Brady On Patriots' Offense: 'Poor Performance All Around'
BOSTON (CBS) - Tom Brady didn't throw a touchdown for the first time in the last 52 games on Sunday, but having his streak snapped wasn't on the quarterback's mind as he took the podium following the 13-6 loss to the Bengals.
"I'm bummed we lost," Brady said. "That's all that really matters."
For the first time since September of 2009, the Patriots didn't find the end zone on Sunday. Brady was just 18-for-38 for 197 yards, throwing a game-ending interception in the final minutes to secure the win for Cincinnati. He was hassled all day by the Bengal's stellar pass-rush, who sacked him four times.
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After the loss, Brady said it was pretty simple why the offense had such an abysmal day.
"It wasn't our best day of execution," he said. "We certainly let some opportunities get away in the first half. We had too many times where we had negative plays and it took us out of field position. It wasn't very good execution.
"I give them a lot of credit," he said of the Bengals defense."They have a great defense that puts a lot of pressure on you in many areas. Our execution needed to be good, and it wasn't."
The offense never got going on a rainy Sunday in Cincinnati, with several dropped passes and missed chances. Trailing 13-3 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots had the ball on the Bengals' one-yard line. But they couldn't punch it in on their three tries, with Brady toss a pair of incompletions on second and third down, and had to settle for a field goal.
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Those were the last points the Patriots would score on the afternoon.
After the game, Brady felt bad that another solid effort by the defense was wasted by a poor day on the offensive end.
"They have been playing great all year," Brady said. "You can't expect to kick two field goals and win many games in the NFL. We can do a better job than that, and we are going to have to if we want to win these games. We had too many silly execution errors and mental mistakes. It is hard to drive the ball down the field if you keep making those mistakes."
The Patriots have a week to look over their mistakes and prepare for the 5-0 New Orleans Saints, who beat the Bears 26-18 on Sunday.
Brady said he has plenty to improve on, and intends to do so this week in practice.
"There are a lot of things that can be better. I'll work on those things this week," he said. "There's always things you wish you had done a little different, missed reads and trying to find guys that are open. That's what the quarterback's job is."
"It was just a poor performance all around," he said.
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