Belichick’s take

Opening comment
“Well, it was a good win for our football team. We are really proud of the guys. They hung in there, down by nine with whatever it was, eight minutes to go in the game or something like that, and to come back and then get the lead and even have the ball with a couple of minutes to go, a lot of things went in our favor. We made some big plays when we needed to and it was a good win for us. We played a little better in the different areas, better in the red area defensively, but it was kind of a sloppy game. A lot of mistakes out there on both sides, certainly a lot of things we can clean up and do better. But bottom line is a tough division game like it usually is against Buffalo, or anybody in this division for that matter, and it’s a good win, good win.”

How pleased were you with Tedy Bruschi’s play?
“I’ll have to take a look at the film, but it seemed like he was in on a few plays so it was good to have him back out there.”

He was in for a lot of plays. Did you plan on doing that?
“We were going to see how it went. He was out for a little bit there in the first half. We had a couple of long drives there in the first quarter. They had the ball for it seemed like a lot of plays and we didn’t have it for very many. We kind of spotted him through there and he was holding up okay so we stuck with it. We didn’t know it was going to go that way. We were prepared to play him a little bit less. But he is in good condition. You know, he was doing fine on the sidelines. It didn’t look like he was winded.”

How about using him on special teams, did you have any hesitation?
“Football is football. I can’t differentiate between one play and the other. They are all important.”

Deion Branch came up big…
“Yes, he did. He made some big catches, made some big plays. You know, he has done a real good job for us all year and he did again tonight.”

Can you talk about the play made by Rosevelt Colvin?
“We were in man to man coverage. It looked like the tackle was a little bit late getting out on him. He beat him there, strip sacked him, a nice play. That was a big turnover for us offensively to give us a chance to get in the game and set up the offense in good field position, and we capitalized on it offensively so it was good. He can get the corner and I think that is what happened on that play.”

That was a big play for the defense…
“No question. That was a big one, no doubt about it. We are still behind at that point so that was a big strip sack and it set the offense up on, what was it, like the 25 yard line, somewhere in there. So no question, that was a key play.”

Did the team get an emotional lift from Tedy Bruschi?
“I don’t know. I think everybody is happy to see him back out there. Everybody has to do their own job. I think we all have to work hard and prepare to do our jobs. We can’t just rely on him to show up. There is a lot more to it than that. But it’s great to have him back, don’t get me wrong. He is a good player.”

You played a lot of linebackers on third down and no defensive linemen…
“Well, we are a little short on defensive linemen in terms of numbers and guys we had out there so we thought we would be able to give them a little bit of a break by using (Tully) Banta Cain, (Rosevelt) Colvin, (Willie) McGinest.”

They got a lot of yards, 400 between running and passing, but you only give up 16 points…
“That’s the bottom line. Obviously, we gave up an easy touchdown there when we left (Eric) Moulds wide open down the middle of the field. That wasn’t very well done. But they got the ball on the short field a couple of times and we were able to hold them to field goals. That puts a lot less pressure on the offense when you don’t have to go out there and try to score 35 points.”

That delay of the game in the end of the first half, that had to be frustrating.
“We didn’t execute that very well. We didn’t get the kick off in time.”

Is that one of those where you want to try to avoid calling time out if you can? Is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to call a time out right there?
“No, I would have called a time out but I thought we were going to get the snap before it got down, you know, before it was a delay penalty, because we are aware of that and I thought that we had enough time to get it but we just didn’t. And so obviously it was a mistake. I mean in the end I should take responsibility for that. I guess I should have called a time out.”

Because coaches can call it now, right?
“Yes, I could have called it and I thought about calling it, but I thought we were lined up and we had enough time to snap the ball. And we just didn’t get it off in time so but that is certainly not what we want to do.”

Can you explain the unnatural act penalty?
“The rule is defensively that if you do something that is not part of your normal reaction, then they will rule that as the intent to draw the offense outside. And that is something that is a normal part of your start or get off or you come out of your stance, then that is okay. But if they think that it is something that is not normal, then they penalize you for that. That is the call. I didn’t see the play. I don’t know exactly what happened, but that is what the explanation was. That is the way the rule is.”

Corey Dillon, he obviously came in after Patrick (Pass) got hurt.
“Corey (Dillon) really hasn’t practiced hardly at all in the last three weeks. And he was pretty much a game time decision. But he felt good and we started Patrick, I thought Patrick ran well, and then he went out and Corey really stepped in there and played a lot more plays that I expected him to play tonight. I don’t think he expected to play way near as much as he did. He played hard, ran well. Obviously, there weren’t a lot of runs so he did a good job for us.”

Assess overall offensively. You didn’t have the ball a lot…
“It was our fault. We had penalties, we couldn’t convert on third down and we had two turnovers. So those are things that we have got to, you know, they are in our control. We had plenty of positive plays but they were negated by some combination of those things, not converting on third down, we had a fumble in the first half, a fumble in the second half, and then we had some penalties that wiped out some defensive plays. There were a lot of penalties in that game both ways so there were plenty of penalties that hurt Buffalo as well. I am just saying offensively, penalties and negative plays and turnovers, that will stop you every time.”

Tedy Bruschi’s transition…
“Well, one thing about Tedy, he is always going to be prepared. He is a football player so he understands what you are doing, he understands when you’re making changes, whether he is in there or not, he understands the concept of the defense and how it works together, not just his position but, you know, what a lot of guys are doing too. And that is, you know, he is very good at that. So him adjusting to a game plan or making calls or making adjustments by formation wouldn’t be a problem. It never has been with him. He is real good at those kinds of things. He sees the game well.”