FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- “I didn’t come this far to only come this far.”
That was the quote relayed by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady entering the playoffs, and it’s why what unfolded Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, a 20-18 loss to the Denver Broncos, stung so many in the locker room afterward.
This was as trying of a season for Patriots players as there has been, which was acknowledged in the locker room after the defeat in which Denver battered Brady and took it to the New England offense in a way that hasn’t been seen around these parts very often.