Tom Brady is a natural wonder at the age of 44.
He is playing like he is 24 and has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking like Super Bowl contenders once again.
That is thanks to some mind-blowing statistical marks from him through the first 16 games of the season.
Brady has 4,990 passing yards and 40 touchdowns.
Both marks lead the NFL and have Brady in NFL MVP consideration.
Fans must remember that he is doing all of this at 44 years old.
That means he is about to set even more NFL history if his league-leading numbers hold following Sunday’s games.
At age 44, Tom Brady leads the NFL in pass yards and pass TD.
The oldest player to ever lead the NFL in both is Peyton Manning in 2013, at age 37. pic.twitter.com/6QSEVOUIYF
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 6, 2022
Peyton Manning currently holds the record for oldest quarterback to lead the NFL in yards and touchdowns.
But he was only 37.
If Brady can break his former foe’s mark, the record may never be broken again.
The Chase For History
So can Brady hold off the competition in Week 18?
Head coach Bruce Arians has already indicated his starters will play against the Carolina Panthers.
For how long remains to be seen.
The next closest player to Brady in yards is Matthew Stafford with 4,648.
So as long as Brady plays and has even a below-average day, he should keep the yardage lead.
The touchdown mark may be harder to hold.
Stafford is next again with 38 touchdowns ahead of a meaningful game against the San Francisco 49ers.
With one week remaining, Tom Brady sits just 10 yards shy of throwing for 5,000 for the second time in his career. 🎯#NFL pic.twitter.com/fpNzWaNJMz
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 4, 2022
So assuming both Brady and Stafford play like normal, the latter may be able to surpass the touchdown total with a big day.
Both quarterbacks are also indirectly going head-to-head for the second seed in the NFC, which explains why they are both playing.
It comes as no surprise that Brady is trying to set even more NFL history.
Setting any mark at his current age is going to make it nearly impossible for anyone to break these records because of how rare it is for an NFL player to last this long.
And not only that, but Brady has never stopped being elite for two decades.
Not even Manning could stake that claim as he started to drastically decline near the end of his career.
NEXT: NFL World Reacts To Antonio Brown's Texts