Tom Brady discloses the best defensive player he has ever faced in Super Bowl: “He was an absolute nuisance”
Tom Brady will debut as a Super Bowl commentator on February 9th as he prepares to call the game with Kevin Burkhardt.
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Tom Brady celebrates after winning the Super Bowl (Image via ESPN/X)
Tom Brady has an unmatched legacy in the Super Bowl, making ten appearances and winning seven championships. The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback has gone up against the Seattle Seahawks’ impenetrable Legion of Zoom and played the Greatest Show on Turf and survived. But, none of them contained the best defensive player he has played against.
In a recent Verizon mailbag edition, Tom Brady disclosed the best defensive player he squared off. Shrugging off at the easiness of the question, Brady confirmed that Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams, whom he played in the 2018 Super Bowl.
The new Las Vegas Raiders minority owner and FOX commentator Tom Brady opened up about Donald, admitting that he was an absolute nuisance to play against.
Okay, this is an easy one. There’s one guy late in my career who I went against, and every time we played them, he was an absolute nuisance. But in the Super Bowl in 2018 against the Rams, we faced Aaron Donald.
Tom Brady said
Although Brady attests to Donald as the best, he was not playing at his best in that particular game. Donald managed only one solo tackle and failed to sack Brady despite his 20.5 regular-season sacks that earned him Defensive Player of the Year. In the Super Bowl, he registered just two pressures, his second-lowest total of the season, according to Pro Football Focus.
We actually limited his ability to make a lot of plays in that game because we had a lot of double teams. Every single play—run, pass, including pass protection—was designed to keep him out of the backfield and prevent him from making negative plays.
Tom Brady added
"Every time we played him, he was an absolute nuisance… It was one of the biggest challenges I ever faced."
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 31, 2025
Who is the best defensive player that @TomBrady ever faced in a Super Bowl 🤔⬇️ pic.twitter.com/vRUoRASPve
Tom Brady upholds Patriots’ defense as the reason of the Super Bowl victory
The 2019 Super Bowl was a defensive camaraderie as the New England Patriots limited the Los Angeles Rams to 13-3. It wasn’t Brady nor Rob Gronkowski but a Bill Belichick masterplan and Jonathan Jones.
In his Verizon mailbag episode, Brady praised the defense who put bodies on the line to earn the title. He admitted that they only won because of the defense.
And at the same time, we only scored 13 points in the entire game. It was one of the hardest games and one of the biggest challenges I ever faced…Thank God our defense played so great or we wouldn’t have won that game.
Tom Brady said
Under Belichick’s guidance, the Patriots shifted away from their usual man-to-man defense, focusing instead on two primary zone coverages. They also introduced a new defensive front designed to counter Los Angeles’ dominant rushing attack, ultimately shutting it down.
In the game, Belichick devised the help of a young Jones – he moved between Nickelback and safety throughout the game. His speed and coverage ability allowed the Patriots to execute their preferred zone schemes on early downs.
During games, Jones frequently matched up against slot receivers in man-to-man coverage. In the AFC Championship Game, for instance, he closely shadowed Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill. Meanwhile, in practice, he took extra reps at safety, occasionally joining the scout-team defense to gain additional experience.
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Mohammed Bazim
(453 Articles Published)