Patriots quarterback Tom Brady addresses the media during his postgame press conference at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Q:You were heated today.
TB:Yeah, all day.
Q:You were walking off the field heated - frustrated.
TB:Well, I don't know about that. I think I was just really into it and trying to keep everyone focused. It's a great win for us and we'll take it and still understand that there're a lot of things we need to do better. Anytime you beat a good football team like that - and we made some real critical plays: a few fourth downs, some short yardage ones, fourth and one on our own 25 yard line - whatever that was - and made that. That was big for us.
Q:What do you feel like you personally need to execute better?
TB:Some things were better today and some things we've still got work to do on. Football is a team game and it's about everybody being on the same page. We're working on it and some things were better, but it's obvious we still have work to do.
Q:How big was Randy Moss for you today?
TB:He played great. He played great. He made some big catches for us. He ran a lot of routes, so I'm sure he's going to be tired tonight. He's a great player and we've got to get him involved in the game, more so even than last week. I think we made a concerted effort to get him the ball and he always comes up big for us.
Q:When Bill Belichick tells you you're going to go for it on fourth down on your side of the field, what are you thinking and what does that do for you as an offense?
TB:Yeah, I think it was a big play for us in the game. We had a six-point lead and if we just stopped, they were already in scoring territory, so he always had a lot of confidence that we could get it. We were running the ball very well all day today, and we did get it. We had a few third and ones this season - fourth and one against Buffalo that we missed, a third and one against the Jets we missed, and he's been really on us pretty good about getting those short yardage situations, which I'm happy we got.
Q:Your running game seemed to improve this week. Can you talk about Fred Taylor's performance?
TB:He ran great. He ran great. He's really shifty, so even when there's not a lot of room in there, he makes yards whenever we give him the ball. He's a really good player for us and we've got to get him the ball. The run game was great; really set up the play action that we had. It was really good execution on the offensive line and the running backs' parts.
Q:It seemed like you were overthrowing a few passes towards the lighthouse. Was it maybe that the wind was swirling down there?
TB:No, it was a beautiful day out there. It was beautiful. (laughter) We just missed them. When you throw it 50 yards, you wish you could throw it perfectly every time, but you just try to give those guys a chance, and I missed a couple of them. Hopefully I hit them next week.
Q:On the Chris Baker touchdown, a guy had you in his grasp, but you were able to get away from the defense and deliver the ball well.
TB:Yeah it was great protection. It wasn't how we drew that play up. It was pretty much on the sideline, Coach Belichick said, 'Well, what do you think about this?' The guys that ran the play didn't run it all week in practice and they made an adjustment. Chris [Baker] has been really dependable for us since the day he got here, and he made a great catch and run. He's a threat out there for us, so getting him more involved like we did today and Fred [Taylor] and Sammy [Morris] - those were some nice positives for us.
Q:You were three of 10 for 10 yards in the red zone, which must have been frustrating. What was the problem?
TB:It's just execution. It's everybody being on the same page and making the reads and throws and something we'll evaluate and look at. We can't keep kicking field goals, I know that. We've got to be better than that. Just figure out what the problems are and try to figure them out.
Q:Last week you said you weren't hitting on all cylinders as an offense. Do you feel like this week was a step forward?
TB:There were more positives than there were negatives than last week. Last week was tough for everybody. We played a good football team that has a real good pass rush, some good skill players, a very good offense, and we played much better. When you win the game, everyone feels a lot better, although nothing is perfect. We're going to go out and see what we can do better and hopefully improve against an excellent team next week.
Q:You said Bill Belichick drew up the Chris Baker touchdown play on the sideline. Was he more involved in the offensive communication with you and the play calling this week?
TB:He's always involved. He's involved in every play that's called. That one, like I said, we just kind of drew it up there on the sidelines and made it work.
Q:What are your feelings on the games like this where you have longer, more sustained drives?
TB:It was a more balanced day for us. We ran it great and we had some good play actions. It was wet out there. We didn't have any turnovers, which was key. We haven't been turning it over much, which was a positive for us, and we got one from them. It was a good day. It was a good day. There were a lot of positives to take from it and I think we're learning a little bit each time we play and hopefully we keep it going.
