Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addresses the media during his postgame press conference at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, October 18, 2009.
BB: OK, that was I thought a really good effort by our team, all the way across the board. I'm really proud of them coming back off last week's game. I thought we executed at a pretty good level, hit some big plays both in the running game, passing game, turning the ball over on defense, played pretty solid in the kicking game, so it was a good, solid all-around effort. The team had a good week of practice and that was reflected in the way that they played. The players really did a good job with the conditions, which is a little unusual for this time of year, but we've talked about them. We've certainly been in wet and in wind, not in snow, but similar. I think they really paid attention to a lot of the details and did a good job of taking care of the ball and playing in those conditions, playing with their feet under them. [It was] a good win. We've got a quick turnaround here. It's really a short week with all the traveling we have and all that, so we're going to have to turn it around pretty quick for Tampa. [It's] good to win and a real good job by our football team today. The players did a great job.
Q: Were you a little surprised the points and the big plays kept piling on?
BB: Yeah, you never go into a game thinking it's going to be like this. But we did a good job protecting the quarterback, we threw the ball and caught it, opened some holes, ran well. Anytime you turn the ball over that can lead to some points and it did today.
Q: Did you see this game as a test of wills given the weather the way it was?
BB: I think every game in this league is a test of wills - it really is. It's a real competitive league. The Titans are a good football team. They've got a lot of good players. I know this wasn't their day today, I'm not trying to say it is, but they have a lot of good players, they've got a good team, they've got a good coach. It was just our day today.
Q: Was that an easy decision to put Sebastian Vollmer in for Matt Light?
BB: We finished the game with Sebastian [Vollmer] there last week and he's worked there all year. It seemed like he held up OK. We'll take a look at the film and all that, but it seemed like he held up all right. The protection was decent.
Q: Personnel-wise, Adalius Thomas was inactive and he wasn't on the injury report all week. Was there anything personal with him?
BB: No, we just went with the players we thought would have the bigger role in the game.
Q: Can you comment on the offensive eruption you had in this game?
BB: A lot of things came together. We missed on some of those big plays over the first five games and it seemed like we hit on most of them today. We got some good running, good running for catch plays, screens, runs and things like that. It was a great job by the players. They broke tackles. They ran hard. They got yards after the catch. They got open and the quarterback hit them and the line blocked. We had good field position. We were on a short field a couple times. All those things, all the stars were in alignment.
Q: The switch to the 3-4, was that because you got Jerod Mayo back?
BB: Again, we've played all those defenses through the years. You've seen them all before. It was a game-plan thing.
Q: Was there something Laurence Maroney was doing better today?
BB: I don't know. I think Laurence has run hard. He got a little crease and we all know once he gets out there he can run and he did. He turned it on. He had a couple nice runs and he runs hard. We had a little bit of space and once he got some momentum he's a hard guy to bring down. We've all seen that before.
Q: Over the years, your clubs have played well in the snow. What do you attribute that to?
BB: Good players. The players were the ones out there playing today and they did a good job. They kept their feet. They handled the ball well. They handled it cleanly. We missed some tackles on defense, but we made some. We made some plays defensively, turning the ball over. Some of those were tough catches, good plays, but we got them. The credit goes to the players; they did a great job.
Q: Is there any edge in mental toughness, playing teams that aren't used to these weather conditions?
BB: I think when you play well - whatever the conditions are - things come out a lot better than when you don't. Today was an example of [that]. We just did a lot of things well. We took care of the ball. We took advantage of the opportunities we had to turn it over. We finished most of our drives and got the ball in the end zone. We got off the field on third down. We could take a little bit more of that.
Q: Can you talk about Junior Seau?
BB: Junior looked like Junior. He's timeless. He came out to practice this week and he's running around, making calls, chasing after the ball, flying around like a rookie. That's just Junior. He's got great passion for the game and a lot of energy when he steps out there. Whatever his role is, whatever the play...He's a football player. It doesn't matter if its first down, second down, third down, practice, regular season game, snow, 90 degrees; he just tears around out there and he loves the game. I think he brought a good level of energy and enthusiasm to our team this week. And today — I'm not saying that was the difference — but I'm just saying he brought it in a positive way and it was good to have.
Q: Anytime there's a big score at the half, was there any thought of taking Tom Brady out?
BB: We took him out right after that. I think it was one more drive or two - whatever it was. [Brian] Hoyer played a big chunk of the game. You only have 45 guys in the game, somebody's got to play. You only have seven linemen, down a receiver here or there, or running back. The guys that are here have got to play.
Q: There was still some offensive plays happening there in the third quarter...
BB: When we put Brian [Hoyer] in, look, we're not trying to do anything but run our offense and that's what we wanted to give Brian a chance to do was to run the plays he's going to have to run at some point if he plays, whether they're passes, third-down plays, check-with-me plays, whatever they are. We went into the game with a game plan and I know the score got out of hand, but we were just trying to run our offense when Brian or whoever else was in there, whether it was Kendall [Simmons], Dan [Connolly], BenJarvus [Green-Ellis] and all those guys got to play. When they were in there we've got to do what we've got to do. Somebody's got to play.
Q: Tennessee picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty. Do you worry that when the score is out of hand like that the other team will take cheap shots?
BB: No, I think we just worry about doing our job. [We] just try to run the plays that we call and just try to do them.
