Joe Montana once lost three straight playoff games from 1985-87 by a combined score of 102-30.  You can look it up.

That fact is for those who think that it is insulting to compare Tom Brady of the New England Patriots to Montana, the Hall of Fame quarterback who led the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl titles.

Montana arguably is the greatest quarterback in NFL history. That doesn’t mean he was invincible.  In back-to-back years, Montana and the Niners lost by scores of 17-3 and 49-3 to the New York Giants in the playoffs.  In 1987, Montana was benched in favor of Steve Young in a playoff loss to Minnesota and many believed he was nearing the end of his career.

But Montana went on to lead the Niners to back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1988 and 1989.  Who can forget his marvelous game-winning, 92-yard drive in Super Bowl XXIII against Cincinnati. Or his five-touchdown performance in a 55-10 rout of Denver in Super Bowl XXIV.

INTERACTIVE Just like Joe? Compare Patriots' quarterback with Hall of Famer Montana

Only after that fourth Super Bowl was Montana being considered as the NFL’s greatest quarterback. Obviously, we will need a more complete body of work from Brady before we can put him in that class.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn't wonder if Brady is the modern-day Montana. Enjoy the moment.

What makes the comparison even more delicious is that Brady idolized Montana while growing up in San Mateo, Calif.

“Of course, I’m very flattered,” Brady said of the comparisons earlier this week. “To ever think when I was a kid growing up that I would ever be compared to him - never in a million years.  I think part of is that I don’t think I’m on that level.  The second thing is I’m still trying to get better.”

At 49-14, Brady has the best winning percentage (.774) among quarterbacks with at least 40 starts in the Super Bowl era. Montana’s record was 117-47 (.713).

Brady is unbeaten in the postseason at 9-0, surpassing Troy Aikman’s previous record of 7-0 for the best playoff start. His victory in Super Bowl XXXIX over the Philadelphia Eagles matches Bart Starr’s postseason record of nine consecutive wins.

“Whatever ‘it’ is, Tom Brady has it,” former Dallas Cowboys coach and Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson said. “Joe Montana didn’t have the great arm like a Dan Marino or a John Elway, or the great speed, but he made the clutch plays. Tom Brady makes the clutch plays.”

None more clutch than in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII. Operating with no timeouts with 1:21 left, Brady completed five passes for 53 yards to set up the game-winning 48-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri in the 20-17 Super Bowl victory over St. Louis in the 2001 season.  Last February, Brady directed a 47-yard drive in the final minute to set up Vinatieri’s 41-yard field goal in a 32-29 triumph over Carolina for his second Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award.  Only Montana has three.

“The important thing going into those situations is that you need to be very, very prepared,” Brady said.  “You have to know all the looks you’re going to see from a defense on film and carry that into the game.

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“I’m going to be sitting there the night before the Super Bowl going through the game plan and saying, ’If they go to this coverage, this is who I’m throwing to,’ or ’if they blitz I’m going to do this.’  You feel like you have the answers to the test, so you can be confident.”

Montana’s best trait was an ability to quickly read the defense and make the right decisions. Through film study, he mastered Bill Walsh’s offense. But Montana also had an ability to scramble and was more nimble in the pocket, which meant he had more time to make the proper read and could run out of trouble if necessary.

Brady moves well in the pocket, but does not have Montana’s scrambling ability. That means he must be even more prepared.

“It’s actually getting to the point where he’s preparing so much that he’s getting to be a pain in the butt,” Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said.

“I feel I work as hard as anyone in the league, any quarterback,” Brady said.

You may dismiss the comparison to Montana. But the hunger to win is similar.