Belichick: Brady's 'best game of the year'

Patriots coach Bill Belichick had words of praise for his quarterback Tom Brady in the wake of the team's 31-19 win over Oakland on Sunday.

"I really thought yesterday he played probably his best game of the year," Belichick said on WEEI's The Big Show on Monday. "I'm not basing that on numbers. I'm basing it on the reads he made, the decisions that he made, his location on the ball. Not only that, managing the team. That's really what it's about for a quarterback is moving the ball, scoring points and putting your team in a good position. Getting the ball to your playmakers. He's done a good job of it, but yesterday I thought it was very good."

Belichick said that what makes Brady so good is his attention to detail and willingness to work on all aspects of his game. 

"Tom works really hard and he really concentrates on a lot of little things," Belichick said. "Every week there are maybe a dozen little things that are really specific to that game that he'll work really hard on, and the next game there may be a dozen other things. As a quarterback it's like being a golfer. You don't stand on the driving range and just whale away. You've got to hit a lot of different shots."

This is Jets' week and Belichick said history has very little to do with the present.

"None of the other games mean anything," the coach said. "We lost to them down there last year. That didn't mean anything in the 45-3 game. The 45-3 game didn't mean anything in the playoff game. None of those games really matter. The talk before the game, that's pretty irrelevant too. What we need to focus on is what we need to do on Sunday and go out there and do our jobs on Sunday." 

Belichick has warm words for former Red Sox manager, Terry Francona.

"Tito, he was a great friend to me," Belichick said. "He was a great supporter and I spent quite a bit of time with him. I'll miss him personally, not being here. I love his managerial style. I thought he very fair, honest, he certainly had the respect  of players. It was never about him, it was about the team. I think he did things the right way. I totally respect Tito and the job he did here. We got 100 and some years without a championship in Boston and he put two of them up there. That pretty much says it all right there." 

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