Tom Brady thought the Patriots should have put up ‘at least’ 52 points against the Colts. Here’s why.
"Maybe more."
The New England Patriots handily dealt with the Indianapolis Colts in their 38-24 win Thursday night. Tom Brady thinks it should have been a blowout.
In an interview Monday morning on WEEI, the Patriots quarterback said he thought the team could have added at least two more touchdown onto their final tally, if it weren’t for a few missed opportunities.
“Those turnovers — whether it is an interception, fumble, fumbled snap — and I think that’s been something that we have to correct, and, when you look back at the first five games, we’re giving away too many scoring opportunities,” Brady said during the interview.
The Patriots had two turnovers in the game — both interceptions thrown by Brady, one of which was momentarily ruled a fumble by Rob Gronkowski before being switched back to an interception.
Through five games the historically stingy Bill Belichick-coached team has already turned the ball over nine times. They had a total of 12 giveaways last season, 11 in 2016, and 14 in both 2015 and 2014.
Brady said Monday that those sorts of mistakes this season were “limiting our points.”
“I thought the other night we should have put 50, 52 out there, at least,” he said. “Maybe more.”
Over the past three seasons, the Patriots had the second-highest turnover differential in the NFL. The only team better was the squad the Patriots are scheduled to play this upcoming Sunday night: the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs.
Another football theme of the week for the Patriots: Turnover differential, at plus-1, a key against the Chiefs (plus-5). Nine giveaways for New England is uncharacteristically high. For context, team had 3 giveaways at this time last year. pic.twitter.com/FMriZqjdXY
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 9, 2018
By comparison, the Chiefs have only given up the ball three times and have a plus-five turnover differential so far this season. Brady says the Patriots will have to tighten up their execution if they want to keep their two-game winning streak going.
“When we play a team like Kansas City, we have to take advantage of every scoring opportunity because you know they are,” he said, later adding that “there’s not a lot of margin for error when you’re going against a team that’s 5-0.”
