Emotional rescue: With division on the line, fiery Brady sparks Patriots' offense

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — An angry Tom Brady is the best Tom Brady.

OK, so the quarterback was not at his best on Sunday against the Jets — he finished 20-for-38 for 257 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. But when the game was in the balance, the occasionally fiery quarterback turned up the heat. The 40-year-old was barking at the officials, the opponent and his teammates throughout the game. And on an afternoon where the Patriots couldn’t afford to exhale until the echo of the final whistle, it was his intensity that turned out to be the difference.

“I think I’m always a little edgy out there for one reason or another,” Brady shrugged after the game when he was asked about attitude Sunday against the Jets. “It’s just an emotional game. I don’t know what it was today. I think it was just frustration from the way things were going — our execution and so forth. It just blows over a little bit.”

Brady may downplay things, but it’s clear that when the quarterback gets emotional on the sideline, it sends a simple message to his teammates.


“It means get going,” said wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who had six catches for a team-high 93 yards in the win. “That’s our leader, and that’s who we follow. When he gets hyped like that, we all need to be on the same page.”

“When the captain of the ship is telling you to do something and telling you we have to have a sense of urgency when it comes to the way we’re playing, then that’s what we need to do,” special teams captain Matthew Slater told Bostonsportsjournal.com after the game.

“Any time someone who is that good speaks,” kicker Stephen Gostkowski told Bostonsportsjournal.com after the game, “you listen.”

After a slow start, it was clear the Patriots offense got the message. After a scoreless first quarter — the third consecutive quarter where they couldn’t find the end zone — Brady and New England got things cranked up in the second. Their first touchdown came with just under ten minutes to go in the second quarter on a 1-yard run from Dion Lewis, and they added another one just before the half on 2-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski to tie the game at 14.

The Patriots tacked on another score at the start of the third quarter to take the lead for the first time, with that one coming on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski. A fourth-quarter field goal from Gostkowski and a dramatic defensive stand late proved to be the difference.

In the end, the results spoke for themselves in a way Brady could not: a Patriots’ road win, the 11th straight regular-season victory away from Foxborough. In addition, New England moved into first place in the AFC East for the first time all season.

“I think when Tom is emotional like that and vocal and passionate, we play better,” Slater said. “No doubt about it.”