| FOXBOROUGH Infant Hjalte Froholdt Jersey , Mass. (AP) — Yes, Tom Brady still wants to play next season. And beyond.But first up is Sunday’s regular-season finale and then the playoffs for the New England Patriots.The 41-year-old Brady reiterated Friday that he plans to play in 2019, and then quickly tried to return the focus to this weekend’s game against the New York Jets.“This week’s the one that matters and that’s what we got to do — take care of business this week,” he said.Brady has long said he plans to play past this season. But a sore left knee and a poor performance in Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills brought back questions about the future.Appearing on Westwood One Radio, Brady said: “I know I’ve talked about it for a long time. I have goals to not only play next year, but beyond that. And I’m going to try to do it as best I possibly can. I’m going to give it everything I have, like I always have. It will certainly be a challenge. I don’t take any of these things for granted, but I hope I can keep playing and I hope I can keep playing at a championship level.”There have been times in the past when Brady rested for Week 17, but the AFC East champions are looking to clinch a first-round bye at home against the Jets. The Patriots (10-5) also have a long-shot chance of grabbing the top AFC seed for the postseason.Playing at home in the playoffs could be a major factor for a team that is 7-0 at Gillette Stadium and 3-5 on the road.“I think if we play well (at home), the crowd’s into it, but the one positive I see from being here is that we practice in the elements all the time,” Brady said. “Going out and executing in whatever conditions, hopefully we handle them better than our opponents.”Brady is 27-7 against the Jets, winning his last five and eight of the last nine — including a 27-13 victory at the Meadowlands on Nov. 25. This week, he faces a 4-11 team that could be playing its final game under coach Todd Bowles and arrives at Gillette with nothing to lose.“We’ve talked about all those things — we’ve prepared for all those things Hjalte Froholdt Jersey Draft ,” Brady said. “We’ve played this team a lot and they defend us a little differently each time that they play us. They’ve got good players, they’ve got a good scheme, they have a lot of defense, they have a lot of calls. They’re well-coached and they kind of pick what they want to do. I’m sure they’ll be aggressive and we’ve got to be able to counter that.”Brady was 20 of 31 for 283 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Nov. 25 game. Rookie Sony Michel rushed for a season-high 133 yards in the victory.Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold missed the first matchup with an injury, but has played well since returning.NOTES: Brady heaped praise on former teammate Ben Watson, who plans to retire after this season. “Ben’s been a great friend for a long time, and (had) an incredible career,” Brady said. “He’ll certainly be missed. He had a great impact on this team and every team he played for because of the person he is. He’s just a great man, great father, great husband, great player, great teammate. … We’ll always be in touch. Wish him nothing but the very best.” In 2006, two years after their last Super Bowl appearance, theNew England Patriots lost the AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis. One thing became clear during that game: a wide receiver depth chart consisting of players like Reche Caldwell or Chad Jackson would be insufficient to get the team back onto the grand stage. Therefore Hjalte Froholdt NFL Jersey , the Patriots re-loaded – big time.The 2007 Patriots, due to acquisitions like Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Adalius Thomas, were arguably the best regular season team of all time. The offense was deadly, while the veteran defense was stifling. With the (way overblown) Spygate-”controversy” in the back of its head, New England destroyed the rest of the NFL on the way to a 16-0 record, while winning games by an average of almost 20 points — the team’s +315 point differential is still an all-time best.Towards the end of the year, however, the machine that was the 2007 Patriots started to slow down. The team still won the AFC, though, and after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and then-San Diego Chargers earned its ticket to the Super Bowl.Super Bowl XLII: New York Giants vs. New England PatriotsDate: February 3, 2008Stadium: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale AZFinal score: New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14The Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl appearance started with the longest drive in the game’s history. The Giants took 9:59 seconds off the clock and a 3-0 lead after being stopped on 3rd and 11. New England answered with a five-minute drive to take the lead on the first play of the second quarter. Laurence Maroney rushed the ball into the endzone from one yard out to put the Patriots ahead 7-3.After Stephen Gostkowski channeled his inner John Kasay and kicked the ball out of bounds, the Giants started their next series at their own 40 yard line. They moved the football well until Eli Manning was intercepted by cornerback Ellis Hobbs at the New England 14. While the Patriots’ offense had issues moving the ball in the second quarter Hjalte Froholdt NFL Draft , their defense almost came up with two additional takeaways. However, the Giants recovered two fumbles by Manning. The Giants would also recover a fumble by Tom Brady late in the quarter. They were unable to capitalize and therefore the teams headed into the locker room at 7-3 in the AFC Champions’ favor.The first drive of the second half saw the Patriots march to the Giants 25 yard line. However, they came away empty as Tom Brady was sacked on 3rd down and the team — instead of attempting a 49-yard field goal — went for it on 4th-and-13. Tom Brady’s pass fell incomplete and the Giants took over.Neither team was able to drive the ball into scoring range until the Giants’ first drive of the fourth quarter, when they took a 10-7 lead. The Patriots relied almost exclusively on their passing attack to re-gain the lead; something they were able to do with 2:45 left in the game, when Tom Brady found Randy Moss for the touchdown.Up 14-10, the Patriots’ defense had to stop the Giants from driving 83 yards. They had a chance to stop them on 4th and 1 — but could not do it. They had the chance to intercept them with 1:20 left in the game — but could not do it. They had the chance to sack Eli Manning on 3rd and 5 — but could not do it. Instead, Manning found David Tyree, who somehow was able to come down with a 32-yard pass. Four plays later, the Giants were up 17-14. The Patriots had 30 seconds and three timeouts to answer — but could not do it.New England had its chances to win the game, as illustrated by the final drive, but came up short every time. The Giants, on the other hand, made the plays when they had to and saw the necessary bounces go their way. Add it all up and you get the Patriots losing their first Super Bowl of the Brady-Belichick-era. |
