I Won't Believe Tom Brady Is Dead Till His Casket Is Lowered

The Kansas City Chiefs came from outta nowhere to wax the Patriots in the second half on Thursday night and you just know the question of whether Father Time has come to claim Tom Brady is going to be a topic of discussion up and down the debate circuit today.

And look, that’s not without merit. Even as Brady is coming off a Super Bowl win, he’s 40 years old, where beyond Brett Favre in year one in Minnesota, there aren’t many examples in NFL history of high-level achievement from QBs. There were plays last night that we aren’t accustomed to seeing Brady miss, and stats like this will always raise eyebrows:

It goes without saying that losing Julian Edelman was big, and the Patriots’ offense particularly stalled late in the game after Danny Amendola left the game with a head injury. Somehow, Justin Houston was actually hitting Brady harder than we ever see.

In 2014, the Patriots started 2-2. In Week 4, they got crushed by the … Chiefs … 41-13. Brady was 14-23 for 159 yards and threw two interceptions. Everyone started to think it was safe to wonder aloud if he might be dead. Nope. The Patriots won the Super Bowl that year, and after a brief interlude where the Broncos were champs (when Peyton Manning was dead until he wasn’t), they won it again last season.

You just know that as the season churns on the Patriots will invent totally random people who excel on offense. Don’t act like that won’t happen. They could lose like eight more people to season-ending injuries and new scrappy skill position contributors will regenerate.