"We just didn’t do a good job; didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the game, via Patriots.com.
Brady threw a first half pick, and running back Vereen put the ball on the ground two drives later after catching a pass from Brady. But despite the miscues, San Francisco only led 17-3 at the half, with none of its scores coming off of the turnovers. (photo: JDN, Flickr)
New England punted four times before the break and had only the lone field goal to its name.
"It’s hard if you're not making big plays and you can’t put together enough good plays to put together a scoring drive," Brady said after the game, via Patriots.com. "And certainly to turn the ball over and give them a chance to score, which is pretty much what we did the entire first half. We just didn't even give ourselves a chance."
Running back Stevan Ridley fumbled on the Patriots' first possession in the second half, and Brady threw another pick on their very next drive. The 49ers converted both of those turnovers to touchdowns, and all of a sudden, it was a 31-3 blowout.
The Patriots scored 28 straight points in an incredible comeback, but the 49ers took just a single play on the ensuing possession to retake the lead.
New England recovered a fumble and made an interception in the first and third quarters, respectively, but didn't convert either.
"We’ve been getting turnovers all year on the defensive side of the ball and we couldn’t get any turnovers today," Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said.
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