Brady beaten after big performance

MINNEAPOLIS» The ball had just been whacked out of Tom Brady’s right hand at the worst possible moment for the New England Patriots, giving the Philadelphia Eagles the ball just before the twominute warning.

Brady sat on the turf, resting his arms on his knees with a pose of resignation. Once he reached the sideline and plopped down on the bench, he lowered his head and stared down for several seconds .

This was surely not the end of his unparalleled and sure-bet-forthe-Hall-of-Fame career, but at age 40 there’s no guarantee this wasn’t the last time he played in a Super Bowl.

“It’s a team sport. The Eagles played a better game today,” Brady said. “They deserve to win. That’s why we’re not the champs.”

The fumble, forced by Brandon Graham and picked up by Derek Barnett, put the Eagles in position for a field goal that pushed their lead to eight points. Brady and the Patriots had one last possession, but his final heave from midfield was batted down to give the Eagles their first Super Bowl trophy with a 41-33 victory and drop Brady’s career record in the title game to 5-3.

The all-time leader with eight career postseason fourth-quarter comebacks, Brady wasn’t able to notch a ninth.

“We obviously didn’t make enough plays in the red zone and turned the ball over one time,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “If we have a turnover that leads to some points for them, and you fail to score a couple of touchdowns in the first part of the game, generally speaking against a really good team, it usually comes back to bite you.”

Brady already owns a healthy share of the NFL record book, but there’s a new entry that he and all of New England would prefer to erase. Brady became the first quarterback in NFL history to lose a game, in the regular season or the playoffs, despite passing for 500 or more yards, three or more touchdowns and no interceptions.

“You always hope you come out on the winning end of the shootout,” Brady said. “We didn’t win it today.

“I’ve played in eight of them, and they’re all good games. Today, we had our opportunities. Never really got control of the game. Never really played on our terms. Just didn’t make plays when we needed to.”