HOUSTON — Tom Brady has waited what feels like an eternity for this night, when he gets to march toward history, toward a record fifth Lombardi Trophy, toward his tormentor, commissioner Roger Goodell — who will be waiting awkwardly for him at the end of Super Bowl LI.
And Matt Ryan has waited what feels like an eternity for this night, when he gets to march toward his first Lombardi Trophy, toward Goodell — who will be waiting gleefully for him at the end of Super Bowl LI.
The Greatest of All Time, win or lose, eyeball-to-eyeball for 60 minutes with the quarterback who fashioned an MVP season by living up to his nickname, Matty Ice.
Tom Brady, finishing a season he didn’t get to start because of Deflategate, with the final 60 minutes of his revenge tour, trying desperately to capture the victory that would make him and Bill Belichick the greatest quarterback-coach tandem in NFL history.
Matt Ryan, trying desperately to capture the victory that would end all the talk that he cannot win the big one and give owner Arthur Blank and Atlanta its first Super Bowl championship.
Tom Brady, forever young, playing at a level no 39-year-old quarterback ever has played.
Matt Ryan, emerging as an elite quarterback at age 31 after all those years spent winning over the Michael Vick fans.
A quarterback matchup that has more than a puncher’s chance to be a shootout, and trump all previous Super Bowl quarterback matchups, even Joe Montana versus Dan Marino in Super Bowl XIX, featuring two quarterbacks playing at the top of their game.
Tom Brady.
“Tom knows within a split second of when the ball’s snapped of where his matchups are and how he can exploit a defense,” FOX’s Troy Aikman said. “I’ve seen him when he’s had poor protection in previous years when they were struggling along the offensive line, and yet he plays the position in a way that keeps from hurting his team and gives his team a chance to win. Even when everything else around him’s collapsing. And there’s not many guys that can do that. There’s not many guys that can move a football team down the field and score points when you’re kind of holding it together by a shoestring.”
Matt Ryan.
“I think what impressed me the most was his ability to make the critical play at the critical moment over and over again,” NFL Network’s Kurt Warner said. “That to me is what separates the great ones, is Matt has been really good for a long time, but he was a guy that I always thought, ‘I don’t know when the game’s on the line two or three weeks in a row, if he makes those plays to get his team over the hump.’ This year he did that. He was asked to carry this team every week, and if he had a bad game, this team was gonna lose, and he stepped up to that challenge against some really good teams in some really hot situations and answered the bell every single time.
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“The other guy” was good. This guy has been great. And you better be Eli Manning great if you plan on beating Brady in his seventh Super Bowl. You better be great once Belichick obsesses over taking away Julio Jones and making everyone else beat him. You better take advantage of your last chance to engineer this offense, averaging 33.8 points per game, alongside bright young offensive coordinator and future 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“He’s attacked this year as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen attack a year,” Shanahan said.
A coach’s dream, an owner’s dream, same as Brady.
“When you have that kind of relationship with the playcaller, it’s a big deal,” Aikman said.
Brady has that same relationship with his offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels.
“I don’t think a lot of people have realized he’s changed his throwing motion,” Chris Simms said. “He was one of the worst down-the-field throwers in football. And now he’s one of the best. He’s so smart, he’s got an incredible arm, and we saw a 39-year-old [Peyton Manning] in the Super Bowl last year that couldn’t break a pane of glass, and then this guy he’s still got the 98 mph fastball. Plus 17 years in the same system, the inventory of offense that’s at his disposal in his brain, it makes the whole offense have to keep up, and that’s why they’re so dynamic.”
Matt Ryan.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for his movement with his legs first of all,” Simms said. “He leaves no yards on the field this year. Last year, years before, you’d go ‘Ooh, that was a 50-yard bomb, that was a nice play,’ but you’d turn on the film and go, ‘But that should have been a 70-yard touchdown if it was a good throw.’ And this year, there’s none of that. He’s hitting receivers in stride, they’re always capitalizing, and he’s become extremely dangerous in the red zone because of his ability to move and make some big throws.”
The 39-year-old Brady is not very different from the 24-year-old Brady who directed the last-minute drive to beat the Greatest Show on Turf in Super Bowl XXXVI.
“His dedication to want to get an opportunity,” NFL Network’s Willie McGinest said. “He wasn’t breaking records when he started, our defense was the core of that team at the time, but you could tell he was gonna be special because he wanted to learn, he’d soak up all the information from the coaches and (Drew Bledsoe). He took care of the football. He worked his ass off. He was in the weightroom with us most of the time, and we were doing extra credit in the weight room and stuff, he was always there making sure he did everything he could, not just in the weight room but in the film room to be the best he could be.”
What makes Tom Brady Tom Brady?
“His understanding of himself, his understanding of the game, his understanding of his offense, what the defense is trying to do to him, and his understanding of his players — what they’re good at and what they aren’t,” NFL Network’s Deion Sanders said.
What makes Tom Brady Tom Brady?
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The stars who won't get old explain how Tom Brady does it 0:0 HOUSTON — Tom Brady still looks like the youngest guy… “He’s intense every day on the practice field,” NFL Network’s Shaun O’Hara said. “Every time he goes out there to compete, he brings that fire. And games are won and lost to me on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If you can bring that intensity and hone your craft, it makes Sundays easy, it makes Sundays fun. To me, his accuracy is what sets him above everybody else. It’s one thing to throw the ball to the right guy, but to put the ball on the money every single time regardless of what’s going on around you, Tom doesn’t get enough credit for how many dirty throws he’s had to make, with guys hitting him, guys in his face, stepping up in the pocket, and he gets the ball out so quick. He’s like the Crane Kick from Karate Kid – – when done properly, no one can defend.”
Brady matching wits with the rookie-laden Falcons defense will undoubtedly demand a Matty Ice Storm.
“You know those moments when you have to be at your best? The good competitors are at their best, and [Brady is] one of ’em for sure, and he’s proven that time and time again that there’s no moment that’s too big for a guy like him,” Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow said.
Matty Ice will show up anyway. Reaching desperately for his first ring before Brady can get to his fifth.
“It’s going to be something to watch,” Falcons running back Devonta Freeman said.
You can bet that no one will be watching more intently than Roger Goodell.
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