Tom Brady is playing a record-breaking season and brought stumbling Tampa Bay Buccaneers into the postseason with strong performances. The star quarterback is still dangerous in the playoffs in the late autumn of his career.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers struggled to make the playoffs, but their 8-9 record is nothing to write home about. Mind you, the first negative record of superstar Tom Brady after 21 years as a starter.

Even though there was absolutely nothing at stake in the Week 18 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and the team had to take things down a few notches in view of the upcoming tasks, the blemish remains. Even if it is no more than a marginal note.

The show goes on and on and already the Dallas Cowboys are waiting in the Wild Card Round, who should be warned about Brady in particular, who obligatorily goes up at least one notch in every playoff round.

Tom Brady: Mr. Postseason wants to know it again

Playoffs with the 45-year-old are not only better anyway, but simply unimaginable without him. Brady is and always will be Mr. Postseason, even at football’s super-high age.

In this respect, one can certainly put forward and consequently defend the thesis that Brady is the most dangerous quarterback in the playoffs.

Even if the fact that Tampa Bay has not already been sent on an early holiday has more to do with the inability of the competition in the NFC South than with their own performance and consistency.

Because from a purely sporting point of view, the Bucs didn’t really deserve to make it to the postseason. The weak division was simply not able to deny Tampa Bay a playoff spot despite a very mixed regular season.

But to call “Tompa Bay” the one-eyed king among the blind in the NFC South would not do justice to the experience and still great quality in the squad.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Tom Brady no Contender

Compared to the absolute contenders in the league, however, there is now a considerable gap. From a purely sporting point of view, Brady’s 23rd season in the NFL is unlikely to see an absolute explosion in performance, one should be that honest.

Despite the return of several key players from injury in the course of the season, the gaps in the roster seem too large in contrast to the strong competition from the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

But the competition should not forget one thing. You never write off the G.O.A.T., not even for a second. Brady has been counted on often enough in the past and then regularly proved his critics wrong.

And at the latest when the Bucs are down by several touchdowns against the Cowboys and the seven-time Super Bowl champion is sitting stoically on the bench, not making a sound and just staring completely focused at his tablet, it should be clear to everyone involved: Brady’s playoff mode is on!

Tom Brady pulls up the age average of quarterbacks tremendously

But Brady, too, is subject to the laws of time and space. The ravages of time gnaw relentlessly even on the greatest exceptional athlete in NFL history.

In contrast, the competition is getting younger and younger, the average age of the playmakers in the league has been falling constantly for years. A whopping ten of 14 quarterbacks in this year’s playoffs are under 28 years old.

Brady alone pulls up the average by a whole year – if Teddy Bridgewater should not be used for the Miami Dolphins, then even more.

This fact makes his performance so far even more remarkable, even if the franchise’s season so far has, as described, had more lows than highs. Brady had to go full throttle almost every week to keep his team in the playoff race at all. And he broke several records in the process.

With 733 passes completed, Brady broke the record for the most pass attempts in a season. Matthew Stafford had set the previous record with 727 in 2012 with the Detroit Lions. In addition, the star passer made 13 successful throws in Week 18, bringing his previous personal record for completions to 490. His previous best was 485 in the 2021 season.

Brady is on fire, seems motivated to the hilt and inevitably delivers. There is no sign of fatigue in the star quarterback, who has been in all-or-nothing mode for weeks now.