Tom Brady responds to a question about winning in Denver and clinching another division title.
"It was a good day for us. It was a very emotional game. The place was really rocking early. We showed some mental toughness, playing hard for 60 minutes. We really played good football. It's what we needed."
This is a good Denver Bronco team, and we focused all week on our job and what we had to do. Obviously Tim's had a great year. They're in first place in their division; they've had a very good season, also. We knew it was going to be a 60-minute game. I thought we really played well for all 60 minutes for the first time all season."
Jerod Mayo speaks to the media after the win in Denver.
On how the win feels "It feels good; it was a team effort and we got the victory."
On the adjustments they made to stop Denver's offense "(Denver) came out smoking. We had to make a couple adjustments on the sideline; that's what football is all about, making adjustments and getting the job done." On what playing a '3-4' defense allowed the Patriots to do "Show different looks, as far as bringing different people and things like that. Setting the edge, and I thought the guys did a good job."
On forcing Denver into three turnovers "We always talk about turnovers, and turnovers are huge, especially as far as wins and losses are concerned. Turnovers were huge today."
Vince Wilfork talks about stopping a potential Denver fourth-quarter rally.
We executed our game plan. We knew they were going to come out fighting, come out fast. But our main goal was to weather the storm. We knew going into the game we were going to have to adjust. We saw that in the first quarter. We take a lot of pride in doing our homework in the fourth quarter. We knew [QB Tim] Tebow and the Broncos like to play well in the fourth quarter, but that's one of the things that we try and do. Our main goal was to get to the fourth quarter and fourth-quarter execute, which we did."
TEAM TALK
- Post Game Notes: Patriots vs. Broncos. Team and player milestones reached, records set and trends continued.
- Erik Scalavino didn't see a complete effort but thought the Patriots adjusted, played complementary football and then finished off the Broncos 41-23.
- Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick (7.03 min. video), Tom Brady (4.24 min. video) and Vince Wilfork ( 11.56 min. video)
- Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Broncos.
- Andy Hart posts the Saturday Night Live skit with Tebow, Jesus, Belichick and Brady. Pretty funny.
LOCAL LINKS
- Greg A. Bedard reports Matt Patricia scrapped the horrific first defensive game plan, adjusted, and only allowed 10 points in the last three quarters.
- Karen Guregian focuses on what Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia did to stop the bleeding after the first quarter.
- Tom E. Curran reports after a first-quarter humiliation, the Patriots defense went from awful to awesome.
- Shalise Manza Young recaps the Patriots win over the red-hot Broncos, overcoming their earlier wooziness to extend their own win streak.
- Ian Rapoport says the Patriots showed resiliency on the road after falling behind nine points early, by piling on the points and keeping the Broncos out of the end zone.
- Mike Reiss offers his initial reaction to the Patriots 41-23 win over the Broncos in Denver.
- Christopher Price tells us ten things we learned Sunday: Brady, Patriots prove Tebow, Broncos are not ready for prime time.
- Karen Guregian spotlights Mark Anderson's second quarter strip of Tim Tebow and recovery of the football.
- Mike Petraglia says Mark Anderson and the Patriots didn't flinch after Andre Carter's injury.
- Art Martone recaps the Patriots win over the Broncos and says all the Tebow magic in the world means nothing if you keep fumbling away the football.
- Steve Buckley reports Tom Brady reminded the media why he is usually the center of attention.
- Jeff Howe reports the Patriots clinch AFC East title and control their destiny for a first-round bye in the playoffs.
- Dan Shaughnessy writes' there was no Tebow Time this time. Instead, we witnessed another routine execution by the brutal New England assassins.'
- Michael Whitmer notes that with Rob Gronkowski held in check, Aaron Hernandez had a career day with nine catches for 129 yards and a touchdown.
- Kirk Minihane tells us why Chad Ochocinco still matters.
- Ron Borges assures us Tim Tebow keeps the faith despite the Broncos' loss to the Patriots.
- Michael Hurley thinks Tom Brady's three-headed offensive monster makes a Super Bowl realistic, and other leftover Patriots thoughts.
- Tom E. Curran says the Pats Bye fate is in their own hands, thanks to Houston's loss to Carolina.
- Arielle Aronson charts how Byes affect the Patriots post season success.
- Mike Reiss looks at the snaps played by offensive skill-position players in Sunday's 41-23 win and what it means.
- Mike Reiss looks at the positional groupings utilized in Sunday's win over the Broncos and offers his analysis.
- Shalise Manza Young Patriots Notebook: Andre Carter's quad will require surgery and may be season-ending; Aaron Hernandez had a career day against his former QB; Elvis Dumervil gave Brady a hit he won't forget; Jerod Mayo is pleased with his five-year contract extension ($50M, $27M bonuses & guaranteed money); Wes Welker had a quiet day with an almost-TD; Welker is only 11 receptions shy from tying Troy Brown's team mark of 557.
- Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Andre Carter is likely finished for the season; Ron Brace made a huge play, forcing a fumble by RB Lance Ball; Danny Woodhead had hundreds of fans from Nebraska in the stands and he rewarded them with a TD; Mayo feels fortunate to be here another five years; Patriots sacked Tim Tebow three times in the fourth quarter.
- Mike Reiss gives us his 3 up and 3 down for the Patriots.
- Kirk Minihane tells us what went right and what went wrong in Denver Sunday.
- Mary Paoletti chooses her Best & Worst of Patriots 41, Broncos 23.
- Ron Borges looks for the Best and Worst of yesterday's game.
- Chris Forsberg posts a picture of Jerod Mayo and Rob Ninkovich showing off their AFC East Division hats and T-shirts.
NATIONAL NEWS
- NFL Game Center - New England Patriots at Denver Broncos. Recap, stats, analysis and those nifty highlight videos.
- Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Tom Brady outduels Tim Tebow as Patriots beat Broncos.
- Mike Freeman (CBS Sports) Leave it to Pats' lowly defense to create blueprint on stopping Tebow.
- Lee Rasizer (Sporting News) Patriots trump Tebow magic with Brady's brilliance.
- Erik Frenz (Cold Hard Football Facts) Patriots cancel Tebow time: Five things we learned.
- Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Week 15 Rewind: Brady handles the Broncos, Packers fall in K.C., and more.
- Don Banks (SI) Costly stretch leaves Tebow unable to orchestrate more magic.
- Billy Witz (Fox Sports) Tebow finally runs out of miracles.
- Jeff Darlington (NFL.com) Tebow's day not ruined by high-profile loss to Patriots.
- Peter King (SI) MMQB: Crennel's Chiefs take the spotlight in an interesting Week 15.
- Don Banks (SI) Ecstasy, agony of streaks over for Packers, Colts; More from Week 15.
- Clark Judge (CBS Sports) Week 15 Judgements.
VIEW FROM DENVER
- Mike Klis (Denver Post) Broncos, Tim Tebow grounded by Tom Brady, high-flying Patriots in 41-23 loss.
- Mark Kiszla (Denver Post) Tebow, Broncos can't keep pace with real Patriot offense.
- Jeff Legwold (Denver Post) Broncos bow to Patriots star Tom Brady.
- Dave Krieger (Denver Post) Belichick, Patriots were ready for Tebow time.
- Woody Paige (Denver Post) AFC's wild west division home to comedy of errors.
- Max Henson (DenverBroncos.com) Patriots stop streak.
- Tom Kensler, Irv Moss, Jeff Legwold and Lindsay H. Jones (Denver Post) Broncos' Baily, Goodman aren't sold yet.
- Gray Caldwell (DenverBroncos.com) 'Bump in the road.'
- Kenny Legan (DenverBroncos.com) Notebook: Running strong.