Tom Brady Takes What the Defense Gives Him in Comeback Drive vs. Dallas Cowboys

Dissecting New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's mastery is like picking apart an atom. No matter how many times you break it down, even the tiniest particles can still be appreciated.

For all the statistical dominance, it's drives like this that prove no one can beat Brady when Brady is Brady.

These are just some of the key plays in his vintage comeback drive on Sunday against the Cowboys.

1. 1st-and-10, Ball on Patriots 20-Yard Line

Formation: Shotgun, 1 RB-2 TE-2 WR

A linebacker stunt blitz looked like it would work, but New England's offensive line picked it up.

In the end, Tom Brady made them pay for it. Rob Gronkowski was chipped off the line by linebacker Anthony Spencer and covered quickly by safety Abram Elam. This is the same strategy the Patriots have used to take away a string of talented tight ends, and it was effective on this play.

The blitz left them exposed over the middle, though, and Hernandez ran a five-yard in route and waited for the ball. In the blink of an eye, the Patriots got out of the hole and advanced the ball 15 yards.

Result: 16-yard reception, first down

2. 1st-and-10, Ball on Patriots 36

Formation: Shotgun, 1 RB-2 TE-2 WR

This time, the pressure got there. It's a good thing Gronkowski was one of Brady's first reads, because he wouldn't have had time to get him the ball otherwise.

Hernandez took the corner away from the play, allowing Gronkowski to run his out route uninterrupted. Sean Lee got turned around a bit in coverage, and by the time he figured out what was going on, Gronkowski had already made a break for the sideline and made an easy catch.

Brady built a reputation off hanging in the pocket to make the throw, and that's exactly what he did here. Still, Troy Aikman said it best: "No margin for error on that throw; if you underthrow that one, that ball's intercepted."

Result: 10-yard reception

3. 2nd-and-5, Ball on Cowboys 48

Formation: Shotgun, 1 RB-2 TE-2 WR

Interestingly, the formation is the same as the previous play but flipped. The Cowboys read the play correctly, rushing only three on the play and loaded the intermediate zone with four defenders, but two of them were on Gronkowski who didn't do much in the way of making it look like he was a target on the play.

This time, it was the receivers who ran the complementary routes. Deion Branch ran a slant route up the middle and took the safety with him. Branch was helped, of course, by Brady's eyes fixated on him as the receiver went to the flag.

Wes Welker, lined up in the slot, ran an out route about a yard past the first-down marker. On one of only a few plays where Welker wasn't double-teamed, he quickly got inside leverage on Orlando Scandrick and broke for the sideline.  

This was another throw that, had it been slightly underthrown, could have resulted in an interception.

Result: 10-yard gain

4. 1st-and-10, Ball on Cowboys 27

Formation: Shotgun, 1 RB-2 TE-2 WR

Again, same exact formation as the first slide. Seeing a trend?

This time, the ball didn't go to either of the receivers, though. It went straight into the hands of Danny Woodhead.

The Cowboys were in full-on prevent mode at this point. With the Patriots already in field goal range, the Cowboys could only hope that the Patriots weren't able to walk away from the final drive with a touchdown. They dropped three men deep and only rushed four.

Brady was hurried by DeMarcus Ware, much as he had been all night up to that point. With the pressure coming from the blind side, it was almost uncanny how Brady released the ball just a split second before Ware reached him, but that is the pocket awareness Brady has come to be known for.

Woodhead used his little person powers to become nearly invisible, or at least it seemed that way as he waited in the middle of the field, completely unnoticed. Brady sent the pass his direction, and Woodhead turned up field, and by the time Dallas' secondary reached him, it was too late.

Result: 13-yard gain

5. 2nd-and-4, Ball on Cowboys 8

Formation: Shotgun, 1 RB-2 WR-2 TE

It's only fitting that the final play of the drive came in the same formation as the others listed here.

Once again, the defense doubled Rob Gronkowski, who ran an out route to the bottom of the end zone. Mike Jenkins was in man coverage on Aaron Hernandez and played the route perfectly. He was in position to defend the pass, but there was only one problem: The guy throwing that pass was Tom Brady. 

In fact, Deion Branch was double covered in the end zone, and Wes Welker was covered in the flat at the first-down marker but short of the end zone. It was no matter, though, as a perfectly-placed pass from Brady sealed the deal on his 32nd comeback victory.

Result: eight-yard completion, touchdown

Conclusion

There's a difference between being consistent and banging your head against a wall hoping things will change. The difference is, consistency is rewarded and banging your head against a wall just hurts. And makes you look stupid.

Brady? He spread the ball around like butter on bread and looked every bit like the guy who won three Super Bowls on the strength of clutch performances. 

I'll let Aikman take us out: "It's Joe Montana-like. I mean, you think back to them any drives that he had to end games. You don't have to necessarily force the ball down the field because defenses, just by their nature, are worried about giving up the big play. A lot of things open up underneath, and there's a lot more time than what a lot of people realize in those situations."

Brady put together a masterful drive by just by taking what the defense gave him, a fundamental skill of quarterbacking. His excellence in that skill and his pinpoint accurate throws are what lifted the Patritos to victory on Sunday.