Tom Brady: Wins are the only stats that matter

Brady is focused solely on winning, not statistics or quarterback ranking. (Greg M. Cooper/ USA TODAY Sports)

Is future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady still a top-five quarterback? A recent statistically-driven Pro Football Focus article by Sam Monson, republished on ESPN Insider, claimed that Brady no longer belongs in the Mount Rushmore of current QB’s, sparking a national conversation of whether the three-time Super Bowl champion is still elite. 

Brady could care less about where football pundits think he stacks up against other NFL QB’s. For the two-time MVP, winning is the only statistic that matters.

"I think that people watch the games on TV because there is a scoreboard. I think that's what it is all about," Brady said, per Tom Curran of CSNNE.com. "If there was no scoreboard, then people wouldn't tune in and watch. There's only one stat that matters, and that's because the competition in the NFL is very high, extremely high on a daily basis.

Accuracy issues and a rise in turnovers under pressure led Monson to assert in his report that Brady was no longer a top-five quarterback. Monson ranked the Broncos’ Peyton Manning, Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, Saints’ Drew Brees, Chargers’ Philip Rivers and Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger ahead of Brady. Brady led his team further into the playoffs than all of the above mentioned quarterbacks last season with the exception of Manning, who spearheaded the Broncos’ victory over the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

Brady, who turns 37 in August, threw 25 touchdowns versus 11 interceptions in 2013. He completed 60.5 percent of his passes and recorded a quarterback rating of 87.3— his lowest mark since 2003. In fairness to Brady, his receiving core was young and depleted throughout the year. Not to mention, the Patriots suffered major injuries in their defensive unit, putting an even greater burden on Brady. Yet, he still managed to lead the Patriots to 13 wins and another AFC East crown as Brady reached his seventh conference championship game, the most among active quarterbacks.

“I think winning games is the most important thing, certainly for this organization," Brady said. "When you come here, you learn that pretty quickly. Whatever matters to you as an individual, it’s far distant to what the team goals are. And the team goals are one thing — to score more points than the other team.”