Tom Brady always begins deflecting questions about other quarterbacks by saying he doesn’t play against other quarterbacks.
Since he focuses on the other defense, the omen this week is a good one.
According to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, Brady is a perfect 7-0 against defenses coached by Jack Del Rio, including his time as Broncos coordinator and Jaguars head coach.
That includes a pair of playoff wins over the Jaguars in 2005 and 2007.
In those seven games, Brady is 171-of-235 passing (73 percent) for 1,771 yards, 17 touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s a passer rating of 121.1 against Del Rio, which must give him nightmares.
“I just think [Brady] is a good player and prepares hard,” Del Rio said. “They do a nice job with their schemes and he’s an accurate passer. He’s a smart guy, a competitive guy.”
He then likely muttered many words under his breath which we can’t print here at our family website.
The most glaring example was the most recent, coming back from a 24-0 halftime deficit to beat the Broncos in the regular season meeting.
“When you’re up 24-0, we’ve just got to find a way to step on their throat and just put them away,” Denver defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “We didn’t do that. If we’re in the same position again, we’ve just got to finish better.”
And beating Brady once would be a good start for Del Rio.