Simply the best

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady makes his 100th regular season start today in Dallas, a milestone that will have little significance to him unless the Patriots beat the Cowboys to remain undefeated.

“I was hoping to get 10 games,” Brady said. “But 100, that’s good. I didn’t know that.”

Brady, in all likelihood, probably had no idea that his record as a starter is 75-24. Or that a victory this weekend would tie him with Hall of Famer Roger Staubach for the most regular season wins by a quarterback in his first 100 starts.

“I didn’t even really know and really don’t care,” center Dan Koppen said. “It’s one of those things where stats and records really don’t mean anything on a week to week basis. I’m sure after his career is done or after our careers are done you’ll look back and say, ‘Wow, Tom’s a winner.’ He’s won around here for a long time and that’s great.”

Brady, 30, is more comfortable facing an all-out blitz than talking about his individual accomplishments. But there’s no denying his place in franchise history and his ascension into the elite ranks of quarterbacks.

“I think he’s the best quarterback in the league,” linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said.

It’s difficult to argue that. If you go by numbers, there is no question Brady is the best. Armed with his most talented group of receivers, he is on track to have one of the greatest seasons by any quarterback.

With 16 touchdown passes, Brady is on pace to break Peyton Manning’s record. The Colts quarterback threw 14 TD passes the first five games of the 2004 season and finished with 49, eclipsing the mark set by Dan Marino (48) in 1984.

When he threw three touchdown passes last week, Brady tied the record set by Steve Young (1998) for throwing at least three in each of the first five games of a season.

Brady’s quarterback rating the first five games is 128.7, which is considerably higher than his career rating going into the season (88.4) and his single season best (92.6) in 2004. Manning holds the record for the highest rating in a season (121.1 in 2004).

This season, Brady’s lowest quarterback rating has been 105.7. Last season, his highest in the first five games was 91.2. And by exceeding the 100 rating in each of the first five games this season, Brady has already matched his total from last year.

“Tom probably is better today than he was yesterday, better this week then last week, better this year than last year,” running back Kevin Faulk said. “It’s just a growing process that you go through in your career.”

So far this season, Brady has completed 74.1 percent of his passes (117 of 158) and has thrown for 1,383 yards. He is the only player in history to complete at least 75 percent of his passes in four straight games during a single season.

“Tom Brady is just the greatest,” Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. “I have all the respect in the world for him, and their players and their coaching. But he’s just so hard to play against. Marino, when we used to play against him, it’s a chore. It’s hard to come up with something that can bother them, that can give them problems. You have to hope they have an off day sometimes. That’s about it.”

An off day by Brady could be a good day for some quarterbacks. Last week against the Browns, he completed 22 of 38 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns, but he wasn’t happy with his performance. The 16 incomplete passes were more than twice as many as his previous high this season.

“He’s just a competitor. He’s always wanted to get better,” said Koppen, Brady’s center since 2003. “His work ethic is outstanding. He’s usually the first one in and the last one to leave. It’s just one of those things where he works and deserves everything he gets.”

Koppen and the offensive line have done a good job protecting Brady, who has been sacked just three times or taken a big hit. Another reason Brady hasn’t been heavily pressured is opposing defenses haven’t blitzed much because it leaves the pass coverage even more vulnerable. His two interceptions were the result of bad throws.

“I won’t make any comparisons, but as far as Tom goes, he’s a real intellectual guy on and off the field,” receiver Donte Stallworth said. “He understands what defenses are trying to get done.”

Asked whether Brady has been underappreciated by the rest of the country, New England coach Bill Belichick said, “I don’t know. He’s appreciated here, I can tell you that.”

Belichick said Brady has been a good self-evaluator who is continually striving to improve since he was the fourth-string quarterback as a rookie in 2000.

“He’s always working to get better,” Belichick added. “He’s done it through his entire career. He’s certainly doing it this year. I think that’s a great example for all of us, that even a guy who is playing really good football is still always looking to do little things to get better and improve and that’s one of the reasons why he’s so successful.”

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