It’s fair to wonder what Tom Brady did to justify getting the Super Bowl in his very first year of broadcasting. I mean, you know what he did — reach 10 Super Bowls, win seven of them, more than literally any entire team in the league. But there’s a world of difference between playing in a game and commentating on it for the entire world to hear and critique. How would Brady perform in crunch time, with 100 million people listening to him?

Come on. It’s Tom Brady. How do you think he did?

Brady’s performance on Sunday night calling the Eagles’ victory over the Chiefs rose to the occasion. It wasn’t necessarily a signature performance; in a blowout like this, he didn’t have the opportunity to offer up many in-the-moment expressions of genuine emotion. But where Brady truly shone was in giving perspective on what it feels like to lose one of these games … particularly when you’re supposed to be the chosen one, like Mahomes.

“I think about, unfortunately, the three losses probably more than I think about the seven wins. It hurts to lose this game,” Brady said halfway through the fourth quarter, with the Chiefs on their way to defeat. “We lost to the Giants in 2007. That was 17 years ago. We were on the precipice of history. We faced a team that played their hearts out that day and beat us. And I still haven't really lived it down because you care so deeply. And I know this Chiefs team does as well.”

Then he offered up a pronouncement that will bring a chill to every member of the Chiefs: “The reality of a loss in this game is, you don't ever get over them.”

Now that’s the kind of honesty and insight everyone wanted from Brady when he signed that 10-year, $375 million deal to join Fox Sports as its lead broadcaster. There is no one on Earth who knows more about what it’s like to win — and lose — Super Bowls than Brady, and his ability to communicate the truth at the heart of the struggle is what elevated his Super Bowl performance over everything else he did this year.

Brady struggled early in his debut season in the booth, both with the natural cadences of announcing and with the burdens and expectations placed on him by Fox — not to mention the fact that as a partial team owner, he’d have a whole different set of restrictions on him. Plus, Fox demoted the popular and talented Greg Olsen to make room for Brady; that’s not Brady’s fault, but he immediately drew comparisons with the more seasoned Olsen.

Brady didn’t really unlock the secrets of broadcasting — blending honesty and humor with a fan’s perspective and a veteran’s insight — until well into the season, but he clearly had prepared for his Super Bowl announcing moment as thoroughly as he’d prepared for his Super Bowl playing days.

Over the course of those 10 Super Bowls, Brady’s team was in every single game right up until the very last minutes, win or lose. Similarly, Brady was engaged throughout the blowout, no easy feat when the on-field action isn’t giving you much to assess beyond, basically, “Kansas City stinks on ice right now.” Brady didn’t say that, but he could have at pretty much any point in the game.

Fox hired Brady for his big-game expertise, and on Sunday, he offered up the kind of insight that someone who’s spent a fair portion of his professional life in the Super Bowl. Play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt set up Brady on several occasions, including midway through the first quarter regarding slow starts.

“I didn’t score a touchdown in the first quarter of the game for the first nine Super Bowls,” Brady reminded viewers. “Sometimes it takes a little time to find a little bit of rhythm. All these games are so long. It’s a neutral crowd, it’s a 4 1/2-hour game.”

There’s no one better equipped to assess an elite quarterback than another elite quarterback, and Brady expertly detailed how Mahomes’ feet were unsteady and uncertain in the backfield as the Eagles’ pass rush swarmed over and around him. “He just is not that comfortable right now,” Brady said late in the second quarter following a Mahomes sack. “I wouldn't expect him to be comfortable the way the pass rush is getting after that line.”

He’s too much of a professional to admit it on air, but Brady knew that Mahomes’ utter beatdown in this game kept a fair amount of distance between the Chiefs quarterback and himself in the GOAT quarterback race. Had Mahomes won, that would be a fourth victory before age 30 — and, more importantly, a third victory in a row, something Brady never managed. As it is, Mahomes still has plenty of time to catch and pass Brady on the all-time greatest list, but that chase will have to wait another year.

Brady clearly prepared well for the Super Bowl, and delivered a solid, colorful broadcast in the brightest of spotlights. Turns out Brady has skills off the field, too ... but you could have predicted that, right?