The Top 20 Patriots Moments of 2015: Number 8

I don't know about any of you, but I have been dragging way more than usual this week. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it seems like, now that summer is officially here, it's getting harder and harder to get myself into work and chain myself to this stupid desk day in and day out. Human beings aren't meant to live this way, dammit.

And since it's finally Friday of a week in which I probably did only 15 minutes of real, actual work, I figured we may as well continue our countdown of The Top 20 Most Memorable Patriots Moments of 2015.

The list so far:

20. In the span of two weeks, the Patriots make two trades to acquire Keshawn Martin and Akiem Hicks.
19. A decision to kick in OT backfires as the Jets beat the Patriots in Week 16.
18. Otherwordly phenom and greatest player of all time J.J. Watt is held completely ineffective as the Patriots secure a playoff spot against the Houston Texans.
17. Chandler Jones and Akiem Hicks team up for a strip sack touchdown against the Tennessee Titans.
16. Stopped in the backfield, LeGarrette Blount sheds tacklers and rumbles for a 17 yard gain against the Houston Texans.
15. Danny Amendola and Tom Brady connect for some trickery against the Philadelphia Eagles.
14. The Patriots continue to kick in Rex Ryan's world with a season sweep of the Buffalo Bills.
13. A pair of James White catch and runs show off some agility, speed, and elusiveness.
12. The Patriots absolutely destroy the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football.
11. Julian Edelman outruns the entire Cowboys D on his way to the end zone.
10. A huge 1st down conversion on 3rd and 17 helps push the Patriots to victory over the New York Jets.
9. Jaime Collins hurtles the entire offensive line to block a PAT against the Indianapolis Colts.

With the Number 8 Moment, we need to look not necessarily at the play itself, but what it represents.

8. Tom Brady reaches the 400 TD mark with a one yard pass to Danny Amendola.

Nobody expected the Jacksonville Jaguars to beat the New England Patriots at Gillette in Week 3. The Jags were sitting at 1-1, having squeaked out a win against the Dolphins the week before, but had yet to really put together a complete game. New England, on the other hand, had scored 61 points in two games and were only getting better with each passing week. Most of Patriots Nation settled in for a dominant performance before the team headed into their early bye.

For all intents and purposes, this game was over in the first quarter. New England forced a Jacksonville punt on their opening possession, then drove down the field in just five plays to put the Patriots up 7-0. They would tack on two more field goals to go up 13-3, with the Jags really only able to engineer one drive into New England territory; New England had yet to punt at this point. A huge Devin McCourty interception late in the 2nd quarter gave the Patriots the chance to more or less put the game away with a pre-halftime touchdown, and Tommy B got right to work. Starting from their own 43, Dion Lewis and Rob Gronkowski combined to get the Patriots down to the one yard line with 22 seconds left to play.

On 2nd and goal, New England, came out in a 3 WR set with Lewis in the backfield. Edelman was alone on the left side with Amendola in the right slot and Aaron Dobson out wide to the right. Almost the entire Jaguars defense bit on the ensuing playaction, and Amendola ran a simple in route along the back of the end zone. Brady's first look, Edelman, was covered, so after a quick pump fake, Tommy B found Amendola for the easy score. Amendola casually tossed the football into the crowd, and the Patriots took a 20-3 lead into halftime. They would go on to win the game 51-17, putting their three week points scored total up to a whopping 112.

As far as actual plays go, this one isn't much to write home about - a simple one yard crossing route on 2nd and goal in a blowout game at home against the lowly Jaguars. Tommy B's career is lousy with touchdowns like that.

But that's exactly the point. With this throw and catch, Tom Brady became the 4th player in league history to throw for 400 TDs. He became the first player in league history to do it all with the same team. The fact that this pass wasn't overly spectacular is completely irrelevant, as it is hands down one of his most historical.

As of this writing, Brady has thrown 428 touchdowns in his career, good enough for 3rd all time. He needs 81 to pass Brett Favre (508) and 112 to pass Peyton Manning (539), both of whom are retired and won't be adding to their totals. If Brady plays for another four or five years at a high level, both of those numbers are certainly in reach. But even if he doesn't get that number one spot, to hit the 400 milestone is nothing short of remarkable, and because of that, this run of the mill, boring, ordinary score absolutely belongs on this list.

Check out the play here.