Even after completing seven of 11 pass attempts for 101 yards and a touchdown, and remaining upright during the second-half of the New England Patriots' 34-3 thrashing of the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, quarterback Tom Brady was still bothered by a first half performance where he completed just 50 percent of his 16 attempts and was sacked three times.
Tom Brady Says Patriots Need To Improve Following Win Over Chiefs
“Yeah, we’re going to need to play better than we did offensively tonight if we want to start making some serious improvements down the stretch,” Brady said last night according to Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald. “We’re 7-3. I don’t think we’re really where we hoped to be at this point. We have a whole season ahead of us and hopefully we can come out and have a good week of practice and move forward.”
For the Patriots, the 223 net passing yards was the second-lowest output of the season (New England had just 170 yards passing in a 25-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8) and the team's wide receivers were non-factors on Monday night. Wes Welker, who leads the NFL with 74 receptions and 1,028 yards, was targeted just three times, catching a season-low two passes for 22 yards, both coming in the second half. Deion Branch, who missed time in the first half with a tight hamstring, caught two passes for 19 yards and was on the only other wide receiver who was even targeted by Brady on Monday night..
In their 37-16 win over the New York Jets in Week 10, Patriots wide receivers caught 13 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. Brady says it's up to him to do a better of adjusting and getting the ball to the other play-makers on offense.
"Rob (Gronkowski), Aaron Hernandez and Chad (Ochocinco) and the other skill guys that are out there that have opportunities to make the plays – I have to find ways to get those guys the ball and I didn’t do a great job of that tonight," Brady said. "I have to do a better job next week."
The Patriots travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles and their 11th-ranked pass defense next Sunday.
For more on this game, check out Chiefs blog Arrowhead Pride and Patriots blog Pats Pulpit.
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