Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady had himself another banner day for the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Finishing up the regular season against the Carolina Panthers, Tom Terrific completed 29-of-37 passes for 326 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. A ho-hum performance from the greatest of all-time.
By virtue of the 41-17 win, Tampa Bay locked up the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs and will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the wildcard round next weekend.
However, it was Brady who broke yet another record in the win. After completing 29 more passes, the future first ballot Hall of Famer finished the season with 485 on-target passes — breaking the single-season record in the process. The previous record was held by recently-retired former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (471 completions in 2016).
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Tom Brady breaks another NFL record
It was just earlier this season that Brady broke Brees’ record for the most career completions for a quarterback in NFL history. He also became the first quarterback to throw 700 touchdowns, postseason included.
Brady now holds the all-time NFL marks for completions, attempts, passing yards and passing touchdowns. Oh, and he’s the only player in league history with seven Super Bowl titles.
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NFL record for completions in a single season
- Tom Brady (2021): 485
- Drew Brees (2016): 471
- Drew Brees (2011): 468
- Drew Brees (2014): 456
- Ben Roethlisberger (2018): 452
- Peyton Manning (2010): 450
- Peyton Manning (2013): 450
It’s pretty surprising that Brady was not on this list before the 2021 season. In fact, his previous career-high was 402 back in 2015 with the New England Patriots.
Sure it took Brady one additional game compared to the rest. But that’s the nature of the beast with the NFL moving to a 17-game schedule. It’s hard to punish players for that.