One of the most highly-anticipated games of the 2021 NFL season will go down in Week 4 when Tom Brady returns to New England to take on the Patriots. If Brady can somehow beat his old team, the Buccaneers quarterback will join a very exclusive club: He'll become just the fourth QB in NFL history to defeat all 32 teams.
Over the course of his career, Brady has beaten 31 of the NFL's 32 teams and not surprisingly, the only team he has yet to beat is the Patriots. The good news for Brady is that he's not going to have to wait long to get revenge on his old team and that's because the Buccaneers will be playing at New England on Oct. 3.
The crazy thing about Brady possibly beating all 32 teams is that there weren't even 32 teams in the NFL when his career started. Back in 2000, the NFL only had 31 teams and that's because the Texans didn't play their first season until 2002. Of the 31 teams that Brady has beaten, his highest win total is against the Bills (32) while his lowest win total is against the Cardinals (one). He's also 5-0 against the Cowboys, who the Buccaneers will be facing in Week 1.
The way the schedule is set up, Brady could be making some serious history when he visits Foxborough.
Besides making the Patriots the 32nd team he's beaten, Brady could also pass Drew Brees for the NFL's all-time passing yards record. Brady is currently just 1,154 yards behind Brees and if he averages 300 yards in his first three games, that means he'd need just 255 yards against the Patriots to break the record.
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Brady breaking the all-time passing record against the Patriots after spending the first 20 years of his career in New England would certainly go down as one of the greatest career twists in NFL history.
As for beating all 32 teams, if Brady beats the Patriots, he'll become just the fourth quarterback to accomplish the feat. The only quarterbacks who have pulled that off are Brees, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. It's one of the most exclusive clubs that a quarterback can join and Brady could be getting his membership in 2021 (Joe Montana and Fran Tarkenton are also kind of in the club. Even though they haven't beaten 32 teams, they did get at least one win against all 28 teams that were in the NFL during their career).
If Brady does get revenge on the Patriots, it could be a while before we see another quarterback beat all 32 teams. Besides Brady, there are only two other active quarterbacks who have beaten 31 teams: Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger (Alex Smith has also beaten 31 teams, but he retired this year).
Out of Rodgers and Roethlisberger, the Packers quarterback definitely has the best chance of joining the exclusive club and it could happen as soon as this season. The only team Rodgers hasn't beaten yet is the Packers and if he wants to add them to his list, he would have to be traded to a team that Green Bay plays this year, but it seems unlikely (The Packers might end up trading him, but they likely would prefer not to trade him to a team they play this season).
If Russell Wilson ever leaves Seattle, he could also join the list. The Seahawks quarterback has beaten 30 of the NFL's 32 teams, but still needs to beat the Seahawks and Chargers. Joe Flacco is the only other active QB who has beaten 30 or more teams (Flacco needs to beat the Ravens and Seahawks to get to 32).
