Following Sunday’s decisive victory over the Washington Redskins, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was on the verge of history. All he needed to do was throw for 18 yards against the New York Giants to pass Peyton Manning and take second place on the all-time passing yards list. This was a fairly small requirement to further secure his place in history, and Brady achieved this feat during the first quarter with a pass to running back Sony Michel.
With 71,923 passing yards in his career, Brady was a mere 17 yards shy of tying Manning (71,940) after throwing for 348 yards against the Washington Redskins in week five. Passing the man that wore number 18 in his career, however, required Brady throwing for 18 yards. His pass to Michel covered 19 yards and gave the Patriots quarterback the second spot on the all-time passing yards list.
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Big Blue’s secondary has struggled throughout the season and recently gave up 306 yards to the much-maligned Kirk Cousins during a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. This is also the same group that gave up 404 passing yards and a perfect passer rating (158.3) to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in week one. There was little doubt that Brady would break this record early, and he did just that.
And with that pass, Tom Brady has passed Peyton Manning for second all-time in passing yard 😱 @TomBrady pic.twitter.com/j4jcnMBx0R
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 11, 2019
With Brady having passed Manning, he is in line to chase down New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees. The Super Bowl XLIV MVP holds the all-time record with 74,845 yards, and he has been out of action for three weeks while recovering from surgery on his thumb. While he remains on the sidelines, Brady will continue to chase down this record in hopes of adding yet another to his career resume.
That being said, if Brady does not ultimately take the top spot from Brees, it won’t be the proverbial end of the world for him. He recently revealed that there is something far more important to him than records for passing yards or touchdowns. His focus always has been on something that matters more on a weekly basis.
“The name of the game for me has always been winning, and I think that that’s the one that has and always will mean the most,” Brady said, according to CBS Boston.
“The goal every week is to go out there and win, and I know some weeks it doesn’t always look as good as others. But the goal of the game is to win, and I’m just proud of our team and all of the accomplishments we’ve had. Winning as often as we have has made my life on Mondays a hell of a lot better. I can hardly deal with the losses, and we haven’t had nearly as many losses as we’ve had wins. So, I deal with the wins a lot better.”
(Photo Credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty)
