Tom Brady Embraces Underdog Role: Everyone Thinks We 'Suck and Can't Win Games'
The blackened soul of Bill Belichick runs on negativity, as the Sith master has led the New England Patriots, the ultimate frontrunner’s franchise for 18 years and counting, to eight Super Bowl appearances and five titles while simultaneously managing to convince his own team that “nobody believes in us” and that they’re the underdog.
And everyone reading that paragraph who is not from Boston can only nod their heads and admire the Jedi mind trick that manages to make that the narrative every year in the playoffs.
Tom Brady, the Darth Vader to Belichick’s Emperor Palpatine, used the Force on the media after the Patriots’ 41-28 dismantling of the Chargers in a game that wasn’t as close as the score in the Divisional Round Sunday.
Brady told CBS that “everybody thinks we suck and can’t win any games.”
The Patriots won every aspect of the football game against the Chargers. They outgained Los Angeles in the air 343-316. They pounded the ball on the ground for 155 yards and held the Chargers to a paltry 19 yards on just 10 carries as LA had to throw the ball more and more as the game wore on and the gap widened.
The Chargers had the only two turnovers; New England’s offense made no major errors.
And the Patriots controlled the clock so effectively with the runs and short passes that define their offense that they won the time of possession battle 38:40 to 21:20.
All that for a team about which the media, according to Brady, don’t think is any good.
Mind you, Brady has a point. Before the game, ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman were more than happy to provide bulletin board material for Gillette Stadium.
Barstool Sports used one of Smith’s infamous catchphrases against him when Smith said Brady was only the fifth-best quarterback remaining in the playoffs before the weekend:
Stay off the weeeeeeeeeeed pic.twitter.com/x4V5hxG6UN
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 10, 2019
And Kellerman’s rant all but saying outright that Brady was washed up made him look like a guy who should stick to boxing:
I’d rather have all other QBs in the AFC not named Tom Brady in these playoffs right now, and so would you. #FirstTake pic.twitter.com/D6fGByw6W8
— Max Kellerman (@maxkellerman) January 11, 2019
Although to be fair to Kellerman, he was man enough to admit he got it wrong after the fact. Sort of. He gave all the credit not to the quarterback but to the coach.
Have to admit I was wrong about this game. We are watching the best who ever did it, and he still got it. What a performance by Belichick.
— Max Kellerman (@maxkellerman) January 13, 2019
To which one of the commenters said outright, “I know it’s your job to be an idiot.”
I know it’s your job to be an idiot but it’s so frustrating to see you succeeed like you do. I hope one day you find a job where you can actually say things you mean and not things you know will get a reaction from.
— Shawn Palmer (@PalmerGuyBoston) January 13, 2019
Did someone cook burgers in here? Because that tweet smells beefy.
Back to the point at hand, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett followed Lord Vader … er, Brady’s lead.
“Tom said it, so I can comment on it. Yeah, everybody does think we suck. Everybody thinks we don’t have enough,” Dorsett said. “But the only thing that matters is what we think in this room and we believe. When you have a whole group of guys that believes, it can be a special thing. So we have to keep playing, keep going hard.”
Julian Edelman used the 2.5-point Vegas line for the game in Kansas City to remind everyone that yes, the Patriots are in actual fact the road dog in this week’s contest.
“We’re the underdog this week. I’m going to jump on that train and roll with it. That’s my life.”
And safety Devin McCourty, a nine-year veteran and team co-captain, played the good soldier as well.
“We see it. We see our quarterback’s too old, we’re not good enough on defense, the skill players aren’t good, but it doesn’t affect how we prepare,” McCourty told reporters.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is going to have to put plenty of extra ketchup on his throws at Arrowhead Stadium if he hopes to surpass a Patriots team that is out for blood.
As for Brady, someone asked him if it’s sweeter when he proves people wrong, and his answer was both simple and unassailable:
“I just like winning.”
Brady, on Boston’s WEEI Monday morning for the weekly radio spot, talked about the team and the game.
“Our team has fought through a lot all year,” Brady said. “At different times over the course of the season, you have ups and downs, and I thought we were just really poised to have a great performance. A lot of people didn’t think we could beat the Chargers. The Chargers were undefeated on the road. We had a lot of respect for the Chargers, they’re a damn good football team. But we felt like we wanted to go out and really play our best and make a statement.
“I thought we really rose to the occasion. That’s what playoff football is all about. Certainly not our first time, and our coaches did such a great job preparing us. We’re going to need the same type of effort this week.”
Meanwhile, Twitter is getting ready for the possibility of Atlanta Falcons fans being forced to watch their hated rival, the New Orleans Saints, and the team they blew a 28-3 Super Bowl lead against, the Patriots, play for a championship in their stadium.
All Falcons fans realizing a Saints-Patriots Super Bowl in Mercedes Benz Stadium is still a real possibility: pic.twitter.com/HbhUE2jnR1
— Tarver Washburn (@TarverWashburn) January 14, 2019
The Patriots still have to get past the Chiefs. The Saints still have to get past the Rams. The Super Bowl may yet pit two teams in Kansas City and Los Angeles together that combined for one of the most fun football games in NFL history during the regular season, a game the Rams won 54-51.
In the words of Chris Berman, “That’s why they play the games.” Conference championship week should be a blast.
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