Andrew Luck led the Indianapolis Colts to an incredible 28-point comeback win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday to push Indianapolis into a divisional round meeting with the New England Patriots.
But as the two teams prepare for an epic quarterback battle in Foxboro on Saturday, Tom Brady isn’t even thinking about the Colts quarterback.
“Truthfully, I’m not worried about the opposing quarterback,” Brady said when asked about Luck on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan on Monday morning. “I’m thinking about the defense and what I need to do to play against them.
“I didn’t watch one snap of Indy’s offense, nor will I this week. I’ll be focused on the defense and what we need to do score points, because that’s what my job is.”
The storylines heading into Saturday night’s showdown will revolve around Brady and Luck, but, considering the two won’t be on the field at the same time, the Patriots quarterback is focused on keeping the Colts’ defense at bay, especially linebacker Robert Mathis.
Mathis has sacked Brady five times in seven career games against the Patriots and is in the midst of arguably the best season of his career. He’s recorded 59 tackles, a league-leading 19 1/2 sacks and a career-high eight forced fumbles. He’s one of the leading candidates for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award this season — an honor Brady seems to believe he’s already earned.
“Like I said, it all starts with Robert Mathis and being the defensive player of the year, basically, 19 1/2 sacks, he kind of wreaks a lot of havoc,” Brady said. “We’ve got to be able to figure out how to slow him down, and then we’ve got to be really balanced on offense like we’ve been. We’ve got to run it, and when we throw, we’ve got to throw it good.”
Mathis and the Colts didn’t do much to stop the Patriots in their previous meeting, failing to sack Brady and allowing 59 points in a blowout loss in New England last season. The Colts’ defense will be looking to exact some revenge for that loss this weekend, so Brady is wise to keep his attention where it belongs.
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