Finally.
The luck has run out for the L.O.A.T. — the Luckiest Of All-Time.
That’s what I have been calling Tom Brady for years. Without question, the moniker fits.
Sure, Brady is the most accomplished quarterback the NFL has seen when you count his seven Super Bowls victories in 10 tries. We get that.
But along the way, you would be honestly hard-pressed to deny that most of his success in the postseason, on the big stage, has been damn lucky.
Period.
And no one wants to hear those damn cliches: I’d rather be lucky than good. Or luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.
No, Brady has had the good fortune of things going his way time after time.
Normally, it’s a team self-destructing and setting up Brady to swoop in in the final minutes and steal a game he had no business winning.
But not Sunday. That lucky rabbit’s foot must have fallen out of his pocket.
Brady lost. Yes, his Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell 30-27 to the Los Angeles Rams after tying the game with 45 seconds left.
Brady minions were jumping around, proclaiming he’s the G.O.A.T., a miracle worker, just a winner no matter the odds.
The euphoric feeling, however, didn’t last.
In a blink of an eye, the Rams moved the ball down field and kicked a game-winning field goal to crush Brady and his incredible run of good luck.
Brady and the Bucs were eliminated from the playoffs and sent home.
Thank goodness.
Many in NFL America went into the game with the hope of A.B.B. — Anybody But Brady. Even if it meant rooting for Rams QB Matthew Stafford.
And for most of the game, it appeared as if it was a foregone conclusion that the Rams were moving onto the NFC Championship Game. And that America would be Brady-free for the rest of the postseason. And the only way Brady would get to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles is if he bought a ticket.
Then Brady’s luck kicked in.
After all, they trailed, 20-3, at the half and looked dead in the water.
Then the Rams came undone and tried to literally fumble the game away to Brady and the Bucs.
Before the half, the Rams fumbled at the Tampa Bay one-yard line. In all, the Rams lost four fumbles.
It was the final fumble that setup Brady to engineer the game-tying touchdown.
NFL fans watching TV at home had to be in disbelief. They had to think this was really happening.
No doubt Atlanta Falcons fans were home sick watching a nightmare rerun of the epic choke job to Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI in 2017. You remember, when the Falcons choked down a 28-3 second-half advantage.
The Falcons were in field goal range to put them up by 11 late in the game to seal the deal.
Instead of running, they kept passing the ball. They lost yardage on a sack and a holding call.
Brady rallied the Pats to win in overtime.
Mind-boggling. There’s more.
There was the Seattle choke job to Brady. The Seahawks had the ball at the two-yard line and time to run two plays. Instead of handing the ball to RB Marshawn Lynch, the best running back in the league at the time, they threw the ball and had it intercepted in the end zone, another winner for Brady.
Don’t forget 2004 when Carolina Panthers kicker John Kasay gave Brady a Super Bowl victory.
With one minute to go in the Super Bowl, Kasay kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff. It set the Pats up on their own 40-yard line. They drove and won the game on a 41-yard game-winning field goal.
Don’t forget how it all started in 2002 when Brady CLEARLY fumbled the ball. The Oakland Raiders recovered it and should have sealed the victory.
Instead, officials reviewed the play — which was originally called a fumble — and ruled it an incomplete pass. The Pats got to keep the ball and tied the game with a field goal and eventually won in OT.
Yes, many Brady minions expected his luck to continue, like his entire career. Not this year.
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