Brady's happy return
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In the first game of the 2008 season, Tom Brady sustained a devastating knee injury. On his last play of the 2009 regular season, he threw a costly interception.
Brady rebounded from the first setback to become The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year. On Sunday, he gets his chance to come back from the second one.
"Things change week to week. They can change year to year," Brady said. "Any time you spend wasting on what happened in the past, you're really losing time on what's going to happen that following week."
That philosophy should help when the New England Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens in a wild-card playoff game.
Last Sunday in Houston with the score 27-27, Brady's final play was an interception by Bernard Pollard, the player whose hit ended the quarterback's 2008 season in the first quarter of the opener. Four plays later, the Texans scored the winning touchdown in a 34-27 victory.
Brady threw for just 186 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, the third time in the last four games he had fewer than 200 yards passing. For the season, though, he was fifth in the NFL with 4,398 yards passing, tied for sixth with 28 scoring passes and tied for 17th with 13 interceptions.
"The important thing on offense is to move the ball and score points," coach Bill Belichick said. "If we're moving the ball and scoring points, then we are happy with our offensive production. It's not a stat. We're not worried about stats."
By that standard, and many others, Brady deserves the comeback award. The Patriots outscored opponents by 142 points, the largest differential in the AFC, and scored 427, second most in the conference.
"He's had a tremendous year. I think we all know that," Belichick said. "Tom just brings so much to this team and our organization on and off the field: his preparation, his leadership, his performance, his unselfishness. All the things that he gives us are just top shelf, whether he did or didn't play last year."
Brady received 19 votes Wednesday from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL, beating Tampa Bay running back Carnell Williams, who got 14.
Without Brady last season, the Patriots went 11-5 and missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker behind quarterback Matt Cassel, who was traded to Kansas City after the season.
After a long and arduous rehab, Brady opened this season in typical comeback fashion. Trailing 24-13, he threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 to Benjamin Watson and the Patriots beat Buffalo 25-24. That was the 29th time, including the postseason, that Brady had led them to victory after trailing or being tied in the fourth quarter.
He hasn't done that since, but led the Patriots to the AFC East title with a solid season despite rib and finger injuries — even if he's fallen from his peak in 2007, when he led the Patriots to a 16-0 record and was the league MVP after a league-record 50 touchdown passes.
"I've been playing with Tom for 10 years. He's like a brother," running back Kevin Faulk said. "I know in his heart he feels like he hasn't played his best football yet, but, at the same time, we always have confidence in him."
