Brady On Facing 6-1 Broncos: 'It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Pom-pom hat aside, Tom Brady looked like a kid waiting for Christmas morning on Wednesday as he took to the podium to chat about New England's upcoming game against the 6-1 Denver Broncos.
"You wait a year to play this game," Brady said of Sunday's showdown at Gillette. "You get one of the best teams in the league against us. And we feel like we are a pretty good team and that's why you play the game. It doesn't get any better than this."
Brady and the Patriots got the best of Peyton Manning's Broncos with an incredible comeback during the regular season last year, only to fall to them a few months later in the AFC Championship game in Denver. Both teams fell short of their ultimate goals though, and each went out and did what they could to solidify their teams as Super Bowl contenders in 2014.
For the Broncos, they added former Patriots corner Aqib Talib, who was forced out New England's AFC championship loss with a thigh injury in the second quarter. Now Talib calls Denver home, and Brady has a star corner to worry about whenever he rears back and lets the pigskin loose on Sunday.
Luckily, he has plenty of experience throwing towards Talib from their days together on the practice field in Foxboro.
"I've had a lot of practices against Aqib in the year and a half he was here. I really enjoyed it," Brady said Wednesday. "He was a great player, a great competitor, great quickness, great ball awareness. He's really athletic, got real good speed. So, he does everything that you're looking for in a top tier corner."
Talib is just one of the many contributors that has the Denver secondary one of the more feared groups in the NFL.
"I think they've had a lot of guys who have played really well defensively and taken advantage of the opportunities that they get, whether that's more [Chris] Harris or Aqib certainly has been the ring leader of that group," said Brady. "They've got a lot of guys over there – [T.J.] Ward is a great player, some good young linebackers, and then one of the best D-lines in the league. There's a reason why they're one of the best teams, and we're going to need to be at our best."
For Brady it helps that with Talib gone, All Pro corner Darrelle Revis has stepped in to challenge him during the week.
"He's a great player, and I'm glad he's on our team," Brady said of Revis. "You've got to make a great throw, you've got to run a great route, [and] you've got to have the right scheme called at the right time because he always challenges you. It's good work for our team. Ultimately, the better players you have as a unit, I think everyone improves. We've got a good defense to go against, so hopefully that's really helped our offense."
But a tough secondary isn't all No. 12 has to worry about Sunday evening, as the Broncos feature a stout pass rush with Von Miller now joined by free agent addition DeMarcus Ware. The two have accounted for 16 of Denver's 23 sacks on the season.
"They're pretty spectacular," Brady said of the two-headed monster on the Broncos' defensive live. "They just tee off on the quarterback. They've got every move. They've got the speed, speed-to-power, they've got the spin moves, they run the games. It's a big challenge for our offensive line. We've faced some good D-lines this year, so hopefully that's prepared us a little bit.
"But this is a good group, and Von looks like he's playing exceptional," continued Brady, who has been sacked 13 times this season. "He's been one of the great players in the league since he's been here. This week will be no different, so we've got to prepare for his best, and we've faced it, and we're going to have to go out and execute really well against it."
With Manning leading the way on offense and a revamped defense, Brady understands why the Patriots are home underdogs for just the third time since 2006.
"They're a great team. They went to the Super Bowl last year. They've made a lot of changes in the offseason. They're off to a great start," he said. "We're going to have to be at our best. We've got a pretty good team, too. We'll see how it shakes out when it really matters.
"We expect to go out and win," Brady added. "That's what the expectation has always been. It's certainly not to go out there, run around, break a sweat and lose the game. So we have to do everything we can to put the pressure on them, score as many points as we can. That's what it's going to take."
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Broncos game on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV — the flagship stations of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins on WBZ-TV at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay, and on 98.5FM at 1:30pm. Following the game, switch over to myTV38 for Patriots 5th Quarter, and stay tuned on the Hub for three full hours of postgame reaction and analysis!
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