At controls, Brady hoping for a takeoff

FOXBOROUGH -- For Tom Brady and the Patriots, last night's game against the Bills was supposed to be the first game of the rest of the season. That was the mantra during the week.

In so many respects, it's not just idle talk.

Entering the game at 3-3 and atop the AFC East, the Patriots rode that theme in preparation for the Bills, the first of six against division rivals over the final 10 games.

On paper, anyway, the Patriots did begin the weakest part of their schedule save for Indianapolis a week from tonight.

''It has been a tough stretch," said Brady last week. ''There are not too many easy games anymore. I mean it's not like you're playing any teams that you should just line up and if you play halfway decent you'll win. It doesn't work like that. We're going to need to play well. At 3-3 with 10 games left, we have a lot to prove and obviously a lot of time to do it. I think this team has high goals and expectations. Getting into our division games are really where it starts for us. The goal is always to win the AFC East, and there is no better week to start than this week."

Brady, according to teammates, went out of his way to spread the mantra throughout the week.

''It's nice to finally have a game where you know the cornerbacks and know the scheme," added the quarterback. ''The team is starting to develop a little bit and we're starting to understand our roles."

Though the Patriots have faced many problems this season, Brady's play has not been among them. The Pro Bowl quarterback, who made his 69th straight regular-season start last night, entered the day leading the league in passing yards to go along with a 92 passer rating. Brady, however, would like nothing more than to see the running game, specifically Corey Dillon, get in gear.

''You always like balance," Brady said. ''One thing that we have identified over the first six weeks is that we would like to improve our efficiency running the ball along with throwing the ball. You need a balanced offense, especially [as the weather gets tougher]. We're going to need to establish more of a ground game, there's no doubt about that.

''We're working hard to do that. I think ultimately you'd like -- when you talk about 400 yards of offense -- you'd like somewhere between 200-250 throwing and the rest of it made up of rushing. Controlling the clock with equal amounts of runs and passes. That's been something this year that we all look back on and wish we would do a better job with."

During the bye week, Brady did a lot of self-evaluation of the first six games. Of course, he dwelled more on the negatives than the positives.

''I think there's always room for improvement in the passing game," Brady said. ''I think there are still too many plays where we're just leaving too many yards out on the field. Whether it's a bad read, missed throw, or throwing the ball slightly behind a guy. It's like a lot of these games we lost, I wished I had made a few of those plays in critical situations. Like against Denver, maybe it would have changed the outcome of the game. I think that's the disappointing part and at the same time that's the part that motivates you. Hopefully it allows us to make more improvement."

At midweek, Brady was a realist about solving every problem against the Bills.

''I don't know if one week cures everything," Brady said. ''I don't know if you sit there and say, 'Wow we had this bye week, everything is all figured out.' It's going to take some time for us to put it out on the field and see what kind of improvement we make. It's a gradual process. You have to continue to go out in practice and improve each and every day. If you do that, then it does show up. It's not like you can just flip a switch. It's not like last week we said, 'All right guys, this is what we did wrong and we're changing it all and it's all fixed.' There's a lot of work that goes into it. We all have to play better."

Brady said the younger players have to step up.

''They have to start playing like they're older," he said. ''They've played now in 10 games -- six regular season and four preseason games. They're going to have to start playing like veterans. The veterans are going to have to continue to lead. That's the only way it's going to get done. Believe me, there's nobody that's rooting for us. So we have to go out there and figure it out ourselves."

Brady felt the key to solving Buffalo's defense was early recognition and picking up the blitz.

''I think it's always important for us to figure out exactly who's coming," said Brady. ''First of all, it's identifying the kind of pressure that they are bringing and making sure everyone is doing their role on offense. On offense, you have to account for everybody. If you try to figure exactly the way they're game planning their blitzes up, the way you call your plays is designed to counteract those pressures. Last year on the first game, we did that. They pressured us a bunch -- almost 80 percent of the time. The next game there was a little more coverage, but it's a pressure defense and they bring it. It's kind of what they live by."

Brady, for sure, was the least of the Patriots' problems over the first six games. Last night, he was trying to make sure he was helping the team take a step forward.