Tom Brady is back in the Super Bowl? Wow, what a shocker!
With another Super Bowl berth this year, the Buccaneers quarterback has now reached the big game in 10 of his 21 NFL seasons. Brady wasn’t the starter during his first professional campaign and tore his ACL in Week 1 of the 2008 season, so he’s basically shooting over 50 percent for his career.
As a member of the Patriots, the 43-year-old won six Super Bowl rings, the most of any player in NFL history. He also holds multiple Super Bowl records that may never be touched — and he’s only going to add to them on Sunday.
Before Brady and the Bucs battle Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl 55, let’s take a look back at the GOAT’s incredible Super Bowl resume.
Brady’s stats: 16-for-27 passing, 145 yards, one TD, zero INTs, 86.2 rating (Super Bowl MVP)
In his first Super Bowl appearance, Brady helped the Patriots pull off the upset against the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf.” With no timeouts remaining and less than two minutes on the clock, Brady led New England down the field, setting up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning 48-yard field goal.
Not a bad debut, huh?
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Super Bowl 38: Patriots 32, Panthers 29
Brady’s stats: 32-for-48 passing, 354 yards, three TDs, one INT, 100.5 rating (Super Bowl MVP)
The script was slightly different, but Brady enjoyed a similar ending in his second trip to the Super Bowl. With the game tied 29-29, Brady did a one-minute drill to put Vinatieri in position for another buzzer-beater.
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Super Bowl 39: Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Brady’s stats: 23-for-33 passing, 236 yards, two TDs, zero INTs, 110.2 rating
Three for three. Brady outdueled Donovan McNabb, whose final desperation heave was picked off by Rodney Harrison to seal a Patriots victory. New England wide receiver Deion Branch earned MVP honors after catching 11 passes from Brady for 133 yards.
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Super Bowl 42: Giants 17, Patriots 14
Brady’s stats: 29-for-48 passing, 266 yards, one TD, zero INTs, 82.5 rating
Look away, Patriots fans.
Brady’s first Super Bowl loss was his most painful. The Pats entered the contest hoping to put the finishing touches on a perfect season, but New York’s defense pressured Brady all game long, sacking him five times and limiting New England to just 14 points. On the Giants’ last offensive drive, Eli Manning connected with David Tyree on the “Helmet Catch” and then found Plaxico Burress in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
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Super Bowl 46: Giants 21, Patriots 17
Brady’s stats: 27-for-41 passing, 276 yards, two TDs, one INT, 91.1 rating
As Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”
New England captured a 17-9 lead in the second half, but New York responded with 12 unanswered points to jump ahead late in the fourth quarter. Brady guided the Patriots to midfield on the team’s final drive, giving New England a Hail Mary opportunity. Unfortunately for the Pats, Rob Gronkowski couldn’t snag the falling football.
Manning 2, Brady 0. Who saw that coming?
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Super Bowl 49: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
Brady’s stats: 37-for-50 passing, 328 yards, four TDs, two INTs, 101.1 rating (Super Bowl MVP)
Brady bounced back after two Super Bowl losses, throwing for 300-plus yards and four scores on his way to his third MVP award. However, this game was remembered not for what Brady did, but rather for what the Seahawks didn’t do.
Down by four points with the ball on the New England 1 and only seconds remaining, Seattle elected to pass instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch. Russell Wilson was then picked off by Malcolm Butler, securing a victory for the Patriots and leaving Seahawks supporters furious.
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Super Bowl 51: Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT)
Brady’s stats: 43-for-62 passing, 466 yards, two TDs, one INT, 95.2 rating (Super Bowl MVP)
So many 28-3 jokes. SO MANY.
With 8:31 on the clock in the third quarter, Atlanta took that now-infamous 25-point lead. The Pats then stormed back to win in overtime behind a stellar performance by Brady, who added Super Bowl MVP No. 4 to his trophy room. Never count out “Touchdown Tom.”
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Super Bowl 52: Eagles 41, Patriots 33
Brady’s stats: 28-for-48 passing, 505 yards, three TDs, zero INTs, 115.4 rating
Despite finishing with the best Super Bowl stat line of his career, Brady walked off the field disappointed following the conclusion of this game. He could have used a few stops from his defense, which struggled to contain . . . Nick Foles?
Yes, the Eagles QB played the game of his life, throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns and catching a TD pass on his way to being named Super Bowl MVP.
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Super Bowl 53: Patriots 13, Rams 3
Brady’s stats: 21-for-35 passing, 262 yards, zero TDs, one INT, 71.4 rating
Oof, just an ugly game.
Both the Patriots and the Rams struggled to score, but New England did enough to emerge victorious. This marked Brady’s only Super Bowl appearance without a touchdown pass, though he didn’t seem to care much as he solidified his GOAT status with a record sixth Super Bowl ring.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps will begin their post-season campaign with a play-in game against the Timbers in Portland on Wednesday.
The ‘Caps (13-13-8) ended the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday and finished eighth in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.
The eighth and ninth spots from each conference meet in a play-in game this week, with the winner going on to face the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.
Each eighth-place team was set to host the play-in game, but Vancouver announced Friday that its home stadium, B.C. Place, is not available, so the club will cede home-field advantage to Portland (12-11-11), the ninth-place team.
The ‘Caps and Timbers split their three-game series during regular-season play, with each side taking a win, a loss and a draw.
The first round of the MLS playoffs is set to begin next weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Diego Luna scored a tying goal in the 73rd minute and Real Salt Lake added another on an own goal for a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night to set a single-season club record for points.
Real Salt Lake (16-7-11) secured the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and will face Minnesota in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs. RSL reached 59 points this season, topping the 2012 team with 57.
Vancouver (13-13-8) will play the Portland Timbers on Wednesday in a wild-card game for a chance to play top-seeded LAFC.
Luna settled a long cross from Braian Ojeda before taking four touches to slot home a shot inside the far post for his eighth goal of the season.
RSL went ahead in the 83rd when Vancouver goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer misplayed a lofted ball that rolled into the back of the net.
Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 58th to become the first player in club history to produce multiple seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Juan Soto’s arrival last winter was supposed to be that move that pushed the New York Yankees back to the top.
They’re one step away.
Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the Yankees advanced to their 41st World Series — and first in 15 years — by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night.
Baseball’s biggest brand is going back to October’s main stage.
Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade from San Diego in December, pushed the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing.
This was why he came, for this moment and for so many more.
“We’re right where we belong,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who pulled off the deal for Soto.
The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the NL Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
In the third consecutive tight game in three nights at Progressive Field, Austin Wells walked with one out in the 10th and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.
Hunter Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.
“I was just saying to myself, `You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy. He ain’t got anything,’” said Soto, who moved alongside his manager, Aaron Boone, as the only New York players to homer in an extra-inning, series-clinching win.
Luke Weaver got the final three outs with Lane Thomas flying out for the last one, which was caught by Soto.
“We get to play for a world championship,” Boone said. “That’s pretty sweet.”
The 25-year-old Soto is eligible for free agency this winter, and Yankees fans chanted “Re-sign Soto!” during the postgame festivities. He’s expected to get a contract upwards of $600 million, and his heroics in Game 5 may have raised his price.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer and was named ALCS MVP as the Yankees took care of the Guardians in five games. It wasn’t easy.
New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. However, it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.
The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.
“This was a rollercoaster and we were able to just keep punching back,” Stanton said. “We know there’s much more work to do and it’s only uphill from here and we got to get it done.”
Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.
“There’s only one team that gets to win the last game of the year, and unfortunately it’s not going to be us,” Vogt said. “But we accomplished a lot as a group. We got better. We worked extremely hard. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We just didn’t get quite as far as we wanted to.”
The Yankees are back in the World Series, back where their fans expect them to be every year.
The club’s 82-80, fourth-place finish in the AL East last season led to some “soul searching as an organization” during the winter, according to Boone, who has been widely criticized but is one of just three managers to take New York to playoffs in six of his first seven seasons.
While the team’s core stayed mostly intact, getting Soto in a blockbuster trade on Dec. 7 — New York sent five players to San Diego for the three-time All-Star — accelerated the team returning to title contender.
“That was a good day,” Boone said with a laugh before the game.
Stanton’s 446-foot rocket into the left-field bleachers tied it at 2 in the sixth and chased Tanner Bibee, who had struck out New York’s dangerous DH in his first two at-bats and held the Yankees scoreless for the first five innings.
It was Stanton’s fourth homer in this series — his third in three days — and his 16th in the postseason, moving him into fourth place on the club’s career list behind Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20) and Mickey Mantle (18).
Before the game, Boone was asked what makes Stanton so good.
“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world.”
But Boone went on to compliment Stanton’s discipline at the plate, “his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”
“There’s something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted,” Boone said.
The Guardians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth off Carlos Rodón on Steven Kwan’s RBI single with two outs. But Cleveland missed a big chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Lane Thomas grounded out on the first pitch to him from Mark Leiter Jr.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (elbow strain) had another successful live batting practice session. The reliever remains on track to join the Yankees on their World Series roster. Boone said Cortes would throw again early next week. Cortes went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts.
