Tom Brady getting better with age

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tom Brady strode into the pressroom at Gillette Stadium last week wearing a pom-pom hat that would have made anyone else look like a 10-year-old. Yet juxtaposed against Brady's chiseled, lean-protein, no-carb face, it served only to highlight his fierce and focused master of the NFL universe persona.

Whether he is standing in the middle of a huddle, news conference or red carpet event, Brady is used to being the one in control. Perhaps that's why he and Patriots coach Bill Belichick have spent so much time expertly deflecting questions about what is driving their undefeated season, about what is compelling the 38-year-old Brady to put up the kind of numbers that have made him everyone's midseason MVP.

"I don't give grades," sniffed Belichick when asked a relatively softball question about whether it is satisfying to see Brady have an MVP-caliber season like this. "We're trying to beat the Giants. I don't care about some midseason, midterm grade."

If the Patriots don't want to talk about what is driving Brady -- if they don't want to acknowledge the 200-pound commissioner in the room -- it's because they don't need to do it. With every 300-yard passing game, with every touchdown pass, with every week that the Patriots add another victory to what is now an 8-0 record heading into Sunday's game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium, they are saying all they need to say.

"We all know what the motivation is," said former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, who was in the broadcast booth for the Patriots' Thursday night wins over the Steelers and Dolphins. "We all know what he was accused of and went through in the offseason. He was called out by the Colts and taken to the mat by the NFL. He is a human being. Well, the purest form of motivation is revenge."

PUMPED UP

Are the Patriots cheaters?

The only thing Brady is cheating this season is Father Time. No matter how you come down on DeflateGate -- no matter whether you think NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in the right for trying to suspend Brady for four games because of his alleged role in the use of deflated balls in last season's AFC Championship Game -- it is hard not to marvel at the season Brady is having.

First Brady beat the NFL in the courtroom, as his four-game suspension was overturned right before the start of the season. And now, even though the league has appealed that ruling, he's beating team after team on the field.

With 2,709 yards, 22 touchdown passes and two interceptions, Brady is on pace to have the second-best season of his storied career, behind only 2007, when the Patriots went 16-0 and won their first two playoff games before losing to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

Yet there are many, including Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who believe that Brady is even better this season than he was in 2007 at age 30. Many of the big names are gone from that 2007 team, which Brady repeatedly has called the best he has ever played on. His biggest challenge is that he's playing behind a relatively inexperienced offensive line. He's dealt with that the only way he can: by getting rid of the ball as quickly as possible.

It takes Brady an average of 2.1 seconds per snap to get rid of the ball, which is a half-second faster than the league average. With so little time for defenders to get their hands on receivers, Brady has been able to avoid costly picks. His two interceptions this season are a league low -- and one was a bobble by one of his receivers.

"If you're an offensive lineman, he can really make you look good," Spagnuolo said. "Look, he's as balanced a quarterback as I've ever seen. When I watched him, in all the years, I've never seen a guy sit in the pocket and be as balanced and calm and mechanically perfect as anybody. Every time I watch him, he does the same thing. It makes it tough."

It's just another adjustment that Brady has made over the years. Those on the team who have known him the longest say there is no one more competitive, no one who wants to win more, than Brady.

"Tom is a great leader and a great worker," said kicker Stephen Goskowski, who is the only other member of the current Patriots who was on the 2007 team. "It's just infectious how competitive he is."

LEAN MACHINE

Brady has always been a health freak, but there have been multiple stories about how he's upped his game in recent years. Yet Brady's endurance can't simply be chalked up to a diet of kale and avocado ice cream, said former Giants quarterback and current analyst Phil Simms, who has called close to 80 Patriots games during the Belichik/Brady era.

"His style of play, the fact he takes care of himself, his head coach and the design of their offense -- everything put together has meant longevity for a good quarterback," Simms said. "I'm not amazed [by the season]. I'm not even going to say I'm really surprised. I think the surprise will be when he starts showing signs of wearing down."

There are few visible signs, few hints that this is a quarterback with 15 years of mileage on him. Brady is on pace to throw for 5,418 yards. That not only would eclipse his personal best of 5,235 in 2011 but would come within striking distance of Peyton Manning's NFL record of 5,477 set in 2013.

Of course, there is only one benchmark in which Brady is interested. You can bet he wants nothing more than to end this season the same way as last year: celebrating a championship as Goodell and the rest of the league look on at Super Bowl 50.

"Can you imagine him walking off with the Lombardi Trophy and another Super Bowl MVP?" Esiason said. "I'm sure he can. I felt last year he got his revenge, but after this offseason and the fiasco surrounding it, this would be the ultimate vindication. And it seems to be in the offing."

It certainly does.

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.