This morning, the Patriots are talking dropped passes. Aaron Hernandez had one, Deion Branch had one, but most visibly, Wes Welker was hit in the hands on a long pass that would have extended the Patriots drive with four minutes left. It wasn’t the best throw, but it was catchable, and after the game Tom Brady put it was gently as he could: “missed opportunities.” [jump]

Gray asked what he was thinking for all those minutes under the towel, staring at that locker room floor.

“I think it was just the missed opportunities,” Brady said.

Soon he was ushered into a hallway, off to where the podium waited. He went through a side exit, not the main one where his wife, Gisele Bundchen, the Brazilian supermodel, had been waiting.

She heard he’d gotten past her and began sprinting – in black boots with three-inch heels – after him. He was 30 yards ahead of her.

“Tommy,” she shouted. “Tommy! Tommy!”

He didn’t hear her. She finally plowed through the crowd, the lingerie model throwing elbows until she stopped him in mid-stride and offered a big hug, a kiss and a look into Brady’s still-red eyes. Cameras flashed all around them.