Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando from Indy
Tom Brady walked into the postgame interview room while Matt Light was answering questions for a TV reporter. There was some soft banter back and forth between the teammates, but no real wise cracks. Light noted that Brady was wearing the same type of crushed-velvet jacket as the TV interviewer. Brady shrugged it off and said the guy must have good taste.
This was was a pretty relaxed setting, typical for the winning side. I was waiting to see if Brady would make a crack about the pass protection while Light was in the room, but he did not. Light explained earlier that he had lost a contact lens at one point during the game, but that wasn't the reason for his struggles in protection.
We then got into the session with Brady. He joked about the Patriots needing to change their signals after ESPN's Sal Paolantonio noticed that Brady had tugged on his belt before hitting Randy Moss on that 55-yarder:
"We have to change our signals. We hadn't been throwing it much deep all day. Randy had a great release and he got up on that safety and he was one-on-one with the guy and I just tried to throw it up for him. That was a big spark for us. I'm glad we scored quickly, so when we go the ball back, we had time as well"
Asked about being the best team in the league, Brady said there were about 20 plays showing Patriots' weaknesses:
"It was the first time we were really in a ballgame late and I was real proud with the way the guys responded when we were down. There was never any loss of confidence or determination and we're going to need that for the next seven games."
The Colts' pass rush was a problem, but Brady took only two sacks. The Colts got to him repeatedly except for late in the game:
"They really rush the passer well. You don't have much time to stand back there and look around. You have to pick a guy and let it fly. ... It certainly wasn't our best game today. There were a bunch of things that didn't go the way we planned it. A lot of that is great defense and I have to give that to the Colts. Some of that is bad play by our offense."
While the Colts face San Diego in Week 10, the Patriots get a bye to work on some of the things that cost them in this game.
"The thing is, we're 9-0 but it really doesn't matter. None of this matters. What matters is January. I think this is a great step in our preparation for games down the road. We have seven games to get better. Our goal is to put us in the best position heading into the playoffs. Nine and oh, I'm as happy as anybody. But our goal was not to be 9-0, I promise you that."
The schedule does set up favorably for New England. The Pats should be able to secure home-field advantage in the AFC, which could shift any rematch to Foxboro. Another chance to play the Game of the Century.
