Tom Brady Addresses How Patriots’ Defense Has Changed His Mindset

The New England Patriots are winning games thanks to their defense and special teams. But, the team relied on Brady-led offense for most of his career. The Patriots’ offense still ranks among the best in the NFL, but the defense is more successful this time.

The Patriots’ defense scored as many touchdowns as they allowed in six games this season. They have two more scores off blocked punts.

Ahead of Monday’s game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, Brady talked how the shift has changed the Patriots’ offensive expectations.

“I think we’ve got to be able to play a complementary game, so it’s not always our offense,” Brady said in an interview with Jim Gray on Westwood One Radio. “I think what we’ve found this year and what we’ve seen is our defense can be a great weapon for us and our special teams units can be a great weapon. And as an offense, we need to do what we need to do when we get some realistic opportunities. I think one thing we talked about this week was just having some reasonable expectations and not feeling like we have to go out there and score 50 points. We have to go out there and we have to take care of the ball, we have to play a good smart game and take advantage of our opportunities when we get them.”

He said the same during the post-game press conference.

“They’re playing great, just playing great football,” Brady said in the post-game press conference. “They’re doing a great job. They cover, rush, stop the run, and make critical plays. It’s awesome to watch.”

Devin McCourty also praised the defensive efforts his teammates put in the game.

“It’s been all year. We talk about being aggressive, we talk about trying to make our own plays defensively and not just sitting back and waiting. Those guys do a good job of it. I think it’s our overall understanding of the defense. At times, it can be a safety, it can be one of the backs or one of the lineman. Understanding that it can keep switching. That makes it tough on teams. We just have to keep doing those things. (We) understand now, seven games in, teams have more film on us. They’re going to design things (that are) different. We have to be ready to adjust, we have to be ready to continue to be versatile with our personnel and still try to make plays.”