BY NICK ST. DENIS
For the second week in a row, the New England Patriots got off to an incredibly slow start. This time around, they were fortunate enough to win.
Six days after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in a game they were down 31-3 early in the second half, New England didn't score its first touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars until the final seconds of the first half. The Patriots went on to win 23-16.
“We played pretty terrible out there," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said after the game. "It came down to the wire and the defense made some plays but it was a bad sixty minutes of football. We got out competed, out fought and we’re lucky to win.”
After the Jaguars got off to an early 7-0 lead, Brady threw an interception on the Patriots' third offensive play. New England then went down 10-0, had to settle for a field goal on its next possession and had another Brady interception translate to Jaguars points.
“We started slow and couldn’t do anything offensively, couldn’t make any plays," Brady said. "They made plenty of plays and we were lucky to be in it at halftime."
New England eventually fought through for an ugly win, thanks in part to three interceptions by Jacksonville quarterback Chad Henne.
"We didn’t do a thing in the second half, running game or passing game. Just a poor effort overall," Brady continued. "We just didn’t play well, didn’t compete. If you don’t compete in the NFL, it’s going to be close. Execution was terrible ... It just wasn’t a very good performance.”
Harsh but understood words for the leader of usually the most high-powered offense in the NFL.
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