Definitely waking up sore Monday: Tom Brady.
The Patriots passer was officially hit 19 times in New England's 20-18 AFC title game loss to Denver, the most punishment absorbed by a signal-caller since Cleveland's Charlie Frye was hit 20 times by the Ravens back in 2006. Still, Brady refused to point fingers.
"When you play quarterback, you're going to take hits. You have to stand in there and make throws," said Brady, who argued that his overmatched linemen "hung in there all day."
"There are no excuses for me for not getting the job done," Brady said. "Our guys fought hard. I'm proud of all the guys for what they tried to accomplish. We just came up one play short to a very good football team."
That one play will be talked about all offseason in New England, with Brady attempting to throw across his body to Julian Edelman on a failed two-point try that would have sent the game into overtime. It's especially painful considering that replays showed tight end Rob Gronkowski alone in single coverage against Broncos safety Shiloh Keo on the play.
"I wish the two-point play would have been different," Brady said. "I'm sure everyone can look at different plays throughout the game when it's that close and say, 'Man, I wish I would have made that play.' But I'm proud of the way we fought, and we certainly fought until the end."
