I don't know which season is the best by a quarterback in NFL history -- if I had to pick I'd probably go with Aaron Rodgers in 2011, with his 45 TDs, six picks, 4,643 yards and a record 122.5 passer rating -- but I'm confident in writing that Tom Brady is the only player at his position with two seasons somewhere in the top 10 of that list.

Brady's two MVP seasons are no-argument all-timers. The 50 TD passes in 2007 is his measuring stick, but there is the almost underrated 2010 season in which Brady put up a 111.0 passer rating (36 TDs against four picks -- that 9-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is the best in history) with two rookie tight ends, two undrafted running backs and his top wideout less than a year removed from ACL surgery. 

He closed that regular season out on an absolute tear, throwing his last interception in Week 5 (breaking Bernie Kosar's record for consecutive attempts without a pick in the process) while throwing 26 TDs during the same span. Scary stuff, basically never seen before. He was Larry Bird in the fourth quarter against Dominique Wilkins and the Hawks for two months straight, smack in the middle of the zone that shockingly was halted by Rex Ryan and the Jets in an upset at least as stunning as either Super Bowl loss to the Giants.

But until that loss Brady was playing at the highest level I had ever seen by a quarterback, plain and simple. 

But guess what? Two years later, at age 35, Tom Brady is (kind of quietly) doing it again.

It hasn't been two months, but is it possible to play the position better than Brady has since the loss against the Seahawks in Week 6? Now, Brady was lousy in that game, in fact the reason the team lost (two terrible picks, one in the red zone and his worst throw in years, a back-foot panic job into the end zone that was flagged for intentional grounding to end the first half and cost the Patriots at least three points) and when the Patriots got on the plane in Seattle they were 3-3 and no one was writing much about Brady's greatness. 

But in the last five games he has been at least brilliant, completing 114-of-178 passes (64.1 percent) for 1,454 yards and 14 TDs with zero interceptions. Five weeks ago there were dozens of players ahead of Brady in the MVP race, today there is maybe -- maybe -- one (Peyton Manning, and that's a coin flip). 

For the season? How about 24 touchdowns and three interceptions. Yup, the only quarterback in NFL history to have a 9-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is three TD passes away from being there again, albeit with plenty of time to go either way. The lowest percentage of passes intercepted in a season is 0.4 by Damon Huard in 2006 with the Chiefs. That was done in 244 attempts. Second on that list is Brady in 2010 (0.8 percent in 492 attempts) and right now his 0.7 in 421 attempts this season would be third.

Think about that for a second: Tom Brady is seventh in the league in pass attempts and has just three interceptions. The other guys with at least 400 attempts -- Matthew Stafford, Tony Romo, Carson Palmer, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning -- have 10, 15, 12, 13, 11, 13, and eight, respectively. The other three starting quarterbacks in the AFC East have combined for more three-interception games (four) than actual Brady interceptions this season. Entering Sunday, Brady had 421 pass attempts for the season and the three other quarterbacks with three INTs in 2012 had combined for 319 attempts. (There now is a fourth, as Charlie Batch threw three INTs in a loss to the Browns, the kind of effort that 37-year-old quarterbacks usually give just before heading off into the world of radio and shaking hands and signing shirts outside tents on Sunday afternoons.)

The greatness of Brady isn't only about his absurdly low number of interceptions -- though here's one more for you: Since the start of the 2010 season Brady has 19 INTs in 1,524 attempts, or four fewer than Romo in 456 attempts this season -- of course, there are 300-yard games and TD passes and the subtle adjustments (see his signal to Shane Vereen before the 83-yard TD on Thursday as the latest example -- Brady saw Bart Scott and knew exactly what Vereen vs. Scott in the flat might lead to) that we've collectively taken for granted.

And it's not our fault, really -- that's how it goes. As I've written before, you think Yankees fans spent a lot of time after a 4-3 win over the Royals in May of 2011 in wonderment of all things Mariano Rivera? Of course not, when greatness is expected and delivered it's hard to get worked up about it. I could sit here and lecture you about appreciation and how it could be 50 years before this franchise ever has a quarterback close to Brady's caliber, but it won't resonate. It doesn't work that way -- in 1987 I never thought about Larry Bird retiring or Roger Clemens someday being 50 years old. Same goes for Brady. no one is going to run around and scream about Brady's passer rating and TD-INT ratios because we've already seen it before.

But try to enjoy it, because this is one of the two or three best players in history at his position -- the most important position in sports -- playing at the peak of his considerable powers in what should be Act III of his career. Get lost in all the dopey debates -- running up the score, leaving in Rob Gronkowski for extra points, what yards allowed means for a defense -- because that's also part of being a fan. But keep at least half an eye on Brady. I know it can be tough to waste time on a sure thing, but I have a feeling this might be worth it.

Because there's a chance the only player with two of the 10 best quarterbacking seasons in NFL history might have three times as many as anyone else at the end of this campaign. Obviously it would be unfair and only hyperbolic to put Brady 2012 next to Brady 2010 and Brady 2007 -- we aren't even in December and there are other QBs in the league having seasons that are in Brady's class -- but consider this: If Brady can finish out this season somewhere close to what he did two years ago -- not exactly a stretch, given the very recent track record -- and ends up with, say, 35 TDs, five picks and 4,600 yards without Gronkowski for nearly half the year (and without a fully healthy Aaron Hernandez for virtually the whole year) wouldn't that at least enter the conversation of all-time seasons? Look, it still probably would fall short of his best -- 2007 is in another universe,  a brutal goal to reach, though matching 2010 is attainable -- but it would have its place historically.

Tom Brady isn't having his greatest season, but right now he's playing as well as he ever has in his career. It might not be fair to expect Brady to perform at the level of his last five games over the next five games, but that's the standard he's set. Anyone willing to bet against him?