5 NFL players who could have a better 2022 than Tom Brady

Tom Brady has carried on in 2022 as he has done in all his past seasons in the NFL: by winning. He is in the playoffs once again and is due to face the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For most NFL players, that would represent a successful season. But for Brady, who has more Super Bowls than any other player or franchise, this is not going to be enough.

For him to have a better 2022 than anyone else, he has to win the Super Bowl. If not, he will be upstaged by those that do. While all players on the winning team, if they are not the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fall in this category, we focus on those players whose win will compare more directly with Tom Brady. We look at five such players who have the chance to upset Brady in 2022.

Who can keep Tom Brady from going back-to-back in 2022?

#1 - Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers v Detroit Lions

Aaron Rodgers looks already on the way to having a better 2022 personally than Tom Brady, with him now being the presumptive favorite for the NFL MVP award. Both Rodgers and Brady are currently tied for three NFL MVPs; and if he were to win the award, Aaron Rodgers would pull one ahead.

But for Rodgers to truly have a better 2022 than Tom Brady, he needs to win the Super Bowl. Last season, too, he was the MVP, only to falter in the NFC Championship game when Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into town.

This season, the Green Bay Packers again have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and Aaron Rodgers has to make it count to ensure they are the NFC representatives in the Super Bowl.

#2 - Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

AFC Wild Card Playoffs - Pittsburgh Steelers v Kansas City Chiefs

Even if Tom Brady were to make the Super Bowl again, Patrick Mahomes will be hoping to exact revenge for his loss last season in the final game.

Patrick Mahomes is widely considered the most talented quarterback of his generation. Yet, if he cannot beat Tom Brady, then he cannot lay claim to that mantle. He also lost in the AFC Championship game to Brady against the New England Patriots.

Patrick Mahomes will be hoping for a better 2022 than 2021 by winning the Super Bowl and reclaiming the spot the Kansas City Chiefs held the year before last. On one front, though, he will be elated like no other this year as he plans to marry his fiancee, Brittany Matthews, in 2022.

Who will be Tom Brady's nemesis in 2022?

#3 - Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers v Los Angeles Rams

Who would ever have thought that Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford would ever belong on the same list? But proving the team always trumps the individual, Matthew Stafford will face Brady and the Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional Round this week.

Matthew Stafford had never won a playoff game before this week, whereas Tom Brady is a seven-times Super Bowl champion. But if Matthew Stafford were to win, not only would he be eliminated from Super Bowl contention, it would push the idea that a quarterback is only as good as his team.

With a powerful offense and players like Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald on defense, the Los Angeles Rams have every tool to make a Super Bowl run. There is every chance for Stafford to have a better 2022 than Tom Brady, and he will get a chance to prove it this week.

#4 - Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

AFC Wild Card Playoffs - New England Patriots v Buffalo Bills

For two decades, Tom Brady reigned supreme in the AFC East. With him gone, Josh Allen is taking his place. Allen has led the Buffalo Bills to back-to-back division titles. In the Wild Card Round, he was instrumental in dismantling Brady's old team, the New England Patriots.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have beaten the Buffalo Bills this regular season already, but Josh Allen was arguably the better quarterback that day. If Allen can lead the team to victory in the Super Bowl, thereby stopping Tom Brady from winning his eighth Lombardi Trophy, he will most certainly have a better 2022 than Brady and will surpass him as the new king of the AFC East.

#5 - Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals

AFC Wild Card Playoffs - Las Vegas Raiders v Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow has been sensational for the Cincinnati Bengals this season, especially coming into the playoffs. In the last few games that included their first playoff win in three decades and knocking the Kansas City Chiefs off the AFC perch, he has been throwing for fun. He has 10 touchdowns in the last three games and has led to people like Rex Ryan christening him the next Tom Brady.

With Brady still playing, he will look to avoid any upstarts taking over his domain and prove that there is only one of his name. But if Joe Burrow were to take the Bengals to the Super Bowl and win it, he would have a much better 2022 than Brady; for snatching the Super Bowl away from him and for living up to the comparison with him.