Fired-up Brady on a mission as Patriots face Titans
LOS ANGELES: The Tennessee Titans can expect to feel the full wrath of an aggrieved Tom Brady and the New England Patriots as the defending Super Bowl champions launch their postseason campaign on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
The Patriots have been riled this week following a bombshell ESPN report which painted a picture of internal strife and a terminal rift between Brady, coach Bill Belichick and billionaire owner Robert Kraft.
The three pillars of the Patriots dynasty, who have delivered five Super Bowl titles since 2002, have pushed back hard against the revelations, which included a claim that Brady had pushed for understudy Jimmy Garoppolo to be traded against Belichick’s wishes.
Brady, who is seeking to gild his legacy as the greatest quarterback the sport has seen with a sixth Super Bowl, was incensed by the suggestion that he had engineered Garoppolo’s departure or had appeared “liberated” by the trade.
“That’s just such a poor characterization of anything,” Brady said this week.
“In 18 years, I’ve never celebrated when someone has been traded, been cut,” the 40-year-old added, describing the report as “completely wrong.”
Belichick, meanwhile, delivered a blunt riposte to the theory that he could be ready to walk away from the Patriots following the report rift with Kraft and Brady over the Garoppolo move. Asked if expected to return to coach New England next season, the famously taciturn Belichick responded with one word — “Absolutely” — insisting he remained solely focused on the Titans.
“Right now my interest is trying to do the best I can for our football team to get ready for Saturday night against Tennessee,” Belichick told reporters on a conference call. “That’s where my total focus is.”
History suggests the Titans can expect to be given a rough ride on Saturday in their AFC divisional round.
Past controversies, from 2007’s Spygate to 2015’s Deflategate have invariably brought out the best in Brady and the Patriots, who are rarely more dangerous when they perceive an injustice.
Having marched through the regular season with 133 record, the Patriots should have too much firepower against the Titans, who finished the regular season 107, and scraped past the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend with a 22-21 victory in the first round of the playoffs.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the Philadelphia Eagles will hope to prevent a season which had promised so much from ending in disappointment when they take on the revived Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles picked up the No.1 seeding in the NFC with a 13-3 record, but crucially lost quarterback Carson Wentz to injury in the closing weeks of the season.