Brady Calls Drubbing By Lions 'A Good Lesson For All Of Us'
BOSTON (CBS) - It is still only a preseason game, but even if it doesn't count in the standings the Patriots are still embarrassed by their sloppy play Thursday night in Detroit.
"We had a couple good weeks against Tampa and Philly, some good practices, then we have a week like this when you figure out that we aren't anywhere where we need to be," quarterback Tom Brady said of the 40-9 loss. "If we are going to kick off in two weeks, we are going to have to play a hell of a lot better than this. That's a good lesson for all of us; I don't care who you are. It's the NFL. It's a very humbling game, and if you don't bring it every single night, every week, you get your butt kicked."
4 Ups, 4 Downs: Sloppy Turnovers Lead To Blowout Loss
"We really weren't very competitive in anything," said head coach Bill Belichick. "We got thoroughly outplayed and out-coached and they just did everything better than we did. Obviously when you turn the ball over four times in the first quarter, that will knock you out of most any game, and it practically knocked us out of this one."
The Patriots first unit offense turned the ball over four times in Detroit, with fumbles by rookie tight end Zach Sudfeld and running backs Brandon Bolden and Shane Vereen, and an interception by Brady. The Pats quarterback was pressured throughout the evening, getting sacked twice and hit five other times.
For the most part, the Patriots first-unit defense -- without Vince Wilfork -- did their part in the first half. They held the Lions to just 13 points on those four turnovers, despite Detroit starting deep in the New England zone on three of them.
But when the offense isn't clicking, it's hard for the Patriots to put up points and stay competitive.
"We didn't do anything in the first half other than turn the ball over," said Brady, who finished 16-for-24 for 185 yards and no touchdowns in the first half. "You're not going to score points in the NFL unless you string together a bunch of big plays. We would make one or two, but then we would shoot ourselves in the foot. We have to figure out how to correct that in a couple weeks, or it's the same result."
Leftover Thoughts: Brady's Offense Handed Dose Of Reality
"When you lose the turnover battle 4-0, you have like a two-percent chance of winning the game," said Brady. "These are the (games) you lose. We've always been a team that takes care of the ball, and we have to be that way this year otherwise this is the result."
"Its a good lesson for us. I hope we learn from it," said the quarterback. "These games are tough, and it's hard to win when you don't play well. We aren't going to win if we don't play well, so we have to figure out a way to learn from this and play a lot better than we played tonight."
The Patriots conclude their preseason Thursday night at Gillette against the New York Giants, before opening the regular season on September 8 against the Bills in Buffalo.
