New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wins our Week 5 Air It Out Award in his first game played in 2016.
Vote for our Week 5 #AirItOutAward. Which of the top passing performances was most impressive? #Patriots #FeedDaBears #HereWeGo #Chargers
— Best NFL Polls (@Best_NFL_Polls) October 11, 2016
It was surprising to see Brady win this award in his first week back from his 4-week suspension/vacation, considering how rusty he looked. I mean, he only threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns. And the new receivers that he still needs to get in sync with–Martellus Bennett and Chris Hogan–put up only 171 yards and three touchdowns combined. There’s obviously still work to do.
Come on, Tom. Really?
Brady invoked his inner Bill Belichick to downplay his dominant performance. Granted, his big day came against a struggling Browns team, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive that Brady came back slinging the ball in midseason form after having to sitting out the first four weeks of the season. Most NFL quarterbacks dream of having a day like that, regardless of the opponent.
Here are the highlights of Tom Brady’s first stop on his “Stick-it-to-the-man (the man being Goodell)” campaign:
3 @MartysaurusRex TDs.
2 @ChrisHogan_15 40-yard catches.
1 #Patriots win.Tom Brady highlights: https://t.co/nwnhKq2uFs
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 12, 2016
Tom Brady’s Hall of Fame resume is already pretty impressive and I’m sure it will continue to build this season. People will make a lot of him missing four games when MVP talk gets more serious near the end of the season, but he can still very realistically put up over 4000 yards and 30 touchdowns in the 12 games he does play.
Brady and the Patriots are easy to hate because of how consistently and how long they have been successful. Bill Belichick did a masterful job game planning during the first four Brady-less weeks of the season. Over the first four weeks, the offense morphed into whatever it needed to be for that week’s opponent. The Patriots sit atop the AFC East at 4-1 and have already looked like one of the AFC’s best teams. Now with Brady back at the helm, Belichick and the Pats are ready to have fun.
(Photo Credit: Josh Rogash/Getty Images)
(Photo Credit: Josh Rogash/Getty Images)