Tom Brady Isn’t That Great in AFC Championship Games – Latest Odds

With the New England Patriots a -6 favorite to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday in hopes of advancing to Super Bowl 51, Fox Sports suggests that Pats starting quarterback Tom Brady is hardly a phenom when it comes to AFC Championship games.

Andre Vergara of Fox Sports says “Don’t believe the hype” surrounding Brady.

This is illustrated going back to 2001. That year Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe as the starter in the season opener where he split the reps against Pittsburgh after mixed results (312 yards, 0 TDs) against Oakland in his playoff debut.

The change of fortune in AFC Championship games appeared to take place in 2006 with Brady picked off in the final seconds of that Super Bowl against the Colts, and Peyton Manning went on to win his first Super Bowl.

In 2007, Brady got picked off three times against the San Diego Chargers.

In 2011, Brady also struggled against the Ravens defense though his Pats ultimately advanced to the Super Bowl where they lost to the Giants.

In 2012, Vergara writes:

Brady found himself facing Lewis one final time, with Baltimore again standing between New England and another trip to the Super Bowl. Brady aired it out 54 times and held a 13-7 halftime lead, but this time Flacco owned the second half, throwing three TDs to rally the Ravens, and Baltimore picked off Brady to seal it, then went on to win the Super Bowl against San Francisco and send Lewis off in style.

2013:

Peyton Manning did it to Brady again, completing 32 of 43 passes for 400 yards and two TDs. Brady had beaten his rival in OT in Week 12 at New England and was stellar on the road, but it didn't matter as Manning was leading the Broncos to the Super Bowl in his second season in Denver.

We all know how 2014 went with Brady playing well against Indianapolis minus Peyton Manning but that win was marred by the infamous Deflategate scandal.

Last year against the Broncos in the AFC Conference Championship game, Brady would go on to have one of his worst games in his storied career.

- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com