LOS ANGELES — Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was recently the subject of some poor television producing when the topic of his spot in the NFL’s Top 5 QB Elite was discussed. Now, I didn’t pay this one ounce of attention because, well, duh, of course he’s still in there. But for a June conversation, it moved the dial and media outlets deprived of content this time of year ran with it and I’m sure their ratings reflected such discussion involving NFL royalty. Tim Tebow he is not, however.

Fantasy geeks who care only about on-field statistics have their theories as to what qualifies one as NFL Elite and where Brady currently ranks in today’s game. I have my own list but that’s not the point of his article. But to satisfy the stat-heads, let’s just look at basic quarterback measurables over the last three seasons to get an idea: Brady has 1,182 completions, thrown for 14,405 yards and 98 TDs, and just 31 INTs.

In my fantasy league with the scoring as follows – .25pts/comp, 40yds/pt, 6pts/TD and -2pts/INT – that calculates out to 1,181.63 points. There are 14 other QBs who have started a majority of their teams games in the last three seasons – I’ll throw Peyton Manning in there with his 2010 stats as well – so let’s see how they performed purely on a statistical basis:

1. Drew Brees:  1,436 comp, 15,815 yards, 128 TD, 45 INT –> 1,432.38 pts
2. Peyton Manning:  1,300 comp, 14,836 yards, 125 TD, 38 INT –> 1,369.9 pts
3. Tom Brady:  1,182 comp, 14,405 yards, 98 TDs, 31 INT –> 1,181.63 pts
4. Matthew Stafford:  1,227 comp, 14,655 yards, 90 TD, 52 INT –> 1,109.13 pts
5. Aaron Rodgers:  907 comp, 11,444 yards, 101 TD, 20 INT –> 1,086.85 pts
6. Matt Ryan:  1,208 comp, 13,411 yards, 87 TD, 43 INT –> 1,073.28 pts
7. Tony Romo:  1,123 comp, 12,915 yards, 90 TD, 39 INT –> 1,065.63 pts
8. Philip Rivers:  1,082 comp, 12,708 yards, 85 TD, 46 INT –> 1,006.2 pts
9. Andy Dalton:  992 comp, 11,360 yards, 80 TD, 49 INT –> 914 pts
10. Ben Roethlisberger:  983 comp, 11,601 yards, 75 TD, 36 INT –> 913.78 pts
11. Eli Manning:  997 comp, 12,699 yards, 73 TD, 58 INT –> 888.73 pts
12. Joe Flacco:  991 comp, 11,339 yards, 61 TD, 44 INT –> 809.23 pts
13. Cam Newton:  882 comp, 11,299 yards, 64 TD, 42 INT –> 802.98 pts (does not include rushing stats/points)
14. Alex Smith:  734 comp, 8,194 yards, 53 TD, 17 INT –> 672.35 pts
15. Jay Cutler:  661 comp, 7,973 yards, 51 TD, 33 INT –> 604.58 pts

This last Monday, Brady, in so many words, said he didn’t care about those stats fantasy nerds get hard over, that wins and the final score are the only stats that matter to him. This fits with Brady’s Patriotsification over the years. Team first. Winning is all that matters. Get better each game. It is what it is. Of course, his quotes got me thinking about stats vs. wins so I looked them all up and wouldn’t you know the quarterback with the most wins in the last three seasons: Tom Brady.

Tom Terrific is 37-11 in the regular season since 2011, one ahead of Manning for the most in the league. Look at how the rest of the above fantasy studs compare when it comes down to straight wins and losses:

1. Tom Brady 37-11
2. Peyton Manning 36-12+
3. Aaron Rodgers 31-9*
4. Drew Brees 31-17
5. Alex Smith 30-9-1++
6. Andy Dalton 30-18
7. Joe Flacco 30-18
8. Matt Ryan 27-21
9. Ben Roethlisberger 26-18^
10. Cam Newton 25-23
11. Eli Manning 25-23
12. Tony Romo 24-23 **
13. Philip Rivers 24-24
14. Jay Cutler 22-14^^
15. Matthew Stafford 21-27

* missed 7 games in 2013
+ includes 2010 season as Manning missed all of 2011
^ missed 4 games between 2010 & 2011
** missed 1 game in 2013
++ missed 8 games in 2012 & 2013
^^ missed 12 games in 2011, 2012 & 2013

Interesting how they line up, don’t you think? So, yeah, when Brady says he only cares about wins and the final score, he really knows what he’s talking about.