Each Tuesday, NFL Network reporter Albert Breer shares his thoughts on topics around the league as teams transition from the previous Sunday's game to the next encounter on the schedule. Today, he begins with a reflective Tom Brady.
Tom Brady huddled at an empty stall a screen pass away from his normal spot, getting dressed there as teammate and locker-room neighbor Deion Branch entertained a large media scrum, blocking where the quarterback would usually get fixed up to take off from the stadium.
And the symbolism there wasn't lost.
A quarterback who'd taken it on the chin all afternoon for his teammates, and come out the other side with a furious second-half comeback, wasn't going to get in the way now. Brady isn't exactly the type to pull rank anyway -- despite a pretty public sideline blowup with offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien two weeks prior -- and he sure as you-know-what wasn't going to do that after what his team had just fought through.
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"NFL Replay" will re-air the
Patriots' 27-24 win over the
Dolphins on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
"You know, I've never been part of a game like that," Brady told me, as his 4-year-old son Jack rode on the shoulders of his father's friend nearby. "To lose Matt (Light) an hour-and-a-half before the game? And then lose Logan (Mankins) on the first series?"
Brady then paused. And he really didn't have to say anything else, but I offered, "Says a lot about the guys, huh?"
"Yeah," he responded. "It really does."
When that confrontation with O'Brien happened in Landover, Md., with the Patriots chafing to get by a Redskins team that had fewer than half the wins they did, it was theorized in New England that Brady was getting frustrated with the team becoming overly reliant on his ability to carry it. And there's very little question here that this isn't close to the most talented team he has played on. You could certainly argue last year's team was better, as were most of the 2003-07 Patriots clubs.
But one place where there's no gray area: The quarterback believes in the fight of this team.
Take the past three weeks as an example. Brady was 1-5 in his career against Mike Shanahan, whom he faced in Washington. He was 1-6 against Denver, who the Patriots had last week. And NFL media's crack research man, Matt Pomeroy, unearthed this gem Saturday: New England has lost just three December games since 2003, and all of them were to Miami, the team he faced Saturday.
The game against Washington wasn't exactly a Picasso. Had Santana Moss been a little more subtle with his fourth-quarter hand-fighting, that one would likely have been tied in the waning moments. The Denver game started out similarly ugly, before the Patriots kicked things into high gear.
Then, there was Saturday. No Matt Light. No Logan Mankins for all but one series. No Sebastian Vollmer. Yet, somehow, after getting its teeth punched down its throats for two quarters, New England adjusted.
Part of that is No. 12. Brady caught fire in the second half, particularly after the Patriots started spreading out the Dolphins, neutralizing their rush, and Vontae Davis went down. Indirectly, Brady also put pressure on the Miami offense, which fell apart in the third quarter and gathered itself too late in the fourth. And don't forget, either, how Brady smartly scrambled for five invaluable yards on the first play of the game's last possession, then found Wes Welker for another five to put it away.
All of that, in fact, remains the flaw that has bitten the Patriots the past two Januarys: If Brady is anything short of heroic, this team stands a better than good chance of being exposed. But the flip side of it is just what Brady was referencing in that quiet moment in front of someone else's locker, with the celebrity quarterback making way for another veteran to handle interviews as if he was some guy clinging to a spot on the practice squad.
That is to say, for what the Patriots are lacking in a championship formula, the quarterback really has faith in his team's toughness and resilience. And those just happen to be two qualities that have gone a long way in the past for title-winning teams Brady has been a part of.
Rams at No. 1 could be 'ridiculous'
What a fascinating finish we'll have Sunday to the end of the race for the No. 1 draft pick.
As it stands, the Colts and Rams are in the running for the first pick. St. Louis gets the Niners, who can lock up the second seed -- vital when you consider it would give them a bye, a home game, and allow them to sidestep having to face Drew Brees at the Superdome -- with a win. The Colts, winners of two straight, get the Jags, who have won once in six games since beating Indy on Nov. 13.
Colts lose or Rams win, and Indy's picking first, with all indications that Peyton Manning's successor will be chosen in the form of Andrew Luck, if the Stanford QB follows through on his intention to declare for the draft.
Things get considerably more interesting if the Rams wind up with the first pick, having franchise cornerstone Sam Bradford in their back pocket. The question then becomes whether they deal the pick or Bradford, and there's really no answer to that until we know whether or not Billy Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo survive next week.
Whoever's running the show would have a tough decision to make, but one with enviable benefits either way. Deal Bradford, you get a more highly-thought-of quarterback at a far lesser price, plus the draft picks that would come in that trade. Keep Bradford, and you have a vet going into his third year with a team that could turn it around quickly, and a huge haul of picks.
La Canfora: No. 1 pick will net haul
How much would the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft net on the open market? Jason La Canfora asked team executives and shares their answers. **More ...**
How high would the price rise for that first pick?
I had one executive tell me the freight would be a "Herschel Walker-type" haul, referencing what the Cowboys got for the running back in 1989, which was enough picks to lay the foundation for a dynasty. Another exec simply said, "It'd be ridiculous."
One thing's for sure -- there would be no lack of suitors. If St. Louis were to get the first pick and put it on the block, Miami, Cleveland and Washington would certainly be in the mix, as teams with top-10 picks, to use as ammo to front a package for the Rams.
Patience pays in Detroit
The Lions aren't exactly the NFL's gold standard franchise, even if their impressive three-year turnaround from 0-16 to the playoffs was just completed. But if there's one thing that should be studied in their methods, it's the patience of owner William Clay Ford and his crew.
It's something team president Tom Lewand pointed out to me back in October, and with the firing season upon us, it's worth circling back on now.
