Tom Brady was mad as hell Sunday night.
And it just wasn’t because his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost at home to the New Orleans Saints.
Brady’s anger and wrath were because the NFL’s fossil quarterback clearly lost the MVP in that ugly 9-0 loss in front of a national TV audience on Sunday Night Football.
For sure, coming into that game, Brady — who leads the league in passing yards and touchdowns — thought it was his award to lose in the final month of the season.
It would be another crowning piece in his now legendary career — he’d be the oldest player to ever do it.
But on the way to the podium to accept the award, Brady, 44, turned in a legendary stinker, a game the voters will have a hard time overlooking.
Quite frankly, Brady was awful and, in fact, needed Air Wick pinned to his jersey after that performance.
Somehow, Brady completed just 26 of 48 passes for 214 yards. He had an interception and a lost fumble. His quarterback rating was a season-low 57.1.
Worse, it was the first time a Brady-led team was blanked since Week 14 of the 2006 season.
No wonder he acted like a baby after his costly interception. He shouted obscenities in the direction of the Saints’ coaching staff. He took out his frustration on his tablet, smashing it in the process. He also was caught on camera berating referees on the field.
After the game, he sounded off in the press conference.
“I wish it was just one thing. It was a lot of things,” Brady said after the debacle. “We gotta do better in every facet of the offensive football to score points. We’re not gonna win scoring no points.”
Meanwhile, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers continues his march to a second straight MVP award with three TDs and no picks in a road win against the Baltimore Ravens.
In the last four games, A-Rodg has completed 70.5 percent of his passes. He has 13 TDs and no INTs. His QB rating is 127.7. He has been unstoppable.
The only thing worse than Brady’s performance was the excuses made by NBC’s announcers about the Bucs’ injuries and the constant talk about the weapons Brady didn’t have.
For sure, it makes the task harder when you don’t have some of your players. The Bucs lost receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in the first half, and running back Leonard Fournette in the second.
But forever and a day, the thing people used to hang their hats on when talking about Brady’s greatest is that he has done more with less than any other quarterback. On Sunday, it was a crutch.
It’s actually games like Sunday’s that demonstrate just how valuable you are. We saw it earlier this season with Rodgers.
Back in late October, the Pack went into the Arizona desert to play the 7-0 Cardinals. Rodgers entered that contest without his top three receivers, tight end, or the team’s defensive coordinator.
This should have been an automatic loss. Instead, Rodgers pulled the Packers through for a signature victory on the road.
On Sunday, Brady was playing in Tampa and his squad was a double-digit favorite to beat the .500 Saints playing with a running back at QB.
The Saints weren’t exactly world beaters. And they couldn’t even manage a touchdown in the game. Coming in, if you were told that the Saints wouldn’t get a single touchdown, you would have marked this down as a win 100 out of 100 times.
And sure, all players can have a bad day at the office. Rodgers’ came in the opener against these Saints. But you hate for it to be late when the importance of the games is at a season-high because of playoff and seating implications.
The bottom line remains that Brady is a terrible sore loser. We’ve seen this act before. He has walked off the field without shaking the hands of his opponents. For sure, poor sportsmanship is his middle name.
If other players acted out like Brady, they would be roundly criticized. Instead, Brady gets a pass, and media people will simply chalk it up to his passion and competitiveness.
Nonsense.
And while Brady is bellyaching, Rodgers continues to win with the players he has. The Packers, somehow, have the NFL’s best record at 11-3 without star offensive tackle David Bakhtiari all season, Za’Darius Smith for 13 of 14 games, Jaire Alexander for 10 of 14 games, and Elton Jenkins for six of 14 games.
Clearly, Rodgers is the MVP, not Brady.
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