Here’s what Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady said after the 31-27 win over the Falcons on Sunday:
On the team’s calm demeanor despite trailing in Sunday’s game: ”It was great poise by everybody. Everybody hung in there. We got off to a tough start, but found a way to win. Defense came up huge [and] made some big stops. Offensively, everyone made a bunch of different plays and it was a great win for our team. We’re going to have to keep building on it.”
On WR Antonio Brown’s touchdown reception: ”It was great. He’s been working hard at that and [we] finally got him an opportunity to touch one of those. Mike [Evans] did a good job on the other side, the safety kind of got stuck in the middle and A.B. (Brown) just ran right by him. I put it out there for him [and] he made a great catch. Love seeing him get in the end zone.”
On how dangerous Tampa Bay can be as a team if it plays all four quarters like it did in the second half of Sunday’s game: ”We’re going to have to figure out how to play our best for 60 minutes as opposed to 30. It was a good win by us. Everyone loves winning, but we also want to play better. We want to play our best and I think next week gives us another opportunity to try to do our best. It’s a tough week because it’s Christmas, but [we have] got to focus on what we’ve got to do. We’ve worked pretty hard to get to this point, but there’s still a lot left ahead of us.”
On what his touchdown pass to WR Antonio Brown meant to him: “Obviously as a teammate [and] someone who knows him pretty well, he’s done a lot of work to get to this point. Just proud of him, his focus [and] how he’s prioritized different things. A lot of guys in that receiver group have helped him and he’s making great contributions. As quarterback, it’s tough sometimes because you have a lot of guys open and you’ve got to distribute it to different guys. Mike [Evans] gets a lot of looks, Chris [Godwin] gets looks, A.B. (Brown) gets looks and as quarterback there’s one ball. You can’t split it in three or four. You’ve just got to try to use your read, and whenever those guys get the opportunity to make [plays], they make them. A.B. came down with a big one for us, Chris had a big one, Mike had a big game, Cam [Brate] had catches, Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) had catches – everybody made different plays. It was great to see.”
On how the Tampa Bay defense allowed the offense to get back in the game and LB Devin White’s two sacks: “He did a great job. They really put a lot of pressure on Atlanta in the second half and made a lot of big plays. Backed them up, got us great field position and it was a great team effort there in the second half. Great to see us play that way in the second half under some pressure, but we’re going to have to do it for 60 minutes. It’s going to be a big point of emphasis for us.”
On an incomplete pass to TE Rob Gronkowski: ”We got down there in the red area and I had a chance to throw the ball to Lenny [Fournette that] probably would’ve gotten us in the end zone, but I missed him. I had a chance with Gronk and we just didn’t make the play.”
On how much attention he has paid to the New England Patriots this season: “As far as the Patriots, they have their own thing going and I’ve really been focused on how my play needs to be at quarterback, the execution I need and they’re not really an opponent of mine. Obviously I have a lot of friends there [and] a lot of great relationships, but they’re focused on what they need to do and I’m focused on what my job is.”
