Brady: Now is time to shine
FOXBORO — As the temperature outside drops, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady knows it’s the time of year when championship teams start to heat up and separate themselves from the pack.
“I think coach (Bill) Belichick said it best the other day. Whether you’re 5-5 at this point or 10-0, it really depends on what we do going forward,” Brady said yesterday.
To that point, December has historically been a key indicator for the Pats’ Super Bowl hopes. Belichick’s teams that have made it to the big game usually gained steam at the end of the year, and the team, and Brady, have especially impressive resumes in December, even by their lofty standards.
During their Super Bowl seasons, the Patriots have gone 26-2 in December, a winning percentage of .928. Brady’s personal win-loss record of 54-10 in the year’s final month is the best of any in his career.
This year’s Pats will kick off their five-game December slate tomorrow with a trip to Buffalo to play the Bills. Brady, as expected, is set to start after being removed from the injury report yesterday. He missed his second straight Wednesday practice this week with an Achilles issue.
The success the Patriots had in 2014 and 2016 — their most recent championship seasons — are examples of how a team that’s hot in December can carry momentum through the finish line. Those teams went a combined 7-1 in December, with the lone loss a Week 17 defeat against Buffalo in 2014 with home-field advantage in the AFC already wrapped up.
In contrast, the 2015 Patriots floundered toward the end of the year after a scorching 10-0 start. They lost four out of six games to end the season, including a 2-2 mark in December.
Brady remembered the disappointment of 2015 as he emphasized the need to finish the year on a high note.
“I was here in 2001 and we were 5-5, and we ended up not losing a game after that. A few years ago we were 10-0 and the season didn’t end very well,” he said.
Brady knows the nine wins the Patriots have recorded won’t mean much if they slip up down the stretch.
After a 2-2 start, the Patriots have ripped off seven straight wins to move into a tie with the Steelers for first place in the conference. A Dec. 17 trip to Pittsburgh will have big implications in the race for the top seed and could very well decide homefield advantage for a potential meeting in the AFC Championship Game.
The Patriots are right where they want to be as the end of the regular season approaches, but Brady knows it will all mean nothing if they get tripped up in the final month.
“We put ourselves in a decent position, but we’re gonna have to go capitalize,” Brady said.