Is Tom Brady a clutch player? He’s a three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time Super Bowl MVP who threw a game-winning touchdown pass with five seconds remaining on Sunday, so a lot of people would say, Of course he is.
But Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked about Brady being a clutch player after Sunday’s win over the Saints, and Belichick brushed off the idea of Brady being “clutch” by responding that Brady is really just a good player, not a clutch player. Brady is good in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter in big games like Sunday’s clash with the previously undefeated Saints, but Brady is good at all other times, too.
Here’s the exchange from Belichick’s post-game press conference:
Q: What makes Tom Brady so clutch?
BB: He’s obviously one of the best players in the league. He’s good in all four quarters.
So it’s not so much that Brady is clutch, as that he’s good, and just as he plays well in the first, second and third quarters, he continues to play well when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter.