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How to Watch New England Patriots vs. Chicago Bears
There is no savior in Ann Arbor — not after last week.
You’ve heard the tale by now. That Michigan outlasted LSU for a local five-star phenom. That billionaire Larry Ellison had a hand in helping secure the prominent passer. That this was the dynamic quarterback hand-selected to anchor the transition from Jim Harbaugh into the Sherrone Moore era.
So much for all that.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood walked toward the sidelines on Saturday, slipped off his helmet toward the tail end of the first half after another underwhelming outing against Penn State and frustratedly barked toward the bench.
No lip-reader needed.
Two years, two staffs, and a dozen middling performances later, Underwood is a sunk cost — around $3 million annually, to be more precise.
Consider that cash flushed.
“Underwood’s value, I think, what Michigan was willing to pay him was way more than what anyone else was willing to pay him,” said longtime recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong. “I don’t think it was just a little more. At some point, they were bidding against themselves.”
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The hometown kid staying home. The enormous contract. The billionaire booster’s wife. The headlines, everywhere.
That was all supposed to equal wins, extending one era of dominance into the next.
Those rosy fantasies ended on Saturday with Underwood’s benching.
Perhaps it’s short-term. Perhaps backup Tommy Carr struggles on Saturday against No. 6 Indiana. Perhaps Underwood flashes once more in maize and blue, or elsewhere.
But, realistically, the Michigan chapter of this experiment is over — and front offices across America are taking notice.
“Sometimes you have to walk away and get your ego out of the way,” said one Power Four general manager on the condition of anonymity, in order to speak freely. “[Michigan] didn’t need Bryce Underwood. Let him go somewhere else for $3 million. There are plenty of quarterbacks that can get you to a championship that are not named Bryce Underwood.
“And now you’ve seen it.”
Michigan and Underwood haven’t exactly been the rosiest marriage — and there are plenty of parties to blame for that. There’s the former Michigan staff that was ousted amid the fallout of the Sherrone Moore scandal. There’s the new group of Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck that has been patient, but seen little to no tangible results on Saturdays.
There’s Underwood himself, too, who clearly hasn’t made the strides expected of an elite passer with the pedigree of the No. 1 overall recruit despite Zeus-like measurables and a howitzer arm.
But wherever that blame may be placed, the broader sentiment is that Underwood’s deal is a cautionary tale about big spending on prep prospects in a new-look world in which everyone in front offices is still developing best practices.
“I always try and lean toward paying for guys that come with less projection,” said a second Power Four general manager. “Ideally, you see what you’re getting before you buy it. Spending big on a high school QB is a massive gamble, and it’s really hard on both sides because there is an urgency to play that player early because of the money.”
Consider college football staffs these days like a teenager landing their first credit card. They conceptually understand the card translates to money. Utilizing it responsibly is another challenge in itself.
Underwood is simply the latest example.
“Like five years ago, we were trying to figure out the karaoke song for a mom on a Friday night. Now, all of a sudden, we’re talking to CAA, negotiating contracts,” quipped a Big Ten front office staffer. “It’s like, ‘What the f— are we doing?’”
Bryce Underwood signed his letter of intent to play for Michigan in front of a packed crowd at Belleville High School. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
Common knowledge in college football recruiting circles — new as these philosophies might be — would state money is best spent on experienced transfers compared to developmental projects, no matter how elite they might be coming out of the high school ranks.
The market has borne that out.
Opendorse, one of the industry’s leading NIL data providers, provided information that showed four-year transfers are receiving around 48% of football revenue share dollars, while only about 9% has been earmarked for high school recruits.
Transfers are also receiving a little more than double what the average high school recruit makes, while their market share has jumped from 36% of spend last year to 54% this year.
There have been outliers. Underwood is one. Nico Iamaleava’s $8 million deal with Tennessee was another. As was the Jaden Rashada saga at Florida. Not exactly ringing endorsements.
For each Underwood or Rashada, there are also homegrown success stories. CJ Carr at Notre Dame. Kamario Taylor at Mississippi State. Julian Sayin at Ohio State, recent injury aside.
“Transfer data on top quarterbacks has always shown it to be a bit of a crap-shoot anyway, so in most cases, it’s a much smarter business decision to invest significant dollars in a portal quarterback over a high school player,” said a third Power Four general manager. “Most of us believe it’s too big a risk to invest huge dollars into an unproven player at that position. And honestly, it’s a huge risk at every position, but the other markets haven’t caught up — or slowed down — with the QB market yet.”
Underwood is expected to hold a clipboard Saturday vs. No. 6 Indiana, which figures to have a broader impact on front office operations and how their decision-making might be scrutinized.
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood completed 5 of 11 passes for 43 yards and two interceptions against Penn State. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
The majority of general managers that spoke with me this week pointed to the Underwood situation as an indicator of poor evaluations and a responsibility that should fall on the front office as much as an indictment of development or a lack of meshing with the new staff.
That carries its own microscope.
Think in an NFL context. General managers oversee draft picks, roster construction, etc. When those results don’t bring success, there’s accountability. College football could be due for its own reckoning.
“Much like an NFL Draft situation, if you draft your quarterback at 16 overall and you think that he’s going to be the guy, you better put him in a position to succeed,” said Rivals national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman. “… The truth is, high school quarterback recruits are not all always ready to play right out of high school. That takes an extremely gifted quarterback to be able to come in and make an impact from Friday nights and then onto Saturdays. But when you have a million-plus dollar price tag attached to your name coming out of high school, the pressure is certainly on.”
“It highlights how strictly GMs will be evaluated moving forward,” added a fourth Power Four general manager. “There’s a real cost to having money on the sidelines. If you have too much of it, there will likely be consequences.”
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood was the top-ranked prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
There will almost certainly be no parades in Ann Arbor this fall. No dreams of Heisman trophies. No thoughts of a CFP run. No celebrations of the local boy done good.
The Underwood era at Michigan started with promise. No. 1 overall recruits and a price tag in the tens of millions of dollars bring such aspirations and expectations.
It hasn’t worked out. It doesn’t always. But when there’s that kind of money involved, perhaps it will serve as a case study for front offices to spend their resources elsewhere — or not.
“Giving $3 million out of high school, I don’t think I’d ever feel great about doing that,” said a fifth Power Four general manager. “But if you can show me this guy [can play], I think there’s probably a couple of them in the 2028 class.
“If you told me some of those guys might cost $3 million — whether it’s (Ohio State commit Christopher) Vargas or (Indiana commit) Lukas Prock — I might think about doing it.”
The Tampa Bay Rays are mixing things up to start their World Series pursuit.
Veteran right-hander Nick Martinez will start on the mound for the Rays over Drew Rasmussen in Game 1 of the World Series at American Family Field on Friday. Rasmussen, who has posted a 1.29 ERA through three starts this postseason, started Game 1 of the ALDS and Game 1 of the ALCS.
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Don’t be surprised by this World Series matchup. The Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays had the two best regular season records in their respective leagues — and they’ve shown why during the playoffs.
Both have the talent to give us a worthy Fall Classic. Star aces in Jacob Misiorowski and Drew Rasmussen. Young sluggers in Jackson Chourio and Junior Caminero. Let’s look at these squads as we get set for Game 1.
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It’s a brand of baseball that’s very similar to the Brewers. They emphasize their elite bat-to-ball ability and propensity for stealing bases.
The Rays take pride in their defense – they committed one error in the ALDS and none in the ALCS. Even the Brewers, who are built to be sharp in the dirt, have committed eight errors this postseason. Tampa Bay’s parade of pitchers and depth hardly ever let them down, and if they did, their team culture, advanced analytics and careful coaching helped design solutions that worked.
The Rays led the AL East all year, won the division, swept the Yankees in the ALDS, and it wasn’t until they lost Game 1 of the ALCS against the Guardians that they experienced their first real test of adversity.
It didn’t last very long. Tampa Bay tied the ALCS at 1-1, winning their home game before going on the road to a hostile Cleveland environment. The Guardians won Game 3, putting them out in front of the Rays again. Tampa won Game 4, tying the series at 2-2.
With all the back and forth, it seemed like the series might go the distance. But once the Rays got back in the driver’s seat in Game 5, defeating the Guardians at Progressive Field and confidently declaring that the series would end in Game 6, they were in complete control. Their biggest bats, Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz, came alive.
Their trade-deadline acquisition, right-handed veteran Freddy Peralta, used his elite fastball to shut Cleveland down in multiple games. Their bullpen arms bent but did not break. The Rays earned a trip to the World Series not because of luck, but by relying on the winning baseball they played all year.
– Deesha Thosar
By cooling off the hottest team in baseball, then sweeping the defending back-to-back champions like it was nothing.
The Brewers were the best team in MLB this year, winning a franchise-record 103 games, but they were not rewarded with an easy path through October.
They had to face a Padres team that had the highest winning percentage in the sport the last two months of the season, and they beat them 3-1 in four back-and-forth battles in the NLDS.
What they did next stated, emphatically, that this was not the same Brewers team of years past. In the NLCS, the Brewers became the first MLB team ever to sweep the team that swept them the season prior. They steamrolled the Dodgers in every facet, outhitting them, outpitching them, even outslugging the squad full of superstars.
The Brew Crew constantly put on pressure and never go away. In the NLCS, the Brewers became the first team ever to sweep a best-of-seven series after trailing in all four games. They’re 7-1 in the playoffs, with six of those wins coming in comeback fashion — the most by any team through a club’s first eight games of a postseason.
– Rowan Kavner
The Rays were tied — with the Brewers – for the MLB lead in batting average (.268) this season. They struck out the fewest times (18.8%) and had the lowest swing-and-miss rate (20.7%) among all MLB teams. They stole the second-most bases (164) in the majors. Their on-base percentage (.326) ranked fifth in MLB.
No, they didn’t lead the league in home runs or slugging as a team, but they didn’t need to. The Rays had to provide just enough pop from the plate to complement their elite contact-oriented approach.
That’s where the Rays’ Big Three came in. Led by Caminero’s 42 home runs, the top of Tampa Bay’s lineup was all slug. Diaz and Jonathan Aranda both crushed 22 home runs this season. The trio of Caminero, Diaz and Aranda led the team in RBI and runs scored.
The bottom half of the Rays lineup understood its role. Hitters like Liam Hicks, Victor Mesa Jr., Cedric Mullins, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson, Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls prioritized making impacts in other ways, like batting for high averages and being smart on the basepaths.
It’s a winning formula that creates relentless pressure for opposing teams, forcing them to be perfect in order to win.
– Deesha Thosar
The Brewers had the lowest chase rate in MLB this year. They’re a group known for wearing opponents down through contact, speed, plate discipline and manufactured runs.
But in the NLCS, where they had six more homers than the mighty Dodgers, they demonstrated that they can win in a multitude of ways.
Perhaps no one epitomizes this offense better than journeyman Jake Bauers, who has been in seven different organizations and went from nearly quitting baseball a couple years ago to the 2026 NLCS MVP.
In Game 2, he worked a 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In Game 3, he hit a go-ahead home run off Blake Snell on the 11th pitch of the at-bat. In Game 4, his two-run, ground-rule double cut the Dodgers’ lead in half, and he later drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the tying run.
They’re led atop the lineup by 22-year-old Jackson Chourio, who is already the franchise’s all-time postseason leader in home runs and RBI and has knocked in more runs in the playoffs than any player under the age of 23 in MLB history.
William Contreras has been their star hitter this October, slashing .367/.457/.700 with three home runs, but the Brewers are getting clutch contributions up and down the lineup. With runners in scoring position, they’re hitting .284 with a .398 on-base percentage as a team this postseason. Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise; they’ve done this all year.
– Rowan Kavner
This is not the rotation the Rays were expecting, so it’s that much more incredible that they’re having this much success.
Ryan Pepiot sustained an injury in spring training. Steven Matz was moved to the bullpen. Shane McClanahan sustained a season-ending injury towards the end of the year. The Rays had no choice but to make a huge move at the trade deadline for a starting pitcher, preferably for an elite arm, which is why the decision to acquire Freddy Peralta has loomed so large.
Peralta has a 1.08 ERA in four games (three starts) and 16 ⅔ innings pitched this postseason. He made a key appearance from the bullpen in ALCS Game 4 and prevented the Guardians from taking the lead.
Peralta finally started Tampa Bay’s AL-pennant winning clincher in Game 6, limiting Cleveland to one run over 5 ⅓ innings, sending the club to the World Series, and winning ALCS MVP.
The 30-year-old right-hander has seamlessly fit into an elite Rays rotation that’s led by ace Drew Rasmussen and right-hander Nick Martinez — both All-Stars in 2026. Tampa’s starters lead all clubs this October with a 1.98 ERA in 50 innings pitched.
– Deesha Thosar
It might seem strange, considering they feature the likely National League Cy Young Award winner atop the rotation, but this is Milwaukee’s biggest question mark entering the World Series.
The Brewers haven’t had a starter go more than five innings yet this postseason, though that is partly by design to get the ball to their high-leverage behemoths in relief.
The Padres and Dodgers both did a good job working ace Jacob Misiorowski, who needed 88 pitches to get through four innings in the NLDS and 94 pitches to go 4.1 innings in the NLCS. Logan Henderson was the only sure thing behind Misiorowski entering the playoffs, and his final line against the Dodgers (4 IP, 4 R, 2 ER) would have looked a lot better if not for his own two errors in that game.
But the biggest lift so far has come from Robert Gasser, who has stepped up to give the Brewers a reliable third starter. Gasser held the Padres to one run in four innings and the Dodgers to five scoreless innings.
Dustin May and Shane Drohan, who have each started a game this October, give the Brewers more depth options. And apparently Brandon Woodruff, who hasn’t pitched since July due to a shoulder issue, has a chance to be activated for this series.
Ultimately, though, the Brewers’ starting success will primarily come down to how much they get out of Misiorowski. They might need more from their top two arms going forward if the Rays turn this into a longer series.
– Rowan Kavner
It’s understandable for Rays fans to be a little anxious every time manager Kevin Cash gives the ball to the bullpen.
Nevermind that they blew up in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Guardians. Rays relievers recorded a 3.99 ERA (ranked 14th in MLB) in the regular season. But since then, closer Bryan Baker has become all but unhittable in October. Baker has pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just one hit in his seven relief appearances this postseason. He’s allowed just two walks and recorded six strikeouts and five saves in that stretch.
But the quieter success of the Rays bullpen comes down to one key arm: left-hander Ian Seymour. He’s been a swiss-army knife for the Rays, pitching bulk innings out of the bullpen in high-leverage situations, recording 10 strikeouts in 7 ⅓ innings pitched this October. Whenever his name is called, Seymour has answered.
– Deesha Thosar
Milwaukee is more than happy to turn every game into a bullpen battle. The Brewers’ bullpen is 7-1 with a 1.33 ERA this postseason. Their high-leverage weapons attack with high heat from different angles and have overpowered and overwhelmed their opponents to this point.
The team’s five most-used relievers — Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, DL Hall and JoJo Romero — have combined for a 0.77 ERA in 35 playoff innings.
After allowing just one earned run in 19 innings against the Padres in the NLDS, the Brewers’ bullpen went 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA against the Dodgers. Ashby, a multi-inning weapon whose 12.1 innings this postseason lead all MLB relievers, has not allowed a run in October.
Neither has Megill, who is 4-for-4 in save opportunities and has surrendered just one hit and two walks in five appearances. Hall, meanwhile, has picked up three wins in four scoreless appearances.
There has been a significant reliance on those arms to this point — the Brewers’ bullpen is averaging more than five innings per game this postseason — but an NLCS sweep provided a reset, and neither the Padres nor the Dodgers could push their series long enough to turn that heavy workload into a potential issue for Milwaukee. Can Tampa Bay present more of a challenge?
– Rowan Kavner
How To Watch The 2026 World Series
The 2026 World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, who are each seeking their first championship triumph, can be exclusively viewed on FOX, beginning on Oct. 23.
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 23
Rays at Brewers (8 p.m. ET)
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 24
Rays at Brewers (8 p.m. ET)
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 26
Brewers at Rays (8 p.m. ET)
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 27
Brewers at Rays (8 p.m. ET)
Game 5*: Wednesday, Oct. 28
Brewers at Rays (8 p.m. ET)
Game 6*: Friday, Oct. 30
Rays at Brewers (8 p.m. ET)
Game 7*: Saturday, Oct. 31
Rays at Brewers (8 p.m. ET)
* – if necessary
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Thursday Night Football is bringing the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots together for a matchup between two young superstar quarterbacks, and Novig is giving new users an extra reason to tune in. Sign up with Novig promo code FOXSPORTS to get $50 and get ready for another night of Thursday Night action.
The Patriots are riding a three-game winning streak, averaging 33 points in that span with Drake Maye leading the way. The Bears are coming off a strong performance from Caleb Williams, who returned from injury last week against Atlanta and helped Chicago secure a win.
Now, Williams and the Bears will look to cool off the surging Patriots in a primetime showdown.
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How to Watch New England Patriots vs. Chicago Bears
As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Los Angeles Rams, they could now be without another star playmaker.
Star wide receiver Puka Nacua left Rams practice early on Thursday due to a calf injury, putting his status for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders into question. Nacua was later listed as limited on the Rams’ injury report.
The Rams’ offense is already without wide receiver Davante Adams, who was placed on injured reserve with a ruptured hamstring. With Adams sidelined for six to 10 weeks and Nacua now dealing with a calf injury, the injury list for Los Angeles continues to grow.
Nacua’s season has been plagued by injury trouble, as he already missed two games earlier this year with a hip issue.
When healthy, however, Nacua has been highly productive. He has hauled in 37 receptions for 417 yards and a touchdown across four games, highlighted by a showing against the Buffalo Bills where he caught a career-high 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown.
After entering the season as Super Bowl favorites due to their blockbuster offseason, it’s been a downward spiral for the Rams. Star edge rusher Myles Garrett hasn’t played since Week 1 due to a knee injury that required surgery.
To top it off, the Rams sit at 2-4 and are already in a position where they must fight for a Wild Card spot in a crowded and competitive NFC.
If Nacua misses any time, the Rams’ offense might have to lean heavily on backup wide receivers Konata Mumpfield, Jordan Whittington and tight end Tyler Higbee as Matthew Stafford’s primary targets. Providing depth behind them are veteran Tutu Atwell and sixth-round pick CJ Daniels.
We’re getting into the thick of things across MLB, the NFL and college football.
I love this time of year.
Here’s what I’m looking at this week for my five-leg parlay.
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WS Game 1 Under 6.5 (-138)
Two elite starting pitchers square off in Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Friday night, with Drew Rasmussen going for the Rays and likely NL Cy Young winner Jacob Misirowski going for the Brewers. With two quality and rested bullpens backing up these aces, expect runs to be at a premium.
South Carolina Moneyline (-135)
Tennessee was smoking cigars after last season’s upset win over Alabama. This week, the Volunteers go on the road and face a dangerous South Carolina team that is rested off of a bye and demolished Florida on the road in its last game.
Seahawks Moneyline (-145)
The Seahawks are in borderline desperation mode after losing two in a row, and they face the Chiefs on Sunday night. While the Chiefs are undefeated, their wins have come against some lesser opponents — the Dolphins, Colts (in OT) Raiders, Chargers and Broncos. I’ll take the rested and motivated Seahawks, who have not played since last Thursday.
Packers-Lions Over 53.5
Every Lions game this season has eclipsed the total. Also, every Lions game this season has eclipsed 53.5, with two of their games getting into the 60s and one of them even getting into the 70s. Keep betting the Over in Lions games until you’re given a reason not to.
Falcons +3.5 (-147)
The Falcons are at home taking on a 49ers team that hasn’t lost a game this season, but San Francisco has a bunch of wide receivers out due to injury, with Mike Evans being the latest and most notable one. The 49ers are also on the road on short rest, having just played on Monday night. I like the Falcons to keep it close.
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Thursday Night Football brings the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots together for a primetime showdown, and new Kalshi users can get a bonus to join the action. Sign up and use Kalshi promo code FOXSPORTS55 to claim $55 in bonuses while exploring prediction markets tied to the NFL.
The Patriots enter Thursday night riding a three-game winning streak, with Drake Maye playing well over the past three games. Chicago is coming off a win over Atlanta, where Caleb Williams returned from injury and delivered a strong performance.
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How to Watch New England Patriots vs. Chicago Bears
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Thursday Night Football is back and kicks off Week 7 with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots in the spotlight, and new Polymarket users can get a $25 bonus to join the action. Sign up with Polymarket promo code FOX.
New England heads into the matchup on a three-game winning streak, with Drake Maye tossing 10 touchdowns and only one interception during this stretch.
Chicago is coming off a win over Atlanta, where Caleb Williams returned from injury and helped the Bears secure the victory. With both young quarterbacks looking to keep their teams rolling, Thursday night offers plenty of storylines to follow.
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How to Watch New England Patriots vs. Chicago Bears
Throwing a football can age like fine wine — at least that’s the case for a couple of quarterbacks, according to Tom Brady.
In the most recent edition of #AskTom, Brady was asked which quarterback throws the prettiest ball in the NFL. He actually responded with a pair of quarterbacks, and they’re both veterans.
“One is Aaron Rodgers and the other is Matthew Stafford,” Brady replied.
And not only did Brady say that the two decorated quarterbacks throw the prettiest passes in the league today, but he also went on to say that the way Rodgers and Stafford throw the ball might be among the best in NFL history.
“Both those guys spin the ball as well as anybody that’s ever played,” Brady said. “They have silky-smooth deliveries. They’re so accurate, and it’s just effortless when it comes out of their hands.”
This actually isn’t the first instance where Brady has compared Rodgers to all-time passers. In April 2025, he said that Rodgers and Dan Marino instantly came to mind when he was asked which quarterback has the most talented arm in NFL history.
Rodgers’ résumé speaks for itself, as his four MVPs are the second-most in NFL history. At 42, Rodgers is still putting up respectable numbers and occasionally dropping dimes. He’s thrown for 1,487 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers get out to a 4-2 start.
Stafford, meanwhile, threw some pretty balls last season en route to winning his first MVP, doing so at age 37. Now 38, Stafford has continued to make some impressive throws this year. He leads the league in passing entering Week 7 (1,794 yards) as he continues to spark the Los Angeles Rams’ offense.
As Rodgers and Stafford continue to drop dimes, Brady thinks the two quarterbacks have an innate talent for throwing the ball.
“I think there’s really natural passers from the time you’re born, and you see that all the way through baseball leagues, and then Pop Warner football,” Brady said. “Then, you get to college, and you really start to refine it, because you’re practicing so much. By the time you get to the pros, those fundamentals are pretty hardwired into what you do. You can make minor modifications, but both those guys were natural passers the day they came into the NFL.”
Rodgers might have some of the most impressive passes in NFL history. His 61-yard Hail Mary to help the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions in 2015 has been debated as the best Hail Mary in NFL history. On that play, which has since been dubbed the “Miracle in Motown,” Rodgers scrambled around the backfield before unleashing a pass from the Packers’ 35-yard line. His pass traveled a few yards into the end zone, where Richard Rogers came down with the game-winning grab.
That wasn’t the only Hail Mary that Rodgers completed that season. In fact, he completed two Hail Mary passes in the Packers’ playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The first was a fourth-and-20 completion to Jeff Janis, where Rodgers threw the ball nearly 60 yards in the air to help Green Bay go from deep in its own territory to Arizona’s side of the field. A couple of plays later, Rodgers eluded the Cardinals’ pass rush and found Janis on a Hail Mary pass for a touchdown that had nearly 60 air yards.
Those Hail Mary throws might not even be the most impressive of Rodgers’ career, either. A year later, Rodgers threw a ball on a tightrope for a 36-yard completion to Jared Cook to help set the Packers up to kick the game-winning field goal against the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round of the playoffs. That might be too bland a way of describing that pass, though, as Rodgers scrambled to his left before squeezing the throw by a Cowboys defender and to Cook, who perfectly kept himself aligned with the sideline.
Years before those throws, Rodgers made an impressive throw on the game’s biggest stage. He completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings for a touchdown in the Packers’ Super Bowl XLV win over the Steelers. On that pass, Rodgers threaded the needle by perfectly placing a ball between Steelers safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu. The ball went just past a diving Clark, while Polamalu was just too late to make a play and knock Rodgers’ pass away.
If Rodgers is the King of Hail Mary throws, then Stafford might be the equivalent of no-look passes. Stafford has made several highlight no-look throws over the years, including on the biggest drive of his career.
When the Rams needed to score a touchdown in the final minutes of Super Bowl LVI, Stafford deceived the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense when he looked toward the sideline as he fired a pass over the middle to Cooper Kupp for a 22-yard gain.
Stafford has continued to make big plays on no-look passes as he ages. Just last season, he faked out the Seattle Seahawks’ defense when he looked toward the flat as he threw a touchdown pass to Puka Nacua on a slant.
The most iconic pass of Stafford’s career might have come when he was with the Lions, though. It actually occurred in his rookie season. Stafford separated his non-throwing shoulder on the penultimate play from scrimmage in the Lions’ win over the Cleveland Browns in 2009, with a pass interference giving Detroit the ball at the 1-yard line on the ensuing play. Stafford stayed on the field for the next play, throwing a tight spiral over the middle to Brandon Pettigrew for a touchdown that helped serve as the game-winning score.
Which Pass Does Tom Brady Think Is The Toughest?
In a follow-up question, Brady was asked which throw is tougher to make: a go route or pass over the middle. Brady combined the two and said that throwing a deep post was the toughest throw for him to make during his career.
“I thought a deep go route down the sideline was a little easier because, A, you were only dealing with one defender, the cornerback usually, and B, that receiver was always on the same path,” Brady said. “He was always running directly down the field. So you could gauge his speed, and then try to put the perfect arc in place, drop it right into the bucket and let your receiver catch it.
“When you’re running a post, you’re running also horizontally across the field. I always felt that was much harder to judge, and a lot of times, you’re involving either the middle-of-the-field safety and the corner, which is kind of a two-on-one ball and was always a little tricky. I probably threw more go-balls for touchdowns than post for touchdowns over the course of my career.”
While there isn’t an exact number that shows how well Brady did at throwing passes to receivers on post routes during his career, there are some numbers that suggest he didn’t do as well throwing deep and over the middle of the field. Brady threw for more touchdowns and a higher passer rating on throws of 20-plus yards outside the numbers as opposed to 20-plus-yard throws between the numbers in 10 of his 16 final seasons, per Pro Football Focus.
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