Broncos' Jack Del Rio is proud he finally beat Tom Brady
What does a "pretty good job" entail? Well, before the AFC Championship game Brady was 7-0 against Del Rio at both the Jaguars and Broncos, he never threw an interception, had a completion percentage of 72.76%, 1,766 yards and 17 touchdowns. Prior to the AFC Championship game, we detailed his success against Del Rio here.
That all changed two Sundays ago when the Patriots entered Mile High Stadium. Del Rio finally got Brady, and he's damn proud of it.
CSNNE:
“We had a good plan, went out and executed a good plan and advanced,” Del Rio stated at Super Bowl Media Day. “Clearly, the combination of Tom and Bill [Belichick] has been a very productive combination for a long time and one that I hadn’t seen a lot of success against. I take a lot of pride in the fact we were able to put together that plan, play well and advance.”
Brady still didn't throw an interception in the AFC Championship game against Del Rio's Broncos defense, but he didn't have the greatest game either. He had a completion percentage of 63.15%, 277 yards and 1 touchdown (an additional one rushing). Not terrible, and his numbers could've been better if he had hit a couple of deep balls to Julian Edelman and Austin Collie.
The Broncos took a risk though, to shut down the Patriots running game and allow Tom Brady to try and beat them. It worked to perfection, as the Patriots did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter, with the game pretty well in hand for Denver.
“Every time you come out of a game against a Belichick-coached team you typically learn a lesson, you learn something,” he explained. “I’ve been through that enough times now where hopefully they came away feeling the same thing.”
The Patriots will get another crack at Del Rio's defense next season when the Patriots take on the Broncos in an AFC Championship rematch.
Photo: Steve Nehf, The Denver Post
