Patriots Look Ahead to Postseason

'We have a lot of confidence,' Tom Brady said of the Pats' offense.

With the Patriots already locked into the AFC's No. 1 seed, Sunday's regular-season finale against the Bills meant little. So little, in fact, that coach Bill Belichick, who's been known to play his starters no matter the situation, didn't even activate key players (Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski), and pulled others (Tom Brady) after only a few series.

The decision had something to do with the Bills' 17-9 victory but the Pats won't lose any sleep over the final score because the goal isn't to win in late December but to get hot in January and into February.

"We're confident," Brady said Sunday, via ESPN.com. "We have a lot of confidence as an offense," he said, when asked if there should be any level of concern after Sunday's 17-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the season finale.

"We've been able to score points against a lot of good teams, a lot of good defenses. Nothing that we've done this past season is going to help in two weeks from now. What's going to matter is how well we prepare this week and how well we prepare next week and how ready we are to go whenever we play. We'll have a lot of confidence. I'm not worried about us lacking confidence going out there and executing. We've got a lot of good players."

The Patriots have the week off and will host either the Ravens, Bengals or Colts in the AFC Divisional round. And it sounds like the extra time is much needed.

“It’s been a long year," cornerback Darrelle Revis admitted. "It really has. Guys get banged up here and there, but you just have to take care of your body. That’s what we’ve been trying to do and it’s good that we got a first-round bye so guys can get rest for our next game coming up.”

Meanwhile, Brady was asked if he's responsible for the offense not hitting on all cylinders in recent weeks.

"That's a good question," he said. "I think it ultimately comes down to how well we execute. I think we've played some pretty good defenses and defenses that really challenge you. We'll be challenged in a couple weeks. Hopefully we're ready to meet the challenge. I'd expect us to be at our best. That's what this time of year requires. We'll be playing a great football team, whoever it is. I think we've got a pretty good team. We'll see where we're at."

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