Tom Brady, Patriots Defend Lack Of Urgency Against Jets In NFL Playoffs

In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFL playoffs game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots, QB Tom Brady showed little urgency getting down the field as they called run plays at a time when many thought they should be passing.

The Patriots got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, down 10 points, and went on an eight minute drive that ended with a failed fourth down conversion with 5:15 remaining. Folks are wondering why the Patriots had 14 total plays in that drive and seven of them were running plays.

Brady credits the Jets for dictating what the Patriots did offensively.

”They had a lot of dime groupings out there, six defensive backs, so it’s hard to think that we’re going to go out there and throw the ball all day on that grouping. We said, ‘We’re going to take advantage of this and still try to get the ball downfield.’ We did, but when we got down to the 15-yard line, we just sputtered.

“If we were down 15 points, it’s a different story. But being down 10 points, we thought we could score a touchdown. Then with two timeouts and four minutes left, we had plenty of time to get down the field and hope we could kick a field goal to send it to overtime.”

The plan obviously didn’t work. It was one of those moments in the game where I’m sure Pats fans were screaming at the TV to get them to hurry up. Though I see the logic behind what Brady was saying, it wouldn’t have hurt them to treat the game like they were down 10 points in the fourth quarter (which, um, they were).

Check out Pats Pulpit to see what Patriots fans are saying a day after the loss.