Tom Brady has been in the NFL for so long that it feels like he’s accomplished everything there is to accomplish, but as it turns out, he actually did something on Sunday that he had never done before in his 21-year career.
During Tampa Bay’s dominating 45-17 win over the Dolphins, Brady threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns, marking the first time that he’s thrown for five or more touchdowns in a game where he also threw for 400 or more yards. In 21 years, Brady had thrown for five or more touchdowns a total of eight times, but he had never hit the 400-yard mark when doing so.
Brady is now tied with Peyton Manning for the second-most five-touchdown games in NFL history, trailing only Drew Brees, who ended his career with 11.
With Brady going up against a familiar foe in Dolphins coach Brian Flores — the two spent 16 years together in New England — it almost seemed like the 44-year-old quarterback knew everything the Dolphins were going to do before they actually did it.
The Buccaneers quarterback diced up the Dolphins defense and there’s nothing Miami could do to stop him.
Brady’s five touchdown passes went to three different players and the most exciting score definitely went to Antonio Brown, who caught a short pass and turned it into a 62-yard TD.
That score was Brady’s 45th career touchdown pass of 50 yards or more, which is tied for the third most in NFL history. Brown actually reached 900 career receptions on Sunday, reaching the mark in 143 games, which is faster than any other player in NFL history (Marvin Harrison had the old record, which was 149 games).
Although it’s easy to give Brown a lot of the credit for that score — and you probably should — there were also a few throws where Brady deserves most of the credit, like this fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Mike Evans.
What Brady is doing at age 44 doesn’t even seem possible. There are quarterbacks half his age who have trouble making that throw, but he makes it look easy. As a matter of fact, he makes everything look easy.
When Brady is on his “A” game, the Buccaneers are impossible to beat and the quarterback was definitely on his “A” game against the Dolphins. The Buccaneers ended up totaling 558 yards against the Dolphins, which was the second-highest total ever with Brady and the fourth-highest total in team history.
Alright, let’s get to the grades for every game from Week 5. If you’re looking for a deeper dive on the Rams‘ wild 26-17 win over the Seahawks that was played on Thursday, be sure to click here.
Atlanta 27-20 over N.Y. Jets in London
Minnesota 19-17 over Detroit
New Orleans 33-22 over Washington
Tennessee 37-19 over Jacksonville
Tampa Bay 45-17 over Miami
New England 25-22 over Houston
Green Bay 25-22 over Cincinnati (OT)
Packers-Bengals grades by Tyler Sullivan (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Philadelphia 21-18 over Carolina
Eagles-Panthers grades by Jeff Kerr (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Pittsburgh 27-19 over Denver
Broncos-Steelers grades by Bryan DeArdo (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Arizona 17-10 over San Francisco
49ers-Cardinals grades by Cody Benjamin (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Chicago 20-9 over Las Vegas
Bears-Raiders grades by Jordan Dajani (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Dallas 44-20 over N.Y. Giants
Giants-Cowboys grades by Patrik Walker (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
L.A. Chargers 47-42 over Cleveland
Browns-Chargers grades by Josh Edwards (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Buffalo 38-20 Kansas City
Bills-Chiefs grades by Jared Dubin (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
