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          New England Patriots

          Tom Brady confident in Patriots' offense

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterDec 28, 2014, 09:00 PM ET
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots' offense hasn't been clicking on all cylinders in recent weeks, but quarterback Tom Brady doesn't seem overly concerned.

          "We're confident. We have a lot of confidence as an offense," he said, when asked if there should be any level of concern after Sunday's 17-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the season finale.

          "We've been able to score points against a lot of good teams, a lot of good defenses. Nothing that we've done this past season is going to help in two weeks from now. What's going to matter is how well we prepare this week and how well we prepare next week and how ready we are to go whenever we play. We'll have a lot of confidence. I'm not worried about us lacking confidence going out there and executing. We've got a lot of good players."

          Brady, who played through the first half Sunday before being replaced by rookie Jimmy Garoppolo, talked about the team "looking forward" to the playoffs and not behind them. He paused briefly when asked if the Patriots' offense has sputtered lately because of its own execution, or a result of opponents dialing in on them.

          "That's a good question," he responded. "I think it ultimately comes down to how well we execute. I think we've played some pretty good defenses and defenses that really challenge you. We'll be challenged in a couple weeks. Hopefully we're ready to meet the challenge. I'd expect us to be at our best. That's what this time of year requires. We'll be playing a great football team, whoever it is. I think we've got a pretty good team. We'll see where we're at."

          Brady pointed out that getting receiver Julian Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski on the field will help. Summing up Sunday, he said: "I think we tried to go out there and give a great effort. They're a good team. They make it tough on you. They made it tough on us down there when we played them and they made it tough today. They've got a good team, but we're looking forward. It's tough -- we always hate losing, absolutely. We didn't make enough plays to win, but hopefully we make them in a couple weeks."