By: Kevin Levine

This past Sunday was the one-year anniversary of the 41-14 demolition of the New England Patriots at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pats fell to 2-2, and a call rang around the football world that this was the end of Tom Brady’s legendary career, following his dismal 159 yards and two interceptions performance. The Boston Globe’s headline read “For Tom Brady, the end game has become apparent”. Sports Nation took a shot at Brady’s recent interview where he said “When I suck, I’ll retire,” in a tweet that called for his retirement. Trent Dilfer called the Patriots a “weak team” and Stephen A. Smith said they were “in a world of trouble.” Could we have been more wrong?

Since that loss on September 29^th, 2014, the Patriots have gone 16-2, and won a Super Bowl. Brady has thrown 48 TD’s and only 11 INT’s. Brady leads the league this year in yards, where he leads by almost 200, completions, where he leads by 14, and is one of only three starting QB’s to not have thrown an interception this season. He’s third in passer rating, and is one TD pass off the league leader Aaron Rodgers. In their last 18 games, the Patriots have averaged outscoring their opponents by 14.4 points per game. They have dominated the league in every way imaginable, from winning week after week dominantly, to winning the Super Bowl, and even dominating media coverage over the offseason. And they don’t show any sign of slowing down soon. At age 38, Brady is playing football only matched by his 2007 season, and the Patriots are following suit. At this point, the only way the Patriots could play better would be if another team accused them of cheating, and the only way they don’t take the AFC by storm is if Brady takes a shot to his surgically repaired knee. This is the Patriots league, and everyone else is just playing in it. The only question that remains is the next time we question Tom Brady’s greatness and how he makes us pay for it next time?