Q: Six touchdown passes tonight but start off by talking about the punt - 48 yards.
TB: We've been practicing it for seven years; a situation came up. I was trying to get it inside the five but I needed a penalty to do that. I was happy about the call.
Q: You guys have talked about getting off to fast starts. I don't know if you could have drawn it up any better than you did tonight.
TB: Yeah, that run to Aaron [Hernandez] really got us off to a great start. He's great with the ball in his hands. All those guys played well; all the skill guys, the offensive line played awesome. They threw a lot of stuff at us and I thought we really responded well. Certainly the turnovers, I wish we wouldn't have those but we can learn from those and hopefully go out and play better next week.
Q: How satisfying was this for you personally, tying an NFL record and everything else you did, after the way the last few seasons have ended?
TB: It's all about winning. You're right, you lose a few playoff games and it's a very bitter way to end the season and it sits on your mind for quite a long time. For us to come out and play the way we did, have a very solid performance in the most important game of the year is very gratifying. I think that we have eight days until the biggest game of the year. From this point on, everyone will be focused on what we need to do to be better next week and hopefully come out and play for another championship.
Q: When you knew it was going to be up tempo, no-huddle, did you embrace that idea, did you think that it would play to your skills?
TB: Sure, that's important. I think we've shown we can do that. I think there are times we have to slow it down a little bit and control the tempo of the game that way. But it's good to have versatility; we have some versatility within our personnel groups also that I thought present some challenge for the defense. That's a good team, that's a good defense and to go out there and play the way we did, it was a fun day.
Q: It put you right into attack mode, they didn't seem to have a chance to give anything to you guys to react to. You were pushing at them.
TB: They have some pretty good pass rushers, some good cover guys. I thought we just executed well. That catch that Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] made for a touchdown in the corner was one of the best catches I've ever seen. When you're making plays like that, it's really not about the defense, it's about making spectacular plays. That was some great efforts - Aaron [Hernandez] on the touchdown catch-and-run, Wes [Welker] really got us started, Gronk had some other pretty great touchdowns too. It was a good day.
Q: Can you speak to the versatility of your tight ends overall? It seemed like in the regular season they had trouble with Aaron Hernandez and tonight both tight ends had big games.
TB: Yeah, well I think they've been great assets to this offense along with the plays that Deion [Branch] made and the plays Wes [Welker] makes and the way Benny [BenJarvus Green-Ellis] runs it and the way that we can protect with the O-line and the way the defense plays. It's certainly not about one player, it's one position. Coach [Belichick] really challenged us last night to come out and play as a team, to play together and to play complementary football and I thought we did that.
Q: How about scoring quickly before the half? It must have been very comfortable to score two touchdowns and go in with a big lead.
TB: It was great. Anytime you do that, it's a great way to go into halftime. Touchdown to Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] with five seconds left - he ran a good route, we caught them in a coverage that we were hoping for and he made a great catch. He's been doing that all season. We've had a quite a few opportunities before half to get points on the board. This was a big score.
Q: It was a record setting day. Can you comment about the records that you guys broke?
TB: I have no idea what records and stuff like that. We try to go out and execute well. I thought offensively we took advantage of some opportunities. That fumble we got was pretty important in the first quarter. Anytime you score points and you score 45, obviously with the help of our defense and special teams played great. Hopefully we can go out next week and play even better.
Q: You had six touchdowns and Rob Gronkowski had three.
TB: Sure. Well everyone is here for one reason and it's to win - that's the reason why guys are here, is to win. Coach [Belichick] said last night, 'Every player that was in this room, it was for this game.' He puts together a game to win this game and we did that.
Q: How much of a factor was the crowd for you? And, with all the hype around Tim Tebow, did you take this game personally?
TB: Anytime the crowd is into it like that, hopefully we give them reasons to cheer and I thought we did that. They were in it the whole game, all the way up until the fourth quarter and they stayed. It's a Saturday night so probably most people are out anyway. It's great to have that crowd behind you. And, I think that everyone focused on one player and I think all week we were focused on the entire Denver Bronco team. We knew what kind of challenges they presented. Tim [Tebow] is a very good quarterback, they have a good defense, great rushing team, make some big plays in the pass game like they did against Pittsburgh. We knew the threats; we understood the danger of not playing our best game. I thought we came out and really responded well.
