It was an innocuous moment, a pass that glanced off Benjamin Watson early in the second half of a tight game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It came on the first drive of the third quarter, the Patriots on their way to scoring the first touchdown of the second half, one that would give New England the lead for good in their first-round playoff win.
It was also the first pass that Brady did not complete.
There was only one more - a third-down pass Wes Welker dropped with less than seven minutes to play - making Brady just about perfect in the Patriots' 31-20 win over the Jaguars. Brady finished 26 for 28 for 262 yards (an NFL playoff record 92.9 percent of his passes) and three touchdowns.
His last pass was an 8-yard completion on third and 7 as the clocked moved toward the two-minute warning. It kept the Patriots' final drive going, helping run out the clock on Jacksonville, while pushing New England into the AFC Championship game.
"I was a little disappointed in those two he missed," coach Bill Belichick joked after the game, though he barely cracked a smile. "Tom's been a great quarterback for us his whole career here, he's been great in the big games. Outstanding tonight. Thought he managed the team well."
For a quarterback who has burnished his postseason record already - though he did extend it to 13-2 last night - it often seems as though he simply can't do any better.
Still, nothing was as pretty as the fourth-quarter pass from Brady to Donte' Stallworth, thrown off balance and placed brilliantly as Stallworth raced down the sideline to a 53-yard gain.
With Randy Moss covered well and limited to a single reception, Brady gave the game over to a cavalry of receivers (heavily weighted to Welker) and, on the ground, Laurence Maroney.
Not that his pass catchers weren't more than happy to receive the pinpoint tosses from the man whose accolades are piling up quickly.
Brady found the slight holes against a game Jaguars defense. The visitors were good; he was better. Sound familiar, huh?
"Those guys, when they're open like that, I mean that's my job to hit them," Brady said. "They were open every time. It's easy to play quarterback when you have receivers that are always open, an offensive line that never lets anyone touch you. Makes it fun to play."
With the Jaguars playing a two-deep zone to keep the ball away from Moss - who playfully took the final news conference question by asking Brady about his standing as a "handsome quarterback" - Brady took what was available to him. And, in the process, he personified efficiency.
Going mostly without his outside receivers, Brady used Welker (nine catches), Kevin Faulk (five), and Watson (two, both for touchdowns) to evade the defense.
Plus he had the moment of the evening. Giving himself an Academy Award for the performance on "Double Pop," Brady acted his part in a faked direct snap, sending the ball in to Welker for the 6-yard touchdown with 8:49 left in the third quarter that put the Patriots in the lead, 21-14.
Yet, he still had to take ribbing from his teammates.
Asked about his quarterback's performance, Jabar Gaffney said only, "He was all right."
He shrugged. And promptly burst out laughing.
"I've always been a fan of Tom's," Moss said. "I've always studied him as a quarterback. The things he's done up to this point, and even tonight, I mean I'm happy to be on the guy's team."
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.
