Tom Brady has set dozens of NFL records over the course of his 23-year NFL career, and he added two more to his total on Sunday. The twist here, though, is that Brady actually broke the two major records in a span of six plays against the Falcons.
Going into Week 18, Brady needed to throw nine passes to break Matthew Stafford's NFL record for most pass attempts in a season. Back in 2012, Stafford attempted 727 passes while playing for the Lions.
Brady broke the record when he threw his ninth pass of the day on a play that probably won't be too memorable for Chris Godwin, who caught the pass and then proceeded to fumble the ball away.
Brady also shot to break another big record on Sunday: Going into the game, he needed to complete just nine passes to break his own record for most completions in a season, which he set in 2021 when he completed 485 passes.
With just over 13 minutes left to play in the second quarter, Brady hit Russell Gage for a five-yard pass that usually wouldn't qualify as a very notable play, but it did in this case because the throw was Brady's 486th completion of the year. The record for completions came just six plays after Brady broke the NFL record for most pass attempts in a season.
The Buccaneers have already clinched the NFC South, so it wasn't even clear if he was going to play on Sunday. However, he did end up playing, but he got sent to the bench in the second quarter after breaking both records. Overall, Brady finished the day 13 of 17 for 84 yards and a TD, which means he'll finish the season with an NFL record 490 completions and 736 pass attempts.
Brady could also break one personal record that he probably won't be bragging about anytime soon: If the Buccaneers lose, the Bucs will drop to 8-9, which will mark the first time in Brady's career that his team has finished with a losing record with him as the starting QB (The Patriots finished 5-11 during his rookie year, but Brady didn't start any games that season).
