Tom Brady said he’d prefer to lead by four touchdowns by the final minutes of a given football game.
Unfortunately for Brady, that didn’t happy Sunday. Fortunately for Brady, he knew how to handle it.
The three-time Super Bowl champion signal-caller didn’t have his best day against the Dallas Cowboys, but New England’s end-of-game drive reeked vintage Tom Brady Patriots. With just one touchdown and two interceptions under his belt for the afternoon, Brady marched New England’s offense down the field to reclaim his team’s lead, giving Tony Romo less than 30 seconds left to try and do the same before the clock expired.
Brady connected with tight end Aaron Hernandez for an 8-yard touchdown strike, and Stephen Gostkowski’s extra point helped the Patriots earn their eventual 20-16 victory.
“It was great protection. Great catch by Aaron,” Brady said during his postgame press conference. “A lot of guys made big plays on that drive; we really needed it. We really kind of squandered away some opportunities throughout the game but came up big when we needed it.”
Brady, who went 27-for-41 for 289 yards, was then asked about his mental approach with end-of-game, must-have drives.
“I think your margin of error is very, very small at that point,” Brady. “You can't not get the ball in the end zone. The plays and throws need to more accurate. The routes need to be better. The protection needs to be better and the entire offense [needs to be better].
“It's something we work on quite a bit and we haven't had really a true two-minute situation at the end of the game where we needed a touchdown in a long time. We practice it quite a bit. We prepare hard for that situation every week. When it came up this week, it's good to get the ball in the end zone.”
Follow Nick @NickStDenis
Tweet
