Brady Would Like To See Patriots 'Play Good For Once' Against Jets
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady says to forget about the fact that the New York Jets are just 3-11 heading into Sunday's showdown with the Patriots.
Even with New York's dismal record this season, all Brady can think about are the close tilts the two teams have played over the last 12 months. There was the 27-25 win by New England at Gillette in October, when the Patriots needed Chris Jones to block a New York field goal at the end of regulation to secure the victory. There was the overtime loss at MetLife Stadium last season, when the Patriots had a 21-10 halftime lead and ended up losing in 30-27 overtime, and their Week 2 showdown in 2013 when the Pats squeaked out a 13-10 win.
Sure, the Patriots have had their share of blowouts against the Jets, but four of their last five meetings have been decided by three points or fewer. On Sunday, Brady is hoping the scoreboard looks more like the infamous "Butt Fumble" game in 2012, when the Patriots beat up on the Jets 49-19, and not one of those aforementioned matchups that are fresh in his memory.
"We've always had some pretty interesting games against them. A lot of them have come down to the wire, especially recently," Brady told reporters on Wednesday. "They've got a real good defense. They're good up front [and] do a great job against the run. We're going to have to go out and play really well. I know the records are what they are, but we don't look at it like that. It's a good challenge for us. We lost going into the Meadowlands last year, so we're anticipating getting their best game.
Tale of the Tape: Patriots vs. Jets
"Against us, they always seem to be close. You just don't want to go down there and have a bunch of poor execution like we've done in the past," Brady continued. "I think we've really got to focus on our execution and try to go out there and play good for once. I think that's kind of what we've been talking about; playing our style of football for 60 minutes and see what that looks like. Because we haven't done a great job against the Jets doing that."
Brady is 19-6 in 25 career games against Gang Green, throwing 35 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions (Brady has been picked off just once in his last six games against New York). He threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns in New England's Week 7 win over New York, a game in which the Patriots scored a touchdown in the opening minutes.
Starting strong was an issue for Brady and the New England offense last week against Miami, and has been something that has plagued them for much of the season. Brady would like to see that trend change with just two weeks left in the regular season.
"It's pretty frustrating when we don't [start fast]," said Brady. "We try to do things to get us going and get our best plays and you talk about the plays you want to run early, and we just haven't done a good enough job of stringing enough plays together in order to score points. You just don't want to fall behind. It's hard to fall behind in this league and expect to come back and win. Your margin of error just gets less and less as you go, so we've got to focus quite a bit on that. Certainly a team like the Jets, who have done such a great job with time of possession, especially against us, we've got to figure out a way to stay on the field and convert more third downs, score more points and ultimately try to keep their offense off the field. It's a big week to try to do that."
One big change to the Patriots-Jets matchups this season is Darrelle Revis. After spending a year away from the rivalry in Tampa Bay, the All Pro corner is now wearing a New England uniform, meaning Brady no longer has to worry about his receivers getting lost on "Revis Island" whenever the Jets come up on the schedule.
"He's a phenomenal player and I've loved playing with him. I've hated playing against him, and I've had my fair share of those opportunities," Brady said Wednesday. "He's a great teammate. He's a phenomenal player. I think the thing that I'm so impressed with is his coverage skills without getting penalties. That's a rare thing to be backpedaling when the guys who are some of the best athletes in the world are running at you as fast as they can with the size and speed of the way the receivers are, and to be able to cover those guys like he does is pretty amazing."
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Jets game on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV — the flagship stations for the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage on 98.5FM begins at 10am, with coverage on WBZ-TV getting underway at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay. After the game, stay tuned to the Sports Hub for three full hours of postgame reaction and analysis, or tune to myTV38 for Patriots 5th Quarter!
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