Brady: Patriots Must Match Packers' Intensity, Execution
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady stepped to the podium on Wednesday sporting his usual mid-week pom-pom hat, but something was a little different about the Patriots quarterback.
With the sleeves completely cut off from his Patriots' hoodie sweatshirt, he looked a lot like his head coach. But Bill Belichick usually draws the line when it comes to his cut-off sleeves somewhere around the elbow.
"When you have guns like this you have to show them off," Brady joked with reporters, saying he stole the look from receiver Brandon LaFell. "I've been working hard on these."
When he wasn't sculpting his guns this week, Brady and his 9-2 Patriots have been hard at work getting ready for Sunday's first-place showdown with the 8-3 Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
"It's a real good defense, especially at home," Brady said of the Packers. "They do a great job with turnovers, and they lead the league in turnover margin or turnover differential – whatever that is – at plus-15 so that's a big point of emphasis. They've got guys at every position. It's a real complementary team. They're one of the best teams in the league."
Green Bay is a perfect 5-0 at home this season, and boast a 31-5-1 record at Lambeau over the last five seasons.
"It'll be a lot of fun. It'll be fun to get a chance to go to Lambeau again," said Brady, who won his only regular season game at the historic field, 35-0, back in 2006. "It's pretty sweet; coach was talking about the history of the Packers and how there's 100,000 people in the town and 80,000 seats. It's a great organization with a storied history; it should be a fun weekend.
"It gives us a big test to go there and play a team who has been so dominant at home," he continued. "We'll have to match their intensity and level of execution, but they do a lot of things very well."
As Brady mentioned, the Packers are atop the NFL when it comes to turnover differential, the only team ahead of New England's plus-11. The rest of their defense has struggled, with the Packers ranking 13th against the pass, surrendering 234.4 yards per game, and 30th against the run at 136.7 yards per game.
But Brady knows that he and his offense can't get too far behind the Packers offense, who can put points on the board in a hurry.
"This is not a team you want to get behind; if you get behind 14-0 then it's 21-0, 28-0 and before you know it they have the game so well under control that you have no chance," he said. "You have to be able to stay close to them, and there's nothing other than solid execution to point to, so we have to figure out the best way to attack them."
As for the man throwing the football on the other side, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Brady has the utmost respect for him. When asked on Wednesday what Brady and Rodgers have in common, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick joked that they both wear No. 12.
Brady got a good laugh when told about Belichick's response.
"That's true -- that's probably as close as we'll get there," Brady said with a chuckle. "He's phenomenal and a great player. I love watching him play because he does things that no one can really do except him. For a quarterback, I know how hard it is to do that on a consistent basis, and he's been as consistent as anybody that has played the position. I have a lot of respect for him."
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Packers game on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV -- the flagship stations of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins on WBZ-TV at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay, with Patriots 5th Quarter on myTV38 following the game. The Sports Hub begins coverage at 1:30pm, with three full hours of postgame coverage following the game!
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