FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Through his perfectly shy smile, Tom Brady was reluctantly describing his near perfect game.
The New England Patriots are not a perfect team, not with so much vulnerability on defense. But so long as they have Perfect Tom, they may well wind up with a perfect season.
Perfect Tom? Brady was darn near Saturday night while leading the Patriots past the difficult Jacksonville Jaguars 31-20 in the second round of the playoffs at Gillette Stadium. The NFL’s most valuable player completed 26-of-28 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“Yeah, it was a little disappointing, the two he missed,” deadpanned Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Brady’s 141.4 passer rating wasn’t perfect, but shouldn’t it be? Somebody check the league’s rating formula. Many of Brady’s completions were check-downs to his backs, tight ends and slot receiver Wes Welker because that’s all Jacksonville would give him. But how many quarterbacks ever have gone 26-of-28 with 17-0 hanging on their shoulders?
“Those guys, when they are open like that, that’s my job to hit them,” Brady said after guiding the Patriots to the AFC championship game. “They were open every time. It’s easy when you have receivers that are open all the time and an offensive line that never lets anyone touch you.”
Perfectly said by the quarterback who has led the Patriots to a 17-0 record. Two more victories — in the AFC title game next Sunday against Indianapolis or San Diego, then in Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3 in Glendale, Ariz., against the NFC champions — and the Patriots will join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only perfect teams in NFL history.
Were the Patriots feeling the pressure of 16-0 when they fell behind 7-0 on David Garrard’s remarkable touchdown pass to finish off Jacksonville’s game-opening drive?
“No, we’re 1-0,” said Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas.
Ah, so the Patriots are 1-0 with a goal to become 3-0.
“No, the goal is to be 2-0,” Thomas said.
So that’s how the Patriots do it. They can play the conference championship game next week. They can play Super Bowl XLII two weeks after that. They can play game after game next season, and year after year after that.
The NFL might not see another quarterback showdown better than the one on display Saturday night through three quarters. Late in the third quarter, Garrard was 14-of-16 for 189 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It doesn’t get better than that, right?
Brady was 19-of-20 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“He never takes a day off,” Garrard said of Brady. “I want to model myself after him where I can be as efficient as he is, game in and game out and handle the pressure the way he does. He seems like he’s just having fun.”
Even when the opponent takes star receiver Randy Moss out of play with double coverages, Brady can lead the Patriots to points just about every possession. Which is fortunate because the Patriots’ defense is not exactly playing like the 1985 Chicago Bears.
In their pursuit of perfect, the Patriots’ defense surrendered 35 points in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants and was playing back on its heels in the team’s playoff opener against Garrard and the Jaguars.
If Peyton Manning and the Colts get by the Chargers today, better believe the 1972 Dolphins will be excited.
“We know it keeps getting tougher every stop of the way through the playoffs,” Belichick said. “Whoever it is, we know we have to play better.”
Each Brady pass by itself would be best described as steady. But when his precision is repeated pass after pass after pass, his performance becomes remarkable. Garrard was magical. He finished the game-opening drive by throwing an incredible touchdown pass while falling to his left knee, which touched as he passed.
Garrard may have been great Saturday. But Brady was darn near perfect.
“Unfortunately, Tom didn’t slip on the way to work today,” Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. “He played lights out.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
