Unless you are an abject contrarian, it’s pretty hard to argue against New England’s Tom Brady being the greatest of all time. The best sports betting sites currently have New England as 2 ½ point favorites over the Los Angeles Rams and had it not been for Brady’s overtime heroics against Kansas City, chances are New England would not be returning to their ninth Super Bowl under Brady’s command. Fans in any region other than the six New England states may revile the unparalleled success of the Patriots and make the excuse that Brady has had an unprecedented arsenal surrounding him for lo these past two decades but that’s not entirely true. Although he had had his share of top-notch wideouts at his disposal including Troy Brown, Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and of course the immaculate Randy Moss, let’s not forget that back in 2006 he had a stable of nags rather than thoroughbreds.

If you happen to be strolling through Canton, I challenge you to find the names of these pass-catching luminaries from that season – Chad Jackson, Daniel Graham, Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, Doug Gabriel, David Thomas and of course the immortal Kelvin Kight. To be completely fair, he did have Troy Brown on that roster, diminished as he was, but by that time Brown was 35-years-old and limited to nine games due to injury. All Brady did with that motley crew was take the Patriots to an AFC championship game where New England bowed to the Colts 38-34. Yeah, what a loser.

And now, in the twilight of his unparalleled career, the whispers of him hanging up his cleats have morphed into a dull roar. During this season Brady has endured more criticism and public derision of his “waning” skills than ever before. The narrative in 2018 has been that Father Time will no longer be denied and the inevitable cliff that all athletes eventually face was no longer a dot on the horizon but rather a yawning chasm in his immediate sights.

Critics would point to a dreadful 26-10 loss to the Lions, and Bill Belichick’s former protégé Matt Patricia, back in September in which Brady tossed for a paltry 133 yards with one touchdown, an interception and an anemic total quarterback rating of 39.8. In November, Brady launched 41 times, connecting on only 21 of his passes, none of which produced a touchdown, in the Patriots’ 34-10 loss to the Titans. A month later Brady produced a less than stellar outing in the team’s 17-10 loss to the Steelers immediately followed by a clunker in Buffalo where he went 13 of 24 for 126 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions which was his lowest output since 2003 when he passed for 123 yards in a 31-0 loss to the Bills.

Yet, at season’s end, Brady had amassed over 4300 yards passing, 29 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, a 65.8 completion percentage and a total quarterback rating of 70.6. Now compare that to his MVP season of last year and you will see the following stats: 4577 yards passing, 32 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, a 66.3 completion percentage and a total quarterback rating of – are you ready - 70.6. In short, taking shots at Brady this year for a subpar performance is like saying the caviar was a bit bland.

After another heart-stopping victory over the Chiefs to win the AFC Championship, this new edition of the Cardiac Kids is ready to take on the Rams for another go at the Lombardi Trophy. And how serendipitous is it that Super Bowl LIII pits them against the same opponent with whom this dream run began 17 years ago? No longer hailing from St. Louis, the Rams are back in LA where they belong but there would be more than a touch of nostalgia, and a poetic coup de grace, if Tom Terrific walked off the NFL’s grandest stage with another Super Bowl title to his name, and into the sunset as the GOAT, not just of football but every other sport you can name. Your adoring public will miss you Tom, but there’s a Brady bunch back home that deserves you all to themselves…sooner or later.