He would have been much happier if his New England Patriots
didn't have to overcome another first-half deficit to do it.
Brady threw for 371 yards and two scores, and Stephen Gostkowski
made two long field goals in the fourth quarter Sunday as the
Patriots rallied for a 34-31 win over Houston.
"I wish we could start fast and put the foot on the gas pedal
the whole way," Brady said.
New England coach Bill Belichick echoed Brady's feelings.
"It's not the way we want to play," he said. "Hopefully, I
can find a way to coach better than I've done, find a way to get
ahead."
The Texans' franchise-record skid reached 10 games. Gary
Kubiak coached from the sideline for the first time since
suffering a mini-stroke Nov. 3. He missed one game before
working the last two games from the booth.
"We're playing hard, we're not always playing good," Kubiak
said. "We had a lot of opportunities to make plays ourselves,
just didn't make enough."
New England overcame a 24-point first-half deficit last week
to beat the Broncos 34-31 in overtime. The Patriots (9-3)
trailed by 10 at halftime in this one and the lead changed five
times in a wild second half. New England tied it with a 53-yard
field goal and took a 34-31 lead with another one from 53 with
about three minutes left.
"Whatever we're doing is not good enough, and we can't keep
getting behind because you have to play too well in the second
half to overcome," Brady said.
The Texans (2-10) had a chance late, but the offense stalled.
On fourth-and-13, Case Keenum threw an incompletion as he was
being hit.
Ben Tate ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns for the
Texans, who haven't won since Sept. 15. It was the first
100-yard rushing game since 2011 for Tate, who has been slowed
since Oct. 20 with four broken ribs.
The victory ended a three-game road skid for the Patriots,
who have won their last eight December games and 16 of their
last 17 in the month. The victory assured them their 13th
straight winning record.
"It's a big plus," Belichick said. "We have to find a way to
win on the road. Fortunately this week we did it. The last three
we were in similar situations to this and didn't do it."
Rob Gronkowski had six receptions for 127 yards and Julian
Edelman added 101 yards receiving on nine catches. New England
didn't miss starting running back Stevan Ridley, who was not
active after having fumbling problems recently. Belichick evaded
questions about why he was inactive.
