Patriots quarterback Tom Brady addresses the media during his postgame press conference at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, November 08, 2009.
Q: On the one situation that you had at the end of the first half, what would have to happen differently for you not to take a chance like that? Would you have to have kind of a lead, or would you do that regardless? [On the play with one second left]
TB: Yeah, I probably cut it too close. That was probably not the smartest play in the world. We got fortunate that there was one second. [We] tried to probably get a little too much with not enough time. We got lucky.
Q: Can you assess what happened today? How did you play?
TB: I thought we obviously played good enough to win and made some plays when we needed to. You know, I was hoping our execution would be a little bit better, but it's a good win against a good team and a team that always plays us pretty tough. It's a good win in the division and now we have to move on.
Q: Can you describe what happened on the touchdown to Randy Moss? It looked like there was a little bit of an adjustment there.
TB: Well, he's so fast. I got it to him with a little bit of space and they were in man coverage and we ran some crossing routes and he caught it and took it a distance. It's always nice for a quarterback when you see the back of 81 sprinting down the field once he gets by them. There're not too many guys that can catch him. It was a great play, and we needed it. They really controlled the clock on us in the second half and like I said, I wish we could have done a little bit more out there when we had the ball, but it was good enough to win, I guess.
Q: Did the safety follow Wes Welker on that crossing route? Is that what happened?
TB: Well, he was in the middle of the field and Randy was a little shallow and yeah, I think Randy and Wes crossed and I think the safety kind of favored Wes a little bit, and Randy caught it coming the other way. It was a great running catch.
Q: Can you assess the play of the offensive line against a big 3-4 team?
TB: It's a really tough group of guys and they're coached very well and very hard. They have very high expectations for them, so it's a really great group of offensive linemen and they played great today. There weren't too many pressures or hits or anything like that, so I had a lot of time to sit back there and make the throws, so I thought they did a great job as usual. They've really played great all year for us, and then [Dan] Connolly coming in for [Dan] Koppen - it's not the easiest thing to do when you lose your center, but he stepped in and did a great job. He's another real tough guy who's really prepared and took advantage of his opportunity.
Q: With as many times as Mark LeVoir checked in as an eligible receiver, was there ever the thought to keep the defense honest and throw it his way?
TB: They wouldn't be working on that in practice, I know that. It would definitely catch them off guard. But he filled in; He did a nice job for us today, too. He had such a big body and to go in there and block the way he did...and we ran the ball pretty well at times today too, so Laurence [Maroney] had a nice game and there were some good holes in there for him.
Q: I think this team has won the last seven games following a bye week. What can you say about that streak?
TB: Well, we had two practices on the bye week and then four this week, so you get six pretty good practices to kind of do some evaluations of each unit and self evaluations and this is an important time of year. November comes around and your team pretty much is what it is, and probably teams have fought through a little bit of injuries. We have a pretty tough stretch here in November, so it was good to get off to a great start. We knew we got our rest last week, so we've got to put a lot into it this week.
Q: Speaking of that, the Indianapolis Colts game is next week. Everyone seems to like to see that game come around. What about you guys as players?
TB: Yeah, we like to see it too. We always enjoy playing them. They're a great team. They seem to always be one of the best teams in the league and they're good in all three [phases], very well-coached. It will be a great challenge for us. We're 1-2 on the road this year, so we've got to go try to play our best game.
Q: Doesn't the London game count as two road wins?
TB: I know. I know. It was kind of a home game for us in a sense. It was a pretty neutral crowd. It was a good win for us on the road, but it was definitely a neutral site game for us.
Q: Everyone starts to evaluate you guys from the start of the season, but from here on out are those evaluations of your team and where you are as a team a little more meaningful?
TB: By our coaches?
Q: By everyone: by yourselves, by your coaches...
TB: Well, we've had a lot of practices and we've obviously played a lot of games - 12 games including the preseason, so what we are as a team is pretty much what you see out there. I think we've made a lot of improvements from early on and we've got to continue to make improvements. Different guys have filled in at different spots. Hopefully we get some guys off of injuries to come back and fill in, but our offense, that's what our offense is. Our defense, that's what they are. They guys who are in there playing, that's why they're in there. We've seen a lot of plays and players, and it's kind of the team we are. Some weeks we play better than others just because obviously the execution is better. This is really when it counts. This is really when things get started.
Q: You had a club record for 300-yard games today with 27. Big deal or not a big deal?.
TB: Yeah, it's...I think we threw it quite a bit. I wish we would have been better on third down than we were. But when you've got guys open, you've got to hit them and when you have guys like Randy and Wes, as a quarterback, you feel so good back there because you know that if you get them the ball, they're going to do something with it. They played great today and all the guys in the passing game did a great job. So we've got to keep it going.
Q: You and Wes Welker connected a lot today, but it didn't really get going until the second quarter. What changed? Was it coverage by the Dolphins?
TB: Well, Wes is always a threat out there for me and he's always a part of the read and he and Randy are usually the first couple guys on every read, so the coverage dictates it going to him sometimes. Sometimes he just does a great job of getting open, so he's a great player for us. I'm glad he's on our team and not the Dolphins anymore.
Q: Is the red zone offense still a work in progress in that you still have to figure out what the staple plays are going to be?
TB: Yeah, we could have been better in the red area today. That would have helped. It comes down to execution is what it does. We were in there and then we got kicked out on the pass interference. Before halftime we had some opportunities there [but] didn't execute. Another one they stopped us on a sack. So you've got to get the ball in the end zone. If you do, you don't kick those field goals and it's a much different game in the end. So it's something we've been working on all year and some weeks it looks pretty good, and today we could have done a better job and we need to do a better job. We can't just keep kicking field goals out there, as much as Meat [Stephen Gostkowski] would like us to kick field goals. That's not really what I'm too excited about.
Q: That was dicey right before the half where with one second left you were able to get that incompletion...Was that you making that call?
TB: Yeah. I knew how much time we had. I definitely cut it too close. That's not something I want to make a habit of doing, but I think we got fortunate on that one. Hopefully the clock operator is a Patriots fan. (laughter)
Q: I think this is the fifth year you are going to play the Colts in week nine. Clearly it's a marquee matchup in the league. Kind of interesting, isn't it?
TB: Yeah. I think the one thing about that game is you've got to play a great game to win. You can't go out there and play your B game, because you won't beat those guys. They're good. They can rush the passer. They cover. Obviously, they can score a lot of points. They run it, they throw it, they have very good special teams, so we've got to match them. We've got to do the same thing and this year on the road, you know, we've had a couple good first halves and not so good of second halves, so we're going to need to play a four-quarter game.
