FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady threw just seven incompletions Sunday in the New England Patriots’ 27-16 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two of those incompletions can be blamed in no way on Brady.
Running back Brandon Bolden dropped a pass on third down midway through the second quarter that stalled a drive. Wide receiver Julian Edelman also dropped a pass on third down late in the second quarter that could have extended that series..
Brady was asked how upset he gets when those mistakes occur.
“I don’t get very frustrated with dropped passes,” Brady said. “I think those are physical mistakes, and they’re part of the game. Nobody wants to drop them. Guys are trying hard.
“I’m probably more frustrated when we have miscommunications or misalignments or stuff that we talked about that we don’t adjust to on the fly. I think those things are probably more frustrating because I know everyone’s trying to catch the ball. I’m trying to make every pass, the line’s trying to make every block, defense is trying to make every tackle.
“Physical mistakes are part of the game. You try to limit those as much as you can. You’re working through your techniques and fundamentals. But no player’s going to catch every pass. No blocker is going to make every block and so forth. That’s part of it. You have to work through those and hopefully you’re still going to have the same confidence in those players as you move more into the game.”
The Patriots have dropped just six passes this season on 216 targets. That’s a drop rate of 2.8 percent. They dropped 30 passes on 624 targets in 2015 for a 4.8 percent drop rate, and they had a drop rate of just 3.7 percent in 2014, which was a big improvement from 2013, when their drop rate was 6.6 percent as rookies Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson were key receivers for the Patriots.
The Patriots’ drop rate is at its lowest point since 2009, when SportingCharts.com started tracking the stat, so it’s understandable that Brady isn’t overly frustrated right now. Had you asked him in 2010, when the Patriots were dropping a league-high 7.8 percent of targets, his answer might have been different.
Thumbnail photo via Jason Bridge/USA TODAY Sports Images
