The Seattle Seahawks had the league's top-ranked pass defense in 2014, and have done a real number against elite quarterbacks the last two seasons, frustrating the likes of Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. They also beat Tom Brady up in Seattle back in 2012, though he threw for 395 yards and 2 TDs in that game.
How did Brady fare against other top pass defenses last season? Pretty well, although we'll acknowledge that none of those groups was as good as Seattle.
Leaving out the Week 17 game against Buffalo (where Brady got an early seat), New England's quarterback played eight games against top-10 pass defenses in the 2014. Setting aside the question over whether he benefited from underinflated footballs or not, Brady was pretty solid in those games.
What's worth noting, however, is that New England went just 5-3 in those eight contests. In Brady's nine games (including two playoff contests) against defenses ranked outside the top 10 against the pass, the Patriots went 9-0.
Brady's games against top-10 pass defenses in 2014 are presented below, with his averages at the bottom. Incidentally, Brady was better in his nine games against pass defenses ranked outside the top 10 (280 passing yards and 2.4 TDs per game), but not dramatically so.
| TOM BRADY VS. TOP-10 PASS DEFENSES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Com | Att | Yds | TD | INT | QBR |
| @ MIA | L 20-33 | 29 | 56 | 249 | 1 | 0 | 69.7 |
| @ MIN | W 30-7 | 14 | 21 | 149 | 1 | 0 | 103.1 |
| @ KC | L 14-41 | 14 | 23 | 159 | 1 | 2 | 59.9 |
| @ BUF | W 37-22 | 27 | 37 | 361 | 4 | 0 | 139.6 |
| DEN | W 43-21 | 33 | 53 | 333 | 4 | 1 | 97.4 |
| @ GB | L 21-26 | 22 | 35 | 245 | 2 | 0 | 102.7 |
| @ SD | W 23-14 | 28 | 44 | 317 | 2 | 1 | 90.8 |
| MIA | W 41-13 | 21 | 35 | 287 | 2 | 1 | 93.4 |
| Average | 5-3 | 24 | 38 | 263 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 94.6 |
--Andy Richardson