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NANCY ARMOUR
Tom Brady

Armour: Tom Brady exacts Deflategate revenge with his play

Nancy Armour
USA TODAY Sports
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) reacts before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional round playoff game at Gillette Stadium.

Way to go, Roger Goodell.

It wasn’t enough for the NFL commissioner to raise the ire of the New England Patriots, a team that can find slights and injustices at any turn, with Deflategate. By punishing Tom Brady as if he were Public Enemy No. 1, Goodell went and punished every other team in the AFC, too.

Add the NFC to that list should Brady and the Patriots win this weekend’s AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos.

Brady might be easygoing and fun-loving off the field, as evidenced by his hilarious postings on social media. Name another megastar who would not only dress up as a turkey to prank his kids at Thanksgiving but also let the whole world see video of it. Yeah, I couldn’t think of one, either.

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As an athlete, however, Brady is as fiery and competitive as they come, with sideline exchanges so profane the FCC has received complaints. Seriously.

By calling Brady’s character into question, as Goodell did when he slapped the NFL’s Golden Boy with a four-game suspension for Deflategate, the commissioner unleashed a fury so powerful that this season might as well have been billed as Brady’s scorched-earth tour.

While the “science” behind the NFL’s case has been exposed as junk, there are still plenty of people who believe the Patriots are guilty of tampering with the footballs and that Brady played a role. Aside from his appeal that shot down the suspension and basically got Goodell and the NFL laughed out of court, the only defense Brady has of his reputation is his performance.

No one believed that Brady was putting up Hall of Fame numbers because of underinflated footballs. But if you thought it gave him even the slightest edge, well, he’d show you.

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Brady has played as well as he ever has this season, and, at 38, that’s saying something. (See Peyton Manning, just a year older, for comparison.) His 36 touchdown passes led the NFL and were his most since 2011. His interception percentage was a minuscule 1.1%, also best in the league and his best since 2010, when he won his second NFL MVP Award.

His passer rating of 102.2 is his highest in five years, and his 4,770 yards passing is his most since 2012.

It’s not just fantasy owners who are benefiting from those stats. The Patriots won their first 10 games – only the Carolina Panthers did better – and finished 12-4, their 13th consecutive season with double-digit wins.

They’re playing for the AFC championship for a fifth consecutive year and 10th time in the last 15 years. And should New England beat Denver, Brady will have a chance to become the first quarterback to win five Super Bowls, breaking his current tie with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.

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Just imagine how fun that trophy ceremony would be. Goodell having to smile as he congratulates Brady and the Patriots for yet another championship would be the equivalent of Brady waving the Wells Report in Goodell’s face before lighting it on fire – only probably more satisfying.

Critics will say other quarterbacks could put up those kind of numbers throwing to Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. Except Brady didn’t have all three for a good chunk of the season.

Edelman missed the last seven games of the regular season with a broken foot. Amendola missed two games with injuries to his left knee. Gronkowski missed only one game after injuring his knee in Week 12 against the Broncos but appeared to still be hobbled in the final four games.

Yes, the Patriots lost four of their last six games. But three were games when Brady had just one of his favorite targets. As for that last loss, at the Miami Dolphins in Week 17, coach Bill Belichick had no business letting Brady or any of his other offensive starters be Ndamukong Suh's roadkill.

In issuing his heavy-handed punishment for Deflategate, Goodell thought he was getting the best of the Patriots, Brady in particular.

Oh, Goodell got Brady's best all right. The whole NFL did.

Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.

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