What I'm most proud of is that, playing a playoff team on the road, and down 12 points in the second half, we found a way to come back and win. That showed toughness and character."

Brady has both of those attributes in abundance, along with a highly-accurate right arm, self-confidence that inspires his teammates, and an absolutely brilliant ability to find whatever receiver is open.

Which is what he did on the long, touchdown pass to Moss.

"The play was designed to go to Wes Welker," Moss said. "Tom made a great read.

"My job," said Moss, "was to clear out an area so Wes could get the ball for a first down. But two DBs tried to trap Tommy into throwing that ball."

Seeing Welker double-covered, Brady spotted Moss racing past strong safety James Butler, near the right sideline, and hit him in stride.

Just one play earlier, with an onrushing lineman about to bring him down, Brady had underthrown Moss on another deep route.

"I wish I'd made a better throw on that one," he said, shaking his head.

The next one, however, couldn't have been better.

Like the quarterback himself, it was as good as it gets.

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 12:26 AM | Permalink