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Tom Brady turned 41 last month and said he wanted to play until he was 45. Given his performance last season, which must be contested?
After winning his third NFL Most Valuable Player award in a season that ended in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at the Super Bowl LII, Brady and the New England Patriots opened their match on Sunday afternoon. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass. .
Brady began his 19th season and guided the Patriots to nine consecutive AFC East titles. In fact, New England won the division in 15 of the 16 seasons in which Brady was the starter.
"I think the last eight years of my career have been better than my first 10 years, so I should just extend them, and that's what I'm trying to do," Brady said Wednesday in the last episode of his documentary series Facebook Watch "Tom against time."
Brady had a total of 4,577 passing yards with 32 touchdowns compared to just eight interceptions a year ago. He added eight TD assists and zero points in the playoffs, including 505 yards and three assists in the 41-33 loss to the Eagles at the Super Bowl.
"I mean, obviously you're facing the best quarterback ever and maybe the best coach of all time," said Houston defensive end JJ Watt, referring to Brady's coach Patriots Bill Belichick. "It's always a good challenge and for us to open the season against a team like this and a player like Tom, it's a great challenge from the start."
Brady had 378 yards and five touchdowns in a last-minute 36-33 victory over the Texans last season as the Patriots improved to 7-1 against Houston.
Among the reasons for optimism for the Texans after the 4-12 debacle in 2017 is the return of Watt, NFL defensive player of the year, and rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson, who suffered late-season injuries. 'year.
Watt has been limited to just eight games in the last two seasons. He suffered a broken leg and missed the last 11 games in 2017, depriving Houston of one of the league's most important defensive players.
"We expect all the players we play against to be at their best, we are still waiting for their best performances, and we usually receive them," Belichick said. "That's what we expect from an excellent JJJJ player, he is very talented, he has a great engine and is very instinctive.He is a very intelligent player and endowed with exceptional physical skills." So we are still waiting for their best results. " prepare yourselves. "
Watson was on his way to a sensational rookie campaign before tearing an ACL in practice in early November. Before the injury, Watson had 1,699 yards and 19 touchdowns in seven games, adding 269 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries.
From week 4 to week 7, Houston earned an impressive 40.5 points, while Watson had 16 TD assists against just five choices while scoring four consecutive over 100 assists. In his second career start, Watson finished with 301 yards with two TD assists and two interceptions in last year's loss to New England.
"I think everything that happened last year was basically a six-game window on what he can do and that's what teams are studying a lot about us this year," said Bill O. Brien, Houston coach. a former offensive coordinator with New England. "I think Deshaun works very hard – it's not a guy who is resting on laurels, he's a guy who works really hard to improve every day."
Watson's main target is DeAndre Hopkins, who recorded 96 receptions for 1,378 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. The Will Fuller Speedster only caught 28 catches, but seven of them were hit.
Lamar Miller will be in charge of most of the ground game. D & # 39; Onta Foreman will open the year on the list of physically unfit players to play. Miller won 888 yards and three points last season.
Brady will play with a large group of receivers who will be without Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola, who have respectively left the trade and free agencies. In addition, Julian Edelman is serving a four-game suspension for breaking the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.
Rob Gronkowski finished last season with 69 catches for a total of 1,084 yards. His eight receptions raised his career total to 76, an all time record.
The Patriots also present new faces in the backfield with first-round pick Sony Michel and former Cincinnati Bengal Jeremy Hill, joining Rex Burkhead and James White.
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