Sullen Tom Brady says Patriots can 'do everything better' despite clipping Eagles' wings
Tom Brady cut a dejected figure and declared the New England Patriots can "do everything better" despite Sunday's 17-10 win on the road at the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Patriots rebounded from their defeat to the Baltimore Ravens and moved to 9-1 for the season on the back of a solid defensive effort.
Brady had a pass completion rate of just 55 per cent, making 26 of 47 for 216 yards, and the only touchdown pass came from Julian Edelman on a trick play to Phillip Dorsett.
It was another difficult evening in the red zone for the Patriots, who were one of three on Sunday, and a sullen Brady was not exactly in a talkative mood with reporters after the game.
Asked about the offense, Brady replied: "[It's] up and down, what it looks like to me. We can probably do everything better."
"I don't think it matters what I think [would remedy the situation]. It matters what we do."
When it was put to Brady it might be a matter of working things out in practice, he said: "Yeah, I think that's right. Practice and execution."
By contrast the usually reserved Bill Belichick hailed the team collective in Philly and even cracked a joke about the crucial play involving Edelman.
"He keeps his quarterback rating up there pretty high," Belichick quipped.
"I'm sure he will have to ice his shoulder down this week and massage it and everything else. That was a great play by Julian."
« Super Bowl Trophy makes a historic stop in Jamaica Stats Perform's NFL Friday Facts: Wilson and Goff face off in crunch NFC West clash »
Smith reaches agreement to become Atlanta Falcons head coach
The Atlanta Falcons have confirmed an agreement is in place with Arthur Smith to become their next head coach.
Smith has spent 10 years with the Tennessee Titans, the last two of those as their offensive coordinator.
The 38-year-old is set to replace Dan Quinn, who left along with general manager Thomas Dimitroff in October following the Falcons' 0-5 start.
Raheem Morris has been in temporary charge since then and guided the team to a 4-12 record.
Smith has also previously spent two years as the defensive quality assistant for the Washington Redskins from 2007-08.
The Falcons made the announcement on their official website on Friday, 24 hours after the New York Jets reached an agreement in principle with Robert Saleh to become their next head coach.
Stats Perform's NFL Friday Facts: Ravens and Bills in a rush, Brady and Brees meet again
The Wild Card Round was, well, wild.
The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns ended long postseason droughts, while the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens impressed as they produced upset results on the road.
Meanwhile, Tom Brady made sure the Tampa Bay Buccaneers progressed, securing a showdown with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints that will be an all-NFC South battle between starting quarterbacks with a combined age is 85.
As for the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl champions - along with NFC top seeds the Green Bay Packers - prepare to return to action after a well-earned bye week.
A four-game schedule has all the potential for another bumper weekend of NFL action, with fans watching on to found out who will be the final four left standing in the playoffs.
Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers - Saturday, 4.35pm (all times Eastern)
- The Rams are the only current NFC team with an all-time winning record against the Packers (46-45-2), but they have lost five of the previous six and 11 of the past 15 meetings. Green Bay, meanwhile, earned the No.1 seed in the conference for just the third time in their history.
- Aaron Rodgers posted the second-highest passer rating in NFL history this season (121.5), trailing only his own 122.5 in 2011, when he was voted the league's MVP. Rodgers had six games with four or more touchdown passes and zero interceptions, tying the most in a season all-time (Peyton Manning in 2013). In Rodgers' playoff career, the Packers are 8-1 when he does not throw an interception - but 2-7 when he does.
Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills - Saturday, 8.15pm
- Baltimore (191.9) and Tennessee (168.1) finished first and second in the NFL in rushing yards per game in the regular season, but the Ravens out-rushed the Titans 236-51 last week to progress. Lamar Jackson ran for 136 of them, the third most ever by a quarterback in a playoff game.
- Josh Allen completed 26 of 35 passes in the Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts (74.0 per cent), the highest completion percentage by a Bills starting QB in a playoff game. Allen also became the fifth player in NFL history with a passing TD, a rushing TD and a receiving TD in the playoffs, joining Freeman McNeil, Kordell Stewart, Julian Edelman and Nick Foles.
Cleveland Browns at Kansas City Chiefs - Sunday, 3.05pm
- This is the first postseason game between the teams. The Chiefs have won the past three meetings, most recently on November 4, 2018 (37-21). In fact, Cleveland have not beaten Kansas City since December 2012, while they have triumphed at Arrowhead only once in the past 32 seasons (December 2009).
- Against the Steelers, Baker Mayfield became the seventh player in league history to throw at least three TD passes without an interception in his postseason debut. Only one other player has done this in the previous 15 years (Alex Smith in 2011). He goes up against Patrick Mahomes, who has accounted for 16 total touchdowns – 13 TD passes and three rushing scores – in five postseason outings.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints - Sunday, 6.40pm
- This will be the 59th all-time meeting of these franchises, albeit the first in the postseason. The Saints have won five straight in the rivalry, outscoring the Bucs by a combined 165-81 during that streak.
- Brady's two touchdown passes against the Washington Football Team moved his career postseason total to 75, while the victory was his 31st in 42 career playoff starts. In the entire NFL, only five teams have as many as 31 postseason wins in their history. Brady (341) and Saints QB Brees (303) rank first and third respectively in career starts among quarterbacks, regular season and playoffs combined.
Saleh agrees to become Jets head coach
The New York Jets have reached an agreement in principle with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to become their head coach.
Saleh will become the Jets' 20th head coach, taking the helm after Adam Gase was fired earlier this month.
The 41-year-old joined the 49ers in 2017 after previous spells in the NFL with the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jets confirmed on Thursday they had "agreed in principle" for Saleh to become head coach.
ESPN reported Saleh was expected to make 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur his offensive coordinator at the Jets.
Defensively, the 49ers ranked fifth for total yards allowed (5,030), seventh in rushing yards (1,703) and fourth in passing yards (3,327) in 2020.
The Jets, who last reached the playoffs in 2010, finished the 2020 season with a 2-14 record.