Patriots gridiron news: Tom Brady moving past ugly performance vs. Miami
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has already put Monday night’s 27-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins behind him and moving on to Pittsburgh.
It’s on to Pittsburgh. Following a sloppy performance against the Dolphins down in South Beach, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are ready to move on and get back to their winning ways in an AFC showdown with the Steelers this upcoming Sunday.
The 40-year-old quarterback looked more like Jay Cutler was supposed to look in the 27-20 loss. Tossing two interceptions and failing to convert a single third down, Brady has critics once again suggesting his demise.
But, as we have found out many times over the past few seasons, counting Brady and the Patriots out is a bad idea. If anything, the seemingly yearly December loss in Miami was more indicative of injuries and Rob Gronkowski’s absence.
In other words, there is nothing to worry about here. In fact, Brady feels the team will learn from the loss.
"“I believe you learn more from losses than wins because you more critically evaluate where you’re at and what the expectations are, and what you need in order to get the job done,” Brady said during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan. “I think everyone took this one pretty hard. The locker room wasn’t in very good spirits and the plane flight home was very quiet. But it’s also the ability for us to learn from it and move forward is what we need to do because I think we’ve always felt that one loss shouldn’t become two, two shouldn’t become three, that’s when it really turns into a bad season.”"
As usual, Brady went on to say that the team needs to figure out a way to play better. Against a team like the Steelers in Pittsburgh, they will certainly have to bring a better game plan and a higher level of motivation to prevent losing back-to-back games.
A Brady bounce back game
Of course, they also need a better Tom Brady. Despite falling down 27-10 and horrible most of the game, the New England Patriots did fight back and had a few opportunities to complete yet another comeback. Brady, however, just couldn’t put anything together.
It was definitely one of his worst games in probably his career.
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"“I’ve pretty much moved past it,” Brady said. “When I got on the flight, about midway through the flight after I watched film of the game, I tried to move on. It doesn’t feel good obviously, but there’s nothing we can do about it. You can’t change it and you have to be able to now focus on what’s next and what’s ahead and it’s a real good team, and we can’t afford to lose any more times than we already have. It’s already Tuesday morning, and physically everybody has to get right, mentally everyone has to get right emotionally, and have to get your energy back and go in there and try to beat a good team.”"
The Steelers will not only be looking to avenge last year’s AFC Championship game, they will also look to stake their claim as the No. 1 seed in the AFC. A Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champions, of course, stand in the way.
Rex Burkhead continues to trend up
Well, there was a bright spot in Monday night’s debacle in Miami. Running back Rex Burkhead continued to show his worth in the New England Patriots offense.
In the 27-20 loss, Burkhead caught five passes for 45 yards and rushed for a touchdown. The total numbers may not have been anything to write home about, but it was the third consecutive game in which the versatile running back has scored a touchdown.
Next: New England Patriots: Tom Brady’s top 5 receivers of all time…so far
He is proving to be a viable option in the passing game as well as an option down at the goal line.