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Patriots Aim For No. 18

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By IRA KAUFMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2008

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Move it on over, Teddy, Bobby and Larry.

You've got company.

For New England fans, the holy trinity of Ted Williams, Bobby Orr and Larry Bird has remained sacrosanct for more than a generation.

Now there's another sports legend on the streets of Boston, attaining a mythical status while dodging pass rushers on the paths of glory.

As Tom Brady leads the perfect Patriots into today's AFC Championship Game against the Chargers, there's a palpable sense that we are witnessing the most majestic season an NFL quarterback has put together.

"For those of us who have watched football for a long time, the answer is, absolutely not," said CBS analyst Phil Simms when asked if any pro passer has enjoyed a more accomplished season. "Tom Brady has made it look easier than Peyton Manning made it look a few years ago."

Manning set the NFL's single-season record with a passer rating of 121.1 for Indianapolis in 2004, and Brady's 117.2 figure in 2007 ranks second on the all-time list.

Try telling New England's battered opponents that anyone has had a better year than the unflappable No..12, who can secure a spot in the Feb. 3 Super Bowl by posting the 100th win of his NFL career.

Brady, 30, broke Manning's record by throwing for 50 touchdowns during the regular season, then added three more against Jacksonville last week while completing 26 of 28 pass attempts - setting a league mark for accuracy.

"It's hard to imagine a guy breaking the [touchdown] record or playing better than Tom has, unless he breaks it again next year," Chargers coach Norv Turner said.

San Diego (13-5) has won eight consecutive games, and the Chargers easily led the league with 48 takeaways, the most since the champion 2000 Ravens.

In leading New England to an NFL-record 75 touchdowns, Brady directed an attack that turned the ball over only 15 times, tied for the fifth-lowest total in league annals.

With an 86-24 record as a regular-season starter and a 13-2 mark in the playoffs, Brady enters Gillette Stadium today as a master craftsman at his peak. "He knows the defenses, he knows where guys are going to be," said wide receiver Wes Welker, a precise route runner who set a franchise record with 112 receptions this season. "The guy, in everything he does, it's to perfection and he kind of holds everybody else to that standard by the way he works and prepares."

Three Super Bowl rings have given Brady an aura of invincibility around teammates, opponents and the prying press.

When Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson fly to Mexico during Dallas' playoff bye week, a brief getaway spawns international headlines.

Brady has been dating Victoria's Secret model Gisele Bundchen for more than a year, yet you won't find New England fans crying in their chowder about a potential distraction.

It was Brady who encouraged the Patriots to acquire Randy Moss in the spring, assuring management the controversial receiver wouldn't wreck the team's chemistry.

Four months after Brady restructured his contract, he and Moss proceeded to restructure the playing field, teaming up for a record 23 touchdown passes.

Nobody questions Brady's commitment, because the former sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan knows football comes first.

"I remember sitting 10 rows up from the top of Candlestick Park looking down at Joe Montana and Steve Young and I was this kid with a dream," said Brady, raised in San Mateo, Calif. "The competitive nature of this business is what continues to drive you as an athlete."

With the Patriots on the brink of their fifth conference championship game in seven years under Brady's leadership, New England fans realize they are giddy witnesses to history.

"You can talk all you want about the Patriots organization and Randy Moss and Bill Belichick, but it all comes back to the guy with the ball in his hands," Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "Brady's the guy who makes it all go."

Reporter Ira Kaufman can be reached at (813) 259-7833 or ikaufman@tampatrib.com.

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