Reminder: Tom Brady Is The Most Successful Quarterback To Play In Buffalo This Century
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- In the world of sports, there are 11 million topics to possibly explore at any given moment. Not one of those subjects is as hilarious as the fact that no quarterback has found more success in Buffalo's home stadium than Tom Brady.
That includes ... every single Bills quarterback.
This revelation came to light back in 2017, when the Bills were preparing to host the Patriots, just as they are this week. Prior to that game, Nick Veronica of The Buffalo News pointed out that Brady was in position to record the most victories and throw the most touchdowns in Buffalo's home stadium since 2001. Brady did win that game to record his 14th victory in Buffalo, but he didn't throw any touchdowns.
Brady and the Patriots won again in Buffalo last year, but Brady again didn't throw any touchdowns.
That means that come Sunday afternoon, Brady will still need to throw two touchdowns if he wants to top Ryan Fitzpatrick on the list for most touchdowns thrown in Ralph Wilson Stadium/New Era Field since 2001.
Here's what the leaderboards currently look like.
MOST VICTORIES BY QB IN BUFFALO'S STADIUM SINCE 2001
1. Tom Brady, 15
2. Drew Bledsoe, 14
2. Tyrod Taylor, 14
4. Ryan Fitzpatrick, 13MOST TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN BUFFALO'S STADIUM SINCE 2001
1. Ryan Fitzpatrick, 39
2. Tom Brady, 38
3. Tyrod Taylor, 28
3. Drew Bledsoe, 28GAMES PLAYED IN BUFFALO'S STADIUM SINCE 2001 BY THOSE QBs
1. Ryan Fitzpatrick, 26
2. Drew Bledsoe, 24
3. Tyrod Taylor, 22
4. Tom Brady, 17
This is, of course, quite humorous because those other quarterbacks ... played for the Buffalo Bills, thus giving each of them eight games per year to rack up wins and chuck some TDs. (Ryan Fitzpatrick did start two games in Buffalo as the Jets' QB.) Brady, meanwhile, has of course only made one visit per season to Orchard Park, thus giving him precisely 17 games to make his mark. With 15 wins in 17 tries, he's certainly succeeded.
The compilation of not-quite-Hall of Famers who have dutifully served as starting QBs for the Bills since Bledsoe's departure in 2005 is a regular has proven to be slightly less successful than Brady. Some highlights:
QBs SINCE 2001
WINS AT RALPH WILSON STADIUM/NEW ERA FIELD
Tom Brady, 15
Drew Bledsoe, 14
Tyrod Taylor, 14
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 13
Trent Edwards, 7
EJ Manuel, 7
Doug Flutie, 3TOUCHDOWN PASSES AT RALPH WILSON STADIUM/NEW ERA FIELD
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 39
Tom Brady, 38
Drew Bledsoe, 28
Tyrod Taylor, 28
J.P. Losman, 15
Trent Edwards, 15
EJ Manuel, 9
Doug Flutie, 7GAMES PLAYED AT RALPH WILSON STADIUM/NEW ERA FIELD
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 26
Drew Bledsoe, 24
Tyrod Taylor, 22
J.P. Losman, 18
Trent Edwards, 17
Tom Brady, 17
EJ Manuel, 12
Doug Flutie, 8
And just for fun, here's where Brady ranks on the all-time list of quarterbacks at the near-50-year-old stadium:
Jim Kelly: 77 games, 58-19 record, 127 TDs, 88 INTs
Joe Ferguson: 84 games, 43-41 record, 92 TDs, 85 INTs
Frank Reich: 51 games, 36-15 record, 15 TDs, 11 TDs
Drew Bledsoe: 32 games, 18-14 record, 40 TDs, 20 INTs
TOM BRADY: 17 games, 15-2 record, 38 TDs, 14 INTs
Tyrod Taylor: 22 games, 14-8 record, 28 TDs, 11 INTs
Doug Flutie: 23 games, 14-9 record, 22 TDs, 12 INTs
Ryan Fitzpatrick: 26 games, 13-13 record, 39 TDs, 27 INTs
Todd Collins: 16 games, 10-6 record, 8 TDs, 10 INTs
Rob Johnson: 18 games, 9-9 record, 14 TDs, 9 INTs
J.P. Losman: 18 games, 8-10 record, 15 TDs, 15 INTs
Alex Van Pelt: 17 games, 8-9 record, 13 TDs, 10 INTs
Trent Edwards: 17 games, 7-10 record, 15 TDs, 15 INTs
Steve Grogan: 9 games, 7-2 record, 12 TDs, 14 INTs
EJ Manuel: 12 games, 7-5 record, 9 TDs, 4 INTs
And if you're curious, here's where Brady ranks on the all-time QB leaderboards for all four of the AFC East home stadiums:
Gillette Stadium
First in wins (Duh.)
First in TD passes (Duh.)
First in games played (Duh.)MetLife Stadium (home to two teams)
Eighth in wins
Fourth in TD passes
Eighth in games playedGiants Stadium (home to two teams)
19th in wins
16th in TD passes
34th in games playedNew Era Field:
Fifth in wins
Fifth in TD passes
Tied-10th in games startedHard Rock Stadium:
Eighth in wins
Third in TD passes (behind Dan Marino and Ryan Tannehill)
Fourth in games played
All of that being said, there's quite a bit of optimism over in Buffalo at the moment. The team is 3-0, and Josh Allen's taken some massive steps forward to begin year two. Allen's upped his completion percentage from a dreadful 52.8 percent as a rookie to a more-than-respectable 64.1 percent thus far this year. He ranked dead last in that category last year but now sits at 17th in the league.
Perhaps Allen, the seventh overall pick in 2018, can one day eclipse Brady in terms of post-2000 wins and touchdown passes in New Era Field. But the 23-year-old is currently 5-2 at home, with seven touchdown passes. He's trailing Brady by 10 wins and 31 touchdown passes, a deficit which could continue to grow this week and in the years to come, as Brady shows no desire of retiring any time soon.
And, as was noted two years ago, Brady's dominance over the Bills is not limited to strictly taking place within Orchard Park's town limits. In 33 games against the Bills, Brady has gone 30-3 as a starter, losing fair and square in 2003 and 2011 but also getting credited with a loss in Week 17 of 2014, when he was taken out of the game at halftime of the meaningless game.
In a little over two full seasons' worth of games against the Bills, Brady has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 8.248 yards with 69 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. Considering close to half (rough estimate) of those games were played in either Buffalo or Foxboro in November/December/January, that's not too shabby. And considering only three Bills quarterbacks in the history of the franchise have ever won more than 30 games for Buffalo, and considering only four Bills quarterbacks have ever thrown more than 69 touchdowns for Buffalo, it's not at all difficult to understand why Buffalo football fans are completely sick and tired of seeing Brady come to their stadium every year. It's a relationship that has been clearly one-sided for quite a long time.
He's beaten Gregg Williams, he's beaten Mike Mularkey, he's beaten Dick Jauron, he's beaten Perry Fewell, he's beaten Chan Gailey, he's beaten Doug Marrone, he's beaten Rex Ryan, and he's beaten Sean McDermott. He's outlasted and outperformed every opposing coach and quarterback for nearly two full decades.
When (or if) he stops bullying the Buffalo Bills is anybody's guess. But the Bills at the very least have an opportunity to try to provide a rare blemish on Brady's Buffalo record come Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park.
Brady, for his part, doesn't seem to be feeling too badly about his past actions in Buffalo.
"When you go on the road in the NFL, you've got to get used to that because that's a lot of what that's about. You go in there with however many guys -- 46 active, five or six other guys, your coaches, a few fans in the crowd -- but I think it's always gratifying when you go in there and then by the end of the game, you look up and there's only Patriots fans left," Brady said. "I always think that's pretty cool."
If any Bills fans converted to Brady fans by the end of the day, they could be forgiven*. They haven't seen a quarterback as successful as Brady in their home stadium since the mid-'90s.
(*Just kidding. We know the mere thought of celebrating Brady is enough to make most Bills fans feel physically ill, as has most of this story.)
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.