Tom Brady: Patriots’ Tie For AFC East Lead Not ‘A Great Feat By Any Stretch’

FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady stressed three times during his Wednesday afternoon news conference that his New England Patriots are 2-2.

Perhaps Brady was trying to lessen some of the criticism chucked at the Patriots since their 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night. Brady even mentioned that the Patriots still hold the lead in the AFC East.

“It’s not the time to tense up and call it a season,” Brady said at Gillette Stadium. “We’re 2-2. We’re tied for the best record in our division, not that that is a great feat by any stretch.”

It sounds like Brady is taking a shot at the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, but I don’t think that was his intention. A .500 record is not what the Patriots strive for, but as Brady said, they could be doing much worse.

“We’re 2-2. It’s not a great record. It could be worse, could be better,” Brady said. “We could all probably play better. We probably could’ve played worse, too. We’ve just got to try to find ways to do a better job.”

If one thing is clear over the last two days, it’s that the Patriots aren’t panicking after their embarrassing loss. With a short week, the Patriots barely have time to check Monday night’s film, let alone dwell on it. The Patriots face a 3-0 Cincinnati Bengals team that’s had two weeks to prepare for the Patriots thanks to a bye week.

As head coach Bill Belichick repeatedly stated Wednesday, the Patriots are “on to Cincinnati.”