Belichick Post Game Comments
Here is what Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had to say following New England's 45-3 beating of the Jets Monday night.
OPENING STATEMENT:
"I'm really proud of 'em. I thought this was the best 60 minutes of football we've played all year. We had a good week of practice, everybody was really focused. We just got a lot of solid play from, really everybody. So it was a good night for us, we'll take it. The Jets are a good football team. I'm sure that haven't heard the last from them but tonight was our night. I'm glad it could be on 'Tedy Bruschi Night'. I['m sure this is a game that Tedy's proud of. He was a part of many like this, so maybe we got a little inspiration from him tonight."
On the fourth & 2 play where they opted to go for it:
"We kicked earlier, but we kind of felt like it was 4th and short, instead of a long field goal…..that was a tough kick - that was a heck of a kick by Shane the first one, it was 43-yards or something with the wind - it was a crosswind, it was a tough kick - but he hooked it right in there perfectly just the way I would like to hit a golf shot, but never can. But that was really a big part of the decision - if it had been 4th and 9 we would have kicked it again."
On the Brandon Spikes Interception:
"It looked like a play-action pass, we call a "pop pass" where they fake it in there hard and try to hit it over the middle, similar to the play the Colts scored against us on. Brandon made a great play, made a nice catch. You know Pepper [Johnson] throws balls at those guys every week, he fires it in there, makes them catch the ball, it was kind of like the 'on the line drill' that the linebackers do with Pepper every Friday - so it was a nice catch."
On the personnel changes they made to confuse the Jets:
"I don't know. We played about what we usually play. I don't think it was any big deal. I'm sure it's nothing that they haven't seen before."
On the ramifications of losing to the same team twice and the importance of winning the AFC East Division:
"We can't do anything about any of that. We just wanted to come in tonight and beat the Jets, that was our goal tonight. At the end of the year after the standings are in, I'm sure we'll know what the situation is. But right now we don't really care about that. We're just on to Chicago, and we have to do a good job up there against the Bears. It's nice to win, that's great, but there's still another quarter of the season left to be played. So there's a lot of football left."
On the Tom Brady's ability to find personnel match-ups:
"That's why Tom's such a great quarterback. He does a good job of, depending on what the pattern is and where the receivers are deployed, what the match-ups are, what the coverage is - of getting the ball to guys that have a good chance to get open. Tom does a great job of that, nobody's better than him. So I think that's part of what makes Tom Brady the quarterback he is."
On Tedy Bruschi's importance to this team when he played:
"He meant a lot. Tedy was a special player for me because my first year here in '96 was the year we drafted Tedy, so I saw his development as a player even though I wasn't there for the next three years. But I was there for the first one and then the next 10. He was a special player for me, he brought a lot to this team, to the entire organization, his attitude, his effort, his toughness, his work ethic, his playmaking ability, his leadership - he was the best. I'm so fortunate to have been able to coach the Tedy Bruschis and the Troy Browns, and the Willie McGinests - I mean those guys - they meant a lot to this organization. Certainly Tedy, whatever recognition he gets he deserves all of it and more, he was great - and still is. I still talk to him, and he always has positive words of encouragement, just like he always did when he was here. He always had a smile on his face ready to work, and I saw that smile before the game tonight, at halftime, and I think I saw it after the game. I love to see his smile."
