Obviously whenever Brady is dealing with some sort of ailment, it’s a major concern for the Patriots.
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The two teams line up before a snap during the first quarter.
When an achy Tom Brady had finished fending off questions about the New England Patriots’ desultory regular-season finale, he stepped gingerly off the interview podium, looking a little wobbly as he heads for the playoffs.
He seemingly chose the latter, and it wasn’t quite enough during the Patriots 20-10 loss to the Dolphins. This weekend’s wild card games – AFC, Saturday: Kansas City at Houston, 4:35 p.m., ESPN (simulcast on ABC); Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 8:15 p.m., CBS.
New England won’t know who they are playing until the Wild Card round concludes this weekend. The one notable player hurt on Sunday was Tom Brady, who had Miami’s Ndamukong Suh land on the back of his ankle during the contest.
For the entire 2015 season, the key to Tom Brady and the success of the Patriots passing game has been his ability to get the ball out quick.
“I’m pretty sore”, Brady told reporters in Miami before limping off the podium and using the wall to support himself following his postgame press conference, “but I’ll be all right”. “But it will be all right”. “We’re just not doing a very good job of it. I think that’s what it comes down to”. Julian Edelman and Sebastian Vollmer on offense, as well as Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones on defense, are all expected to return for the postseason.
Wide receiver DeVante Parker had an incredible game. But overall, this was a team that was clearly not at full strength on either side of the football. “This time of year is about how you play, not who you play or where you play or any of that”.
And past bye weeks don’t necessarily apply to the here and now in New England for a team that lost four of six games heading into the playoffs.
If the Patriots truly were after seeding, then selling out to win on Sunday would have meant throwing on third-and-longs and pounding the ball to Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola.
And when the divisional round takes place, Brady says the Pats will be a “different team”.
Brady was held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season. How much it limits his preparation is just another injury issue the Patriots have to manage.
This has been a tough season for the New England Patriots, and it continued to be tough yesterday. Putting Jimmy Garoppolo in the game could’ve been good for the second year QB.
The loss dropped them to 12-4 on the season, but at the end of the day, no one will remember this game in another month if this team is in California. The players are trying to improve and fix the problems that have made them lose four of their last six games.
Now that the season is over for the Miami Dolphins, tomorrow will start an extremely busy and interesting off-season.
After winning the first 10 games to spur talk of a second undefeated season, the mounting injuries have taken their toll on the defending National Football League champions.
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“We don’t know who we’re going to play, it could be one of three teams, so the whole week is going to be about us”, said Slater.
