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New England Patriots: Tom Brady has dominated AFC rival quarterbacks

By William Hyland

FOXBOROUGH, MA - SEPTEMBER 30: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels at Gillette Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - SEPTEMBER 30: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels at Gillette Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Throughout his career, Tom Brady has dominated his top rivals, but does this bode well for the New England Patriots this season?

As Sunday night’s showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs looms, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have a remarkable opportunity to show they’re still kings of the AFC.

Like times before, many touted a premature end to the Bill Belichick/Brady dynasty, only for the Patriots to make their way back into the top tier of the league. Part of the reason for such dominance is the Patriots ability to consistently beat the conference’s best teams every season.

Throughout his career, Tom Brady is a combined 32-11 (.714) against his AFC rival quarterbacks and their respective teams. Taking into account player tenure, this includes Ben Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers, Joe Flacco’s Baltimore Ravens, Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis Colts, and Peyton Manning’s Colts and Denver Broncos. In perspective, the numbers are broken down below.

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  • 6-0 overall, 2-0 playoffs, against Andrew Luck
  • 9-2 overall, 2-0 playoffs, against Ben Roethlisberger
  • 6-3 overall, 2-2 playoffs, against Joe Flacco
  • 11-6 overall, 2-3 playoffs, against Peyton Manning

Since Peyton Manning is no longer active in the NFL, the numbers could be adjusted to 21-5 against current starters, which is also extremely lopsided. While there are other quarterbacks that could have made the list, like Andy Dalton, only quarterbacks that had more than five starts against Brady were included. Only Flacco has beaten Brady twice at Gillette Stadium.

So, long story short, Brady and Belichick have consistently dominated the best of the conference, especially at home. Though we may have already known that, what does it mean for this Sunday’s matchup against the young Patrick Mahomes?

Well, nothing at a glance, except that traveling inexperienced quarterbacks usually do not fair well against Bill Belichick. In recent memory, only Joe Flacco had been able to break the Foxboro spell early in his career.

So while Mahomes isn’t a rival yet, there is no question that this game has huge playoff implications already.

Should the Patriots win, they’re only one game out of the top seed in the conference, with a tie-breaker in hand. If they lose, they’re essentially four games out of the top spot with only ten games left. Thus, barring a monumental collapse by the Chiefs, they will have basically locked up home-field advantage, making the Patriots battle the Bengals for a first-round bye.

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That might scare some New England Patriots fans, but just remember, Cincinnati and Kansas City are a combined 1-14 in the playoffs since 2001.

Any given Sunday, am I right?

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