Brady On 32nd Career Comeback Win: 'We Came Up Big When We Needed It'
BOSTON (CBS) – Facing a fourth quarter deficit, it was just another day at the office for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense.
Brady led the Pats to his 32nd career comeback win following a fourth quarter deficit or tie, besting the Dallas Cowboys 20-16 at Gillette on Sunday.
With New England trailing 16-13 late in the fourth quarter, Brady and Co. embarked on a 10 play, 80-yard drive capped off with an eight yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez with 22 seconds remaining.
"It was great protection; great catch by Aaron," Brady said after the win, spreading the credit to the entire offense. "A lot of guys made big plays on that drive, we really needed it. We really kind of squandered away opportunities throughout the game, but came up big when we needed it."
Read: Pats-Cowboys Highs and Lows
"At the end we had some guys step up and make some big plays for us," said coach Bill Belichick. "There is no quarterback I would rather have."
"When you have a quarterback like Tom, anything can happen as long as there's time on the clock," said Hernandez. "He had enough time to get it done."
Brady, Belichick On Comeback
"I think the guys showed a lot of resilience on that drive and everyone stepped up and made the plays they were called upon and Tom doing his thing," said receiver Deion Branch after the game.
"They had some double coverage on the other guys; there was a combination coverage on Wes (Welker) and Deion and a combination coverage on the other side," Brady recalled on the game-winning score. "I was reading (Rob Gronkowski). They both took Gronk and then Aaron ended up being one-on-one. He had the outside leveraged on an in-breaking route. He ran a great route and made a great catch."
"I had an in-route and Gronkowski had an out-route and he's a great player so he drew the safety's attention and I came around and Tom made a great throw and I just had to make the catch," said Hernandez.
When the drive started at the Patriots 20 with 2:31 remaining, Brady knew at the very least he had to get into field goal range. But at home, the mentality was to go for the W.
"You're down three, so you know you have to get into field goal range. Then when you get to field goal range, you're thinking scoring a touchdown," Brady said of the drive. "A lot of guys made a lot of big plays, and they did throughout the game."
Stats: Pats-Cowboys Box Score
Brady finished the game 27 of 41 for 289 yards with two touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions, and before the game-winning drive Brady had a season-low QB rating of 63.7.
Brady has now orchestrated comebacks 26 times in the regular season and six times in the playoffs. It's not the situation he would prefer to be in, but has thrived in during his career.
"I'd prefer to be up four touchdowns with two minutes left, but it wasn't really the case today. You just keep playing, you keep battling, you keep fighting until the clock hits zero-zero at the end. We did that today," he said.
"Your margin of error is very small at that point," Brady said facing a deficit in the two-minute drill. "You can't not get the ball in the end zone. Throws need to be more accurate, routes need to be better, protection needs to be better. It's something we work on quite a bit; we haven't really had a true two-minute situation at the end of the game where we needed a touchdown."
"We prepare hard for that situation every week, and when it came up this week it was good to get the ball in the end zone," he said.
Brady also made sure to give some love to the man who caught the ball.
"He's done a lot of good things," Brady said of Hernandez. "He's really become a dependable player and runs very good routes. Coach always says a receiver should get open, catch the ball and then do something with it after they catch it. Aaron's really done all three of those things. He's really made a big jump from his first year to his second, and that's why he's out there at the end of the game."
"He was able to redeem himself today," Belichick said of Hernandez, who fumbled the ball away in the third quarter. "Luckily he got that chance. That opportunity doesn't always come again."
While the offense led the team to the win, Brady knows if it wasn't for the New England defense, the story would be a lot different.
"They were awesome today," Brady said of the defense. "We gave them some short fields there, but they really stepped it up when they needed to. They tightened up in the red area, limiting them to field goals. That's really what kept us in the game."
The Patriots head into their bye week atop the AFC east, but know there is plenty of room for improvement.
"It's not even November yet, we're still building on what we set out to," said Brady. "We're nowhere near where we need to be, and nowhere near where we're going to be. We just have to keep working hard, keep being mentally tough, and keep doing what our coaches tell us to do."
And while there were plenty of mistakes, the Patriots will take their 5-1 record into the bye week.
"You appreciate the wins, because you could just as easily lose these games," said Brady. "You can't beat yourself up over the wins, and then beat yourself up over the loses. Even though that's what we tend to do around here. I'm glad were going to come in this week, you'd rather learn from your mistakes and win than learn from your mistakes and lose."
"We just have to keep working hard and keep being mentally tough and keep doing what our coaches tell us to do and try to go out there and win these games."
With the win, Brady and Belichick tie Dan Marino and Don Shula for the winningest coach and quarterback combination. Brady and Bill are now 116-33, with Schula and Marino going 116-68 together.
The win is Brady's 30th straight at Gillette.
