Beating Tom Brady and the Patriots at home in the final month of the regular season is a monumental task, and accomplishing the feat today would push the Vikings into excellent playoff position.
The last time the Vikings won at New England: September 2000, and Bill Belichick had yet to lead the Patriots to a victory in his first season as head coach.
That’s mind-boggling.
Belichick, arguably the greatest coach in NFL history, has won 222 games as Patriots head coach. He had zero back then, and that was the last season the Patriots finished with a losing record (5-11)
Tom Brady was also a rookie in 2000 and did not play in that game.
Overall, the Brady-Belichick pair is a stunning 64-13 in December/January regular season games since 2000 and the 41-year-old quarterback’s 58 December victories are the most in NFL history.
At home in the final month …. well, he’s even more unbeatable: 35 wins, five losses.
It gets laughable when you realize that two of the four losses were in games the Patriots rested Brady for most of the game.
The five quarterbacks to beat Brady at home in the final month of the regular season:
- Chad Pennington, Jets: 12-22-2002
- Gus Frerotte, Dolphins: 1-1-2006
- Colin Kaepernick, 49ers: 12-16-2012
- Kyle Orton, Bills: 12-28-2014
- Sam Bradford, Eagles: 12-6-2015
Brady played just the first quarter in the 2006 loss to the Dolphins, and only the first half in the 2014 loss to the Bills.
Brady will not be resting today against the Vikings, who are five-point underdogs, according to the Westgate Superbook. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m.
