Super Bowl 2012: Why a Patriots Loss Won't Harm Tom Brady's Legacy

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has led his team to five Super Bowls since 2000, winning three of them, including back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004.

He's already established himself as one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and he is still very much in his prime.

A win over the New York Giants in this year's Super Bowl would put him in rare company—only Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw have won four championships—but a loss wouldn't harm his legacy very much, even if it doesn't cement him as the best quarterback to play the game.

Very few passers have accomplished what Brady has. He's thrown for over 4,000 yards four times and came close to that mark in 2010, with 3,900 passing yards. Brady has never thrown more than 14 interceptions in a season, including just four last year.

In the past decade, the only thing that has stayed the same about the Patriots is Brady and head coach Bill Belichick. Brady's had little stability when it comes to the offensive players around him, yet his production never suffers for it.

In fact, no matter who is catching Brady's passes or protecting him on the offensive line, the team always ends the year with a winning record. They've missed the playoffs twice with him on the roster, including the 2008 season that Brady missed the entirety of with a knee injury in which the team went 11-5 but didn't make it to the postseason.

Very few people were ridiculous enough to predict that Brady's dominance in the league was through when the Patriots fell to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, and it's not likely anyone would say it if the team loses to the Giants again in this year's championship.

Brady is a very good quarterback, no matter what happens in this year's Super Bowl. He's accomplished things that very few passers ever will, including Giants quarterback Eli Manning. He's the standard by which all talented quarterbacks are judged and he's guaranteed to enter the Hall of Fame.

The only thing a Super Bowl win would do for Brady's legacy is further cement the things we already know, but a loss won't make those things somehow magically disappear or diminish his prior accomplishments.

Look at what Brady had to do to get to the Super Bowl this year: He needed to carry his team, which fielded the 31st-ranked pass defense in the league this year; he threw for over 5,000 yards and scored 39 passing and three rushing touchdowns to do it; he needed to rely on two tight ends and wide receiver Wes Welker to be his primary targets instead of a traditional, big play wideout, and succeeded so significantly that it's changed the idea of what a winning offense can look like; he managed to ward off a dangerous Baltimore Ravens team that held him to his worst playoff performance in his career.

Those facts alone have further cemented Brady's legacy as one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, all without a Super Bowl victory. And those facts remain, regardless of whether the Patriots defeat the Giants.

Brady is Brady, win or lose. Though another Super Bowl victory will only add to the legacy Brady leaves behind, a loss doesn't call his status as a legendary quarterback into question.