Tom Brady Wins 200th Game, Tying Peyton Manning For Most All Time By QB
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Make it an even 200 victories for Tom Brady. No quarterback has ever won more career games in the history of the NFL.
With the Patriots' victory over the New York Jets on Sunday in New Jersey, Brady earned his 200th career win (regular season and playoffs combined). The accolade ties him with Peyton Manning for the most victories by a quarterback of all time.
Sunday's win was the sixth of the year for Brady in seven games played. He likely would have reached the mark earlier in the season, if not for being forced to serve a four-game suspension for his purported role in a ball-deflation scheme in January 2015. Since that game, Brady has won 20 of the 26 games in which he has played, including Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.
Despite missing the four games to start the year, Brady's managed to keep himself in the conversation for NFL MVP. He entered Sunday's game as the NFL's leader in passer rating and with 16 touchdowns to just one interception.
Sunday's game was a bit more of a struggle than initially anticipated, as it took until the final minutes of the fourth quarter to determine a winner. Brady ended up throwing the game-winning touchdown to Malcolm Mitchell, the second-such connection of the game, with 1:56 left to play. Brady finished the game 30-for-50 for 286 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
"I think it says a lot about him and what he's been able to do for this franchise," head coach Bill Belichick said after the 22-17 victory over the Jets. "I mean, that's what it's all about. That's what a quarterback's job is -- to win. He's done a great job of that. I think today was a good example of not turning the ball over, I thought there were some good situational plays that came up that don't show up in the state sheets, like a fourth-and-1 offside, things like that. There are plays that you need for your team to win, and Tom does a great job of that. He's as good of a situational football player as I've ever been around. So, a quarterback's job is to win, and he's won a lot. It's good. I'm glad he's our quarterback."
Previously, Brady was tied with Brett Favre with 199 wins. Brady reached the 199-win mark in 261 games; Favre started 318 games. For that matter, Manning started 294 games in his career. Brady was able to make up ground on Manning by winning 22 playoff games with the Patriots; Manning won just 14 postseason games with the Colts and Broncos.
Brady's single-season high for wins is 18, set in 2007. He was credited with just one win the following year in 2008, when he left in the first quarter with a knee injury that ended his season. Other than that, he's finished a season with fewer than 10 wins just once (2002). This year, he still has a chance to win 10 games, despite being eligible to play in just 12.
Now that he's tied with Manning for the most wins of all time, he has plenty of time to win one more game this season to claim the all-time lead himself. Next week, he and the Patriots will host the Los Angeles Rams, who are 4-7, at Gillette Stadium.
As for the milestone itself, Brady downplayed it after the win on Sunday.
"It's a team sport. Individual awards and things like that, it means I've been a part of some really great teams with great coaches and great teammates. And I've had a lot of great support over the years," Brady said. "Hopefully, we keep winning. It never gets old."