Tom Brady explains why he was such a sourpuss after Patriots’ win over Eagles
It sure is tough being Tom Brady right now.
Did you see the poor guy’s news conference after the New England Patriots’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday?
Oh wait. The Patriots won that game. Well, it must have been a rare bright spot during an otherwise dismal season for the quarterback to be all mopey like that.
Um, nope. The Patriots are 9-1 and in their usual spot in the driver’s seat in the AFC playoff picture.
OK, so why was Brady such a sourpuss following the 17-10 victory over the Eagles?
“It’s just frustration with the offense,” Brady said Monday on WEEI-FM (93.7) in Boston. “I am happy we won on the road, but at the same time just wish we’d scored more points.”
Tom Brady, 42, keeps upping the ante on how long he’ll play, his trainer says, and now believes he’ll still be calling signals at 46 or 47.
Brady did not throw a touchdown pass Sunday for the third time this season; the last time he went scoreless that many times in one season was 2009. Also, according to ESPN, this week was the first time that Brady played a complete game and did not lead the Patriots in touchdown passes. Receiver Julian Edelman connected with Phillip Dorsett II from 15 yards out for the team’s only touchdown.
Brady is on pace to throw 22 touchdown passes this season, which would be his lowest total since his first year as a starter in 2001 (although he went on to lead the Patriots to the first of their six Super Bowl wins that year).
Otherwise, though, Brady is having a pretty good year. He’s had only five passes intercepted so far and has a passer rating of 90.1 — not his best season in those categories but definitely not bad for a 42-year-old quarterback who lost his favorite target to retirement and whose team parted ways with a couple of talented receivers with the season already in progress.
After weeks of Rams followers wondering why Todd Gurley was not getting the ball enough, he carries L.A. to a 17-7 win over the Bears.
The Patriots definitely aren’t the offensive juggernaut they once were during much of Brady’s 18 seasons as their starting quarterback, but the defense is more than capable of carrying the load these days. The offense has scored fewer than 20 points twice this season and the Patriots won both times — just like they did in the Super Bowl in January, when they beat the Rams 13-3.
Brady does seem to get that this might be the Patriots’ new normal — but that doesn’t mean he has to be thrilled about it.
“I just think to win the game ultimately you just have to score more points than the other team. That goes without saying,” he said Monday. “I don’t know what it is going to be on a particular week. We won the Super Bowl 13-3, that was pretty good. We lost the Super Bowl 41-33, that wasn’t good. I don’t know how many points it is going to be. The reality is it is a team sport. It’s complementary football.
“The strength of our team is our defense and our special teams. On offense we just have to take advantage when we get opportunities and understand where our strengths lie and try and play to them — not giving any short fields, not turning the ball over and try and take advantage when we get into the red area to score touchdowns. That is kind of where our offense is. That is kind of where our team is.”
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