BOSTON -- Tom Brady and Zdeno Chara are only seven months apart in age.

Brady turned 37 last month and Chara will be 38 in March. The Patriots’ quarterback and the Bruins’ captain have met only once and don’t seem to have a lot in common on the surface, but both know how it feels to have some question whether their best days are behind them.

After posting dreadful numbers in New England’s 41-14 loss Monday to the Kansas City Chiefs, Brady found himself in the eye of a fan-and-media-driven panic storm.

“He’s going to be fine,” Chara said of Brady, who is currently ranked among the worst quarterbacks in the NFL in many statistical categories. “He’s talented and such a gifted athlete. He works really hard and I know that. I know he’s getting better results [from his workouts] than he was when he was younger. I have no doubt he’s going to be really effective still and he’s going to prove all those people wrong that are doubting him -- I know he will. You can just tell. I’m a big fan of his and I know he’s going to be fine.”

Chara would never compare himself to Brady, but it’s easy to see the similarities, given their age, career accomplishments and workout regimens.

Chara has played 1,273 games in the NHL, including postseason games. He averages nearly 25 minutes per game and that ice time has remained consistent during his career.

Brady has played 197 games during his career and has been one of the top-rated quarterbacks of his generations. He’s struggling right now, as is the team around him, but Chara believes Brady and the Patriots will bounce back.

“They’re facing some adversity and there are seasons when you will have a tough start, but you can actually get stronger from that,” Chara said. “We’ve seen it happen in different sports, with different organizations, so I can see it coming that they’re going to bounce back.”

Chara’s been on the receiving end of fans and media questioning his performances, wondering how much longer he can play and remain effective. Each season he’s shown no lingering effects of the difficult NHL schedule, especially with the Bruins having reached the playoffs in seven of the eight seasons he’s been in Boston.

Chara has experienced the criticism Brady is facing, and says it has served as motivation.

“It does,” Chara said. “It’s something that you can’t really hang your head and just feel sorry for yourself. Those things will happen. It’s sports and you can’t always win, can’t always dominate, you’re going to hit bumps along the road but that’s when teams are going to be stronger.”

At the end of last season, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien scoffed at the idea that Chara was slowing down.

“Well, he continues to dominate,” Julien said. “In the fitness testing every year, he wants to be the best and continues to be the best, so just saying that is pretty impressive of an athlete his size.”

At the start of every training camp, everyone is interested in the pull-up testing. Chara has dominated that category every year. Last season, fellow defenseman Kevan Miller tied Chara with 31. This season, Chara beat Miller, 35-33.

That’s just a small sample of Chara’s physical capacity and his determination to be in better shape than everyone else each season. Chara has four years remaining on his current contract and he’ll be 41 when it expires. He wants to play as long as he can and the Bruins believe their captain will continue to be effective, despite his age.

“There’s no doubt,” Julien said. “I think every athlete wants that. Every athlete tries to play as long as they can and he’s doing the right things to be able to continue playing as long as he can. You’ve seen other athletes not do that and they can fade pretty quickly. No doubt he’s doing the right things right now and he continues to impress us with his conditioning.”

What Chara does off the ice is the reason why he’s able to accomplish so much on the ice. His goal each season is to maintain his physique and puts in all the extra efforts to accomplish that. On a typical game night when he average nearly 25 minutes of ice time, he still rides the stationary bike afterwards.

“It’s something I’ve always put a lot of emphasis on to be in top, physical shape, because then you don’t feel tired, or feel fatigue. When you feel strong and fast then all the decision-making on the ice becomes easier. When you do get tired, you don’t make decisions as sharp, or quick. It goes way beyond being physically ready, or physically being in top shape; it carries over into the mental stage of the game, too.”

As he ages, Chara tweaks his offseason workouts to adjust to his goals. He doesn’t make them easier. He makes it harder on his body.

“For me, it’s never been easy, no matter if I was 25 or 35. I always work really hard in the summer. It’s never reached a point where I thought, ‘Oh, this is easy.’ It’s always hard and training is supposed to be hard, it’s supposed to be challenging,” he said.

Chara laughs at the notion that he can be compared to Brady, as far as popularity or accomplishments. But like Brady, Chara is confident in his ability now and in the foreseeable future no matter how old he is.

Chara asked, “How many championships does he have? Three. I’ll get there.”

He has two more to go.