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The term clutch gets thrown around a lot, but there's nobody more deserving of it than Tom Brady.
Brady consistently plays his best football when his team needs him the most. Playoff games are when the quarterback shines the brightest.
It's safe to say Brady is the greatest playoff performer in the history of the NFL. Brady is probably also the greatest playoff performer in any sport. He's been that good.
Ranking Brady's top five all-time playoff performances is an arduous task. That said, it's well worth an attempt. He has 34 playoff victories on his resume and even in some of his losses, Brady put on a show.
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Here are Brady's top five all-time playoff performances.
Tom Brady's greatest playoff performances
#1 - Super Bowl LI, Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots
Nothing Brady does will ever top Super Bowl LI. The Patriots looked all but finished, down 28-3 late in the third quarter, but somehow New England miraculously caught fire and charged a comeback.
The game went into overtime tied at 28-28. Brady then led the Patriots on one of his patented game-winning drives to defeat the Atlanta Falcons and win another Super Bowl.
Brady finished the game with 466 passing yards, a Super Bowl record at the time.
It wasn't just the statistics that made this Brady's greatest playoff performance. His belief and determination to guide the Patriots from 28-3 down in the Super Bowl is what makes it so impressive.
Brady's leadership has always been elite. His impact goes well beyond throwing for a ton of yards. His drive to succeed is a big part of what makes him the best to do it, and there's no better example of it than Super Bowl LI.
#2 - Super Bowl XLIX, Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots
It says a lot about how great Brady is that Super Bowl XLIX is his second greatest playoff moment.
Seattle led 24-14 in the fourth quarter, but Brady and the Patriots marched down the field twice to snatch the lead. Brady's stat line was impressive - 328 passing yards and four touchdowns - but what made it one of his best playoff moments ever was the defense he did it against.
At the time, the Seahawks had one of the greatest defensive units in NFL history. In particular, the Seattle secondary. Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner were dubbed the Legion of Boom.
Brady struggled early against the highly talented Seattle defense, but he turned it on in the fourth quarter.
When considering how good the opponent was, you could make an argument Brady's performance in the fourth quarter in Super Bowl XLIX was the best fourth-quarter performance of all time. It was that good.
#3 - Super Bowl XXXVIII, Carolina Panthers vs. New England Patriots
Going into the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXVIII, the score was 14-10. What ensued next was one of the highest-scoring fourth-quarters in Super Bowl history. The game finished 32-29 after another Brady game-winning drive.
Brady had 354 yards passing and three touchdowns. Keep in mind, this game took place in 2004. This was before the era of pass-happy offenses and rules that favored quarterbacks and wide receivers.
With the win, Brady captured his second Super Bowl ring. Nobody knew just how much incredible success would follow, but Super Bowl XXXVIII was an indication of just how great Tom Brady could be.
#4 - Divisional Round, Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots
It wasn't just the Super Bowls that Brady dominated. His performance in the divisional matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in 2015 was one for the ages.
Brady and the Patriots were down 14 points twice in this game but managed to come back both times and ultimately win the game.
Brady threw for 367 yards with three passing touchdowns and managed a rushing touchdown as well. Plus, he was once again responsible for the game-winning drive.
Brady's performance in this game is magnified by the fact that winning this game kept the Patriots in the playoffs. In this same postseason, New England beat the Seahawks in the aforementioned Super Bowl XLIX.
#5 - AFC Championship, Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots
It's not often that the Patriots found themselves the underdogs in a game in the Brady and Bill Belichick era, but the 2019 AFC Championship was the exception to the rule.
The Kansas City Chiefs came into the game as a clear favorite. Arrowhead Stadium was rocking and league MVP Patrick Mahomes had been unstoppable all season long.
None of that mattered to Brady. The game was an instant classic. The Patriots ended up winning 37-31 in overtime.
Statistically, it wasn't Brady's most impressive performance. He had 348 passing yards and one touchdown, but he also had two interceptions. But what made it such a historic performance was how well Brady played down the stretch.
He converted three 3rd-and-10 situations on the game-winning drive. That's simply next-level clutch play, and that's why it deserves a spot on the list.
