Tom Brady Mailbag: Who is the best player he ever faced in the Super Bowl? This question has a straightforward answer, as Brady himself has shared his thoughts on the matter. Having played in 10 Super Bowls, he faced numerous elite opponents, including the formidable Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” and the explosive “Greatest Show on Turf.”
In a recent Verizon mailbag, Brady was asked to identify the toughest defensive player he encountered during his Super Bowl career. Without a moment’s hesitation, he pinpointed one standout athlete.
“This is an easy one,” Brady remarked. “There was one player late in my career who consistently proved to be a real headache for me. I didn’t often get the upper hand against him. In fact, he triumphed over me quite a bit.”
“In the 2018 Super Bowl against the Rams, we faced Aaron Donald. We managed to limit his impact by employing multiple double teams. Every single play—whether it was a run, a pass, or pass protection—was strategically crafted to keep him from penetrating the backfield and minimizing his plays.”
As Brady noted, the New England Patriots triumphed over Donald’s Rams in Super Bowl LIII with a score of 13-3. Despite the game being a defensive battle, Donald recorded only one solo tackle and failed to sack Brady, despite having achieved an impressive 20.5 sacks during the regular season, which earned him the title of Defensive Player of the Year. According to Pro Football Focus, he registered just two pressures in the Super Bowl, marking one of his lowest performances that season.
New England’s strategy to neutralize Los Angeles’ defensive powerhouse proved effective, even though Brady and his team managed to score only 13 points in the victory.
“He didn’t cause many negative plays,” Brady reflected. “However, we only scored 13 points in total. It was one of the toughest games I faced because he forced us to adapt our game plan in ways we didn’t necessarily want to. While we limited his statistical impact, it significantly affected our scoring ability.”
Many consider Brady’s performance in Super Bowl LIII to be one of his least impressive outings. He completed 21 of 35 passes for 262 yards and threw an interception, with the Patriots not reaching the end zone until the fourth quarter, aided by a 29-yard completion to Rob Gronkowski that set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Sony Michel.
Three years later, Donald achieved his own Super Bowl victory, which followed shortly after he and the Rams defeated Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In that playoff win, Donald showcased his skills with five total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and eight pressures.
Ultimately, Brady emerged victorious in the most critical matchup between the two, and he expressed gratitude for the defensive performance that secured their win in Super Bowl LIII.
“Thank God our defense played so well, or we wouldn’t have won that game.”
