Despite his age, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady still continues to rack up NFL records almost every time he takes the field. When he plays his first snap on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, Brady will set another NFL record with his 299th career start. The 43-year-old Brady will break a deadlock with Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre for the record. That is not the record that Brady could break in their regular-season finale against the Falcons. According to a tweet by freelance NFL reporter Dov Kleiman, Brady has a chance to break a record set by his rival, Peyton Manning, in his first year with the Denver Broncos.
Manning set an NFL record for most touchdown passes by a quarterback on his first year with a team when he threw 37 touchdown passes with the Broncos in 2012.
Peyton Manning holds the record for most touchdown passes for a QB on his first year with a team - the 2012 #Broncos when he had a 37 TDs-11 INTs season.
Tom Brady currently has 36 TD passes heading into Week 17.
Brady already passed Manning in total TDs with currently 39. pic.twitter.com/7xWPzCv7l0
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 1, 2021
Brady currently has 36 touchdown passes heading into their regular-season finale against the Falcons. In his last four quarters of play against the Falcons and the Detroit Lions, Brady went on a tear as he threw for 668 yards and six touchdowns.
If he continues this brand of play, Brady has a chance to clinch another NFL record before the Buccaneers head into the playoff. In terms of total touchdowns, Kleiman said Brady has already surpassed Manning’s output as he has chalked up 39 touchdowns this season, including his three rushing touchdowns. Against the Lions, Brady threw four touchdown passes to break the Buccaneers’ franchise record for most touchdown passes in a game (33) set by Jameis Winston last season.
Columnist highlights Brady’s first season with Bucs
John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times wrote an interesting piece about Brady’s first season with the Buccaneers. In his column, Romano said Brady just obliterated a century-old baseline for 43-year-old quarterbacks in the NFL. Aside from that, Romano said Brady put up the best numbers of any starting quarterback in nearly a half-century of football in Tampa Bay.
And the amazing thing is, Romano said Brady accomplished these amazing numbers without getting a single preseason snap. Romano also highlighted Brady’s durability by comparing his number of starts to several Hall of Fame quarterbacks. He said that Brady’s 299 career starts are more than Joe Montana and Joe Namath combined, Steve Young and Bob Griese combined, and Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach combined. “That speaks to Brady’s durability, but even more to his continued production,” said Romano.
Bowles returns to normal coaching duties
Ahead of their clash against the Falcons, Buccaneers' defensive coordinator Todd Bowles returned to his normal coaching duties after he worked remotely due to COVID-19 concerns.
According to Luke Easterling of USA Today, Bowles returned to the team facility in preparation for their clash against the Falcons. Bowles had to work remotely after he had close contact with someone who was believed to have received a false-positive test result earlier in the week. However, Bowles won’t have some of his key defensive players when they take the Falcons after outside linebacker Shaq Barrett and inside linebacker Devin White were placed on the NFL’s Reserve/COVID-19 list.