In recent weeks, the Miami Dolphins have really gone after the quarterback, harassing them into bad throws, turnovers and sacks.
But this week's game might feel a lot like practice against Chad Henne. No hitting allowed.
Enter the Brady Rules. Tom Brady, that is.
"When a guy can tell a ref when to throw a flag and he gets it and stuff like that, he got his own rules," Joey Porter told the NFL Network. "So you've got to honestly say that he got his own rules. No question."
The NFL has gone above and beyond to turn the game into a two-hand touch league, but that fact is no more apparent than in how the quarterbacks are treated, primarily New England's signal caller.
Hit Brady around the shoulders. Flag. Hit him below his belt line. 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. Move a hair on his pretty little head out of place and you're likely to be ejected.
But there are a few other unwritten commandments to the Brady rules that most officials know or learn during the course of a game.
Local
If Brady says it was pass interference, then it's pass interference.
Brady can't be called for intentional grounding because he is always outside the tackle box even when he is in the tackle box.
And if Brady points at someone after the play, just throw the flag because that defender clearly did something even though the referee has no clue what (ask Ray Lewis and Baltimore about this one).
The official Brady rule as it has become known around the league says you can't hit Tom Brady below his knees to try and tackle him or get a sack. Add that to the fact defenders already are prohibited for going anywhere near the head, and you've got a pretty small window to make a play on the quarterback.
Porter and the boys know this, but can't get caught up watching the refs pull for the yellow hanky. Porter had five sacks against the Pats last year, but that was Matt Cassel pulling the trigger under center, not Mr. Clean.
For the Dolphins sake, Brady's jersey will be plenty dirty on Sunday.
