It seemed like Tom Brady took a lot of hits from the Denver Broncos in Sunday's AFC championship game.
Perception was reality. According to the official game book from Denver's 20-18 victory, while Brady was sacked only four times, he was hit 20 times. Not only was that the most any quarterback was hit in any game this season, according to Sports Illustrated's Doug Farrar, it was the most any quarterback has been hit in a game since 2006.
Brady had been hit 99 times over the Patriots' first 17 games, with a previous season high of 12 in the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brady had been hit 99 times over the Patriots' first 17 games, with a previous season high of 12 in the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
While New England's offensive line didn't play well, Bill Belichick didn't put the Brady battering on the group.
“I’d say it’s a combination of things,” Belichick told reporters on Monday during his season-ending availability. “I thought Denver did a good job defensively. It’s all inter-connected between the receivers, the quarterback, the offensive line. The timing, execution, balance of the running game, long yardage situations. It’s all part of it. In the end, it wasn’t as good as it needed to be yesterday, period. In any area. I wouldn’t put it on one guy, or one situation, or one position, or anything like that. In the end we came up short.”
On Sunday night, Brady said the offensive line did a "great job" and credited the Broncos for teeing off on his snap cadence.
Denver defensive coordiantor Wade Phillips did a great job game-planning for Brady, but he'll have a different challenge facing Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50. Newton is unlike any quarterback in the league right now, a true dual threat who is seemingly fearless as a ball-carrier.
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