Clearly the Atlanta Falcons broke Tom Brady

Tom Brady had a long history of tormenting the Atlanta Falcons starting with the infamous Super Bowl comeback. Beating Atlanta the next season wasn’t enough for Brady, however, who simply had to join a talented Tampa Bay roster and continue to haunt Matt Ryan and the Falcons from within their own division.

Brady went 4-0 against the Falcons in his first two seasons in Tampa with little hope that this year would be any different. With Marcus Mariota and a rebuilding roster, the Falcons seemed destined to go 0-6 against the GOAT in his time in the NFC South before finally watching Brady leave the division.

Atlanta’s first matchup against the Bucs went perfectly to this script with the Bucs dominating on defense and jumping out to a 21-0 lead.  It appeared Brady would add yet another blowout to his long resume.  Marcus Mariota and the offense came to life, however, going on a 15-0 run putting the pressure on the defense to give them one more chance to score a touchdown and finally hand Brady a much-deserved loss.

The defense responded with a clutch stop with Grady Jarrett sacking Tom Brady and giving his offense a chance.  It was a clean sack that saw Brady respond by attempting to kick Jarrett and promptly asking for and receiving a flag. It was one of the worst calls of the NFL season and saved the Bucs not only in the game but perhaps in the division entirely. The Tampa defense was tired and the Atlanta offense was cooking in the 4th quarter they had earned the chance to win this game.

Officials ended Atlanta’s hopes of finally beating Brady making the team wait until the final week of the season.  Tom Brady vs. Desmond Ridder in what was a meaningless game to both sides. A meaningless game that saw rookie Desmond Ridder play Brady to a 10-10 tie before Todd Bowles made the decision to pull his starters. A decision that resulted in a 30-17 Atlanta win and just a taste of revenge against Brady.

Tom Brady had never lost a game to Atlanta or Dallas before the Falcons beat Tampa in the final week of the season.  Two teams that had long been haunted by Brady could have just ended the legend’s career by handing the veteran back-to-back losses against teams he had dominated in his career.

One could make the case this is a bit of karmic justice for both teams after years of all-time bad calls and collapses. Atlanta and Dallas are both predictable in their losses in clutch moments though the Cowboys have the benefit of a rich history.

Watching Tom Brady finally look like the aging veteran he is handed a playoff loss by a team he has dominated was something that many Atlanta fans couldn’t help but enjoy. The author of their darkest moment finally looked human and handed defeat unable to haunt them in the playoffs or NFC South any longer.

It all started with a Desmond Ridder-led Atlanta Falcons win that finally broke the dominance of Brady against Atlanta and set up a dominant Dallas win Atlanta fans couldn’t help but enjoy.