FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady channeled his inner Barry Sanders and Jerome Bettis on the same play Sunday.
Brady put on a rare display of his nimble feet, ripping off a 17-yard run in the third quarter of the Patriots’ 41-13 win over the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. Holding on to a 14-13 lead at the time, Brady picked up the first down on third-and-11.
First, the Patriots quarterback nearly juked Dolphins linebacker Philip Wheeler out of his shoes with a pump-fake/stutter-step combination.
Then Brady lowered his shoulder and tried to run right through Dolphins safety Walt Aikens.
Brady said his decision not to hit the turf was a conscious one.
“I was gonna slide — I was pretty pissed off at that time, so I figured I wouldn’t slide,” Brady said. “I wish I hadn’t have got knocked down.”
The Patriots’ offense sputtered in the first half, and their defense had given up a long touchdown just before halftime. Brady’s scramble sparked a 27-0 run for the Patriots, starting with LeGarrette Blount’s 3-yard touchdown on the next play.
“I know we were all pretty pissed off at halftime — it just wasn’t the way we — 25 plays on offense and terrible time of possession, terrible on third down, just didn’t do anything to help our team win,” Brady said. “I thought we did a better job of coming out in the second half, aided by some turnovers by our defense. Our defense has just been playing incredible, which is what we’re going to need. I’m glad we started to earn our paycheck there in the second half. It was good to be able to do that. It was a good feeling. We still left some opportunity out there.”
Any time Brady shows off his rushing prowess, he opens himself up to some mocking from his teammates. Julian Edelman took the bait Sunday.
“Slowest 17-yard run I’ve seen in my life,” the receiver said.
Brady completed 21 of 35 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He ran the ball three times for 18 yards, with two first downs and a kneel-down.
Photo via Steven Senne/Associated Press
