Why Back-to-Back Super Bowl Losses Permanently Tarnish Tom Brady's Legacy

It happened again. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were favored to win a Super Bowl against the New York Giants, and they let Eli Manning and company come back to nip them late in the fourth quarter. 

The fourth quarter had always been Brady's time. We had become accustomed to the signal-caller calmly sitting back in the pocket and picking apart defenses whenever games were on the line. Heck, in three of his first four seasons as a starting quarterback, he guided the Patriots to Super Bowl titles. And in each one of those games, New England won by just three points. 

Since that time, something has changed. Maybe it's the guys around him or the team's lack of a solid running game, but Brady just isn't who he used to be in clutch situations, especially in big games.

In the second and third quarters of Super Bowl XLVI, Brady was sublime. He looked as good as he ever has, and he had that piratical gleam in his eye where he wanted to destroy the defense that was in front of him. At one point, he completed a Super Bowl-record 16 straight passes. He had things rolling. Then suddenly the Patriots hit a wall.

Brady's receivers starting dropping passes. His throws didn't have the same zip or pinpoint accuracy that we're used to seeing. He did suffer a left shoulder injury at one point, but that's not the kind of thing that should have bothered him. Not in the biggest game of the year. 

The 34-year-old was shaky down the stretch, and that was perfectly visible with his biggest mistake of the game. Brady escaped pressure and fired a ball downfield in the direction of tight end Rob Gronkowski. Unfortunately, the pass was woefully underthrown and was intercepted by New York's Chase Blackburn. 

On the night, Brady completed 27-of-41 passes for 276 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

He wasn't bad; he just wasn't the Tom Brady we've seen before. The exact same thing happened in Super Bowl XLII when the Giants beat the Patriots, 17-14. In that game, Brady completed 29-of-48 passes for 266 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. His yards per attempt average was a dismal 5.5, and he was sacked five times. He just didn't have the same magic we've seen from him before.

The kid who came out of nowhere to improbably win three Super Bowls in his first four seasons as a starting quarterback has now lost two straight when his team was favored. Unfortunately, those two results will forever taint his legacy.