FOXBORO – As Tyreek Hill sprint freely down the field, a hush came over the Gillette Stadium crowd.
In a split second, the Kansas City Chiefs tied the game after Patrick Mahomes hit his speedy wide receiver for a 75-yard touchdown. Before the scoreboard changed to read ‘Chiefs 40, Patriots 40,’ Tom Brady was already beaming.
As Hill was sprinting, Brady looked at the clock – there were still around three minutes left in the fourth quarter. [...]
FOXBORO – As Tyreek Hill sprint freely down the field, a hush came over the Gillette Stadium crowd.
In a split second, the Kansas City Chiefs tied the game after Patrick Mahomes hit his speedy wide receiver for a 75-yard touchdown. Before the scoreboard changed to read ‘Chiefs 40, Patriots 40,’ Tom Brady was already beaming.
As Hill was sprinting, Brady looked at the clock – there were still around three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“We had confidence,” Brady said. “When Tyreek was running to score, I said, ‘Good. Score quick.’”
The 41-year-old did it again on Sunday night. Not that anyone was surprised. Year-after-year, Brady has games like this. It’s almost become normal to see the Patriots down by one score in the fourth quarter and feel at it. That was the case on this night inside Gillette Stadium as the Patriots came from behind twice in the fourth quarter to beat the Chiefs 43-40.
Those on the field on Sunday who have played with Brady before knew what was about to happen. Chris Hogan knew.
The first time the Patriots fell behind – down 33-30 – with 8:38 remaining, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the offense would respond. Even when the Pats saw a third-and-1 to start the drive, there was confidence. Most people were probably thinking run, instead Brady heaved the ball down the field 46 yards to Hogan. On the next play, he hit Hogan, again, for 19 yards.
“I think it’s a confidence thing,” Hogan said. “We practice these things. We’re in these situations sometimes in games. When we’re in those situations, our poise is good. Tommy obviously being in the huddle really commands us and our attention and detail, our sense of urgency has to go up in those situations. You’ve got to execute.”
Brady surprised some at the end of this drive. With 5:32 left, the Pats were four yards away from the end zone. After the David Andrews snap, the play seemed to take forever as Brady desperately looked for anyone. Finally, the quarterback decided to take care of business himself and took off. Brady was hit as he crossed the goal line, but hung on to the ball, scoring a 4-yard touchdown to make it, 37-33 Patriots.
“All I know, he’s going to give all he has to try and get in the end zone,” Sony Michel said. “That’s what he’s going to do for this team – sacrifice it all for this team.”
“I didn’t know what happened,” Brady admitted. “They doubled three guys on the play. I’m just glad. I got close to the goal line and just figured I’d try to get in. We needed it.”
Brady’s theatrics weren’t over. Not even after a Stephen Gostkowski 50-yard field goal made it, 40-33. That’s when Mahomes hit Hill for the 75-yard touchdown. Duron Harmon could be seen chasing the receiver on that play. He was, obviously, unhappy to give up a big play, but returned to the sideline confidence. His reason?
“I’m always confident when Tom Brady goes out there,” Harmon said. “He’s been doing this for 19 years. He knows what to do. Knows how to do it. The best quarterback of all time. Just grateful that I have a guy like that, that I can turn to when we give up a play like that, knowing that he’s going to take care of business for us.”
Brady got the ball back with 3:03 left on the clock. Several of his teammates have been through this drill before – drain the clock, move the chains and score. Michel hasn’t. The rookie running back grew up watching Brady create his legacy on drives like this. That’s why he was confident.
“That’s how he always finishes out the game. Even from when I was growing up watching him,” Michel said. “He was always big on finishing the game. That’s kind of our mindset. He’s playing for 60 minutes and playing four quarterbacks of football and keeping our foot on the gas.”
Michel converted a third-and-1, with 2:00 left, to move the sticks. Next, Brady took over. First, he hit James White for a 16-yard pass at the New England 36-yard line. Next, he went to Rob Gronkowski and hit his big tight end for a 39-yard gain at the 9-yard line as time ticked away.
The next thing you knew, Gostkowski was kicking a 28-yard game-winning field goal with time expiring.
Said Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore: “I’m happy we’ve got Tom Brady.”