Saturday's game against the Bills was a big one, as the Patriots clinched the AFC East for the 11th straight season.
Given the magnitude of the game, Tom Brady did some things he might not do in a game say in September as a runner. Brady converted a quarterback sneak to continue a drive and then in the fourth quarter tried to run the ball into the end zone with no one open and took a big hit from a Bills defender near the goal line.
Appearing on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria with Greg Dickerson, Andy Hart and Steve DeOssie filling in, Bill Belichick said plays like that from the 42-year-old can be contagious for the rest of the team and show good leadership.
"Yup, absolutely. I think it is great leadership from Tom. He's always given us that," he said. "The quarterback sneak there on third-and-1, but I think we have a lot of guys to do that too. I think it just speaks to the whole toughness and mentality of the team. I think when other guys do it, it makes you want to do it — not that you don't want to do it, but it makes you want to do it more. And when you do it, you make somebody else want to do it more. It is a little bit of a contagious thing just to give that kind of effort.
"I thought our receivers blocked well in this game and that was another thing that carried over. It wasn't just one guy. It was a lot of guys wanting to go in there and make the extra block to help our runners. Hopefully those kinds of things are contagious throughout the team."
Brady had one of his best games of the season, completing 78.8 percent of his passes for 271 yards and a touchdown.
The Patriots will take on the Dolphins this Sunday and have a chance to clinch a first-round bye with a win.
