FOXBOROUGH — Tom Brady did everything after Sunday’s contest except issue a full-on mea culpa for the performance of the passing game against the Bills.
In an uneven year for the veteran quarterback, it was perhaps his worst outing of the season, regardless of whether you want to use traditional stats, advanced numbers or just the eyeball test. He was just 7-for-13 for 40 yards and an interception in the first half, and finished 13-for-24 for 126 yards with one touchdown pass and a pair of interceptions. His passer rating of 48.3 was the sixth-lowest of his career, and worst since 2006.
Ultimately, on a day where Brady put up some of the worst numbers of his career, he was saved by a transcendent running game that produced one of the finest outings of the Bill Belichick era, as well as a defense that has now allowed just one touchdown in the last six quarters. And there was the fact the Patriots clinched the division title for the 10th straight year, and nosed ahead of the Texans for the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff chase.
All that meant there was a lot of “yeah, but” statements from the Patriots in the locker room after the game, including from the quarterback.
“Yeah, we didn’t have our best game in the pass game,” Brady said. “But we won.”
We like that start to the half...
POYER PICK! #GoBills pic.twitter.com/E8B42BTaB5
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) December 23, 2018
Zo picks off Brady! ?#BUFvsNE #GoBills pic.twitter.com/7jRntDV6Ga
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) December 23, 2018