FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — There is concern in this region that Tom Brady is slipping. Of course there also was concern in this region that the Red Sox lost a game in the World Series and did not sweep.
But Brady, with his 41-year-old body, showed no evidence of slippage Sunday as he shredded the Jets for 250 yards and four touchdowns. When the lid was hammered shut on Todd Bowles’ Jets coaching career, the Patriots stood as easy 38-3 victors, thanks in no small part to Brady’s 24 completions in 33 attempts with no interceptions against a makeshift Jets secondary.
“Certainly things we could do better, but good to win, 38-3,” Brady said. “Just a great win. We needed it and we got it.”
That happens a lot with the Jets, you know?
The victory also ensured the Patriots a bye week entering the playoffs.
“We had a great opportunity for it and just glad we could close it out,” said Brady, who found four different receivers for touchdowns.
“They tried to stop the run, so we knew we needed to pass the ball and Tom did a great job of spreading it around,” said wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, who hauled in a 9-yard TD from Brady to make it 21-3 after a Jets turnover in the second quarter.
And with Brady, there was of course a milestone involved. Midway through the fourth quarter, Brady found Chris Hogan for a 5-yard gain, the 6,000th completion of his career.
That was “in his career” and not “in the game,” although against a depleted Jets secondary it seemed like Brady could have amassed that number if he so desired. The Jets’ defensive backfield seemingly was put together with spit, baling wire and guys wearing “Hi My Name is …” labels. Injury and discipline left the Jets secondary in a rather uncomfortable spot.
And that makes it even tougher when facing Brady.
“We moved the ball well,” understated Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
“It’s difficult to face him, period,” Bowles said of Brady. “They run the ball well, they throw the ball well, doesn’t matter who’s out there at corner. He’s going to throw the football, so I thought some of the young guys did some good things.”
But Brady did things better. As usual.