Even when the Patriots found themselves down 28 points against the 49ers Sunday, quarterback Tom Brady was confident his team could rally.

“I thought we were going to come back and win the game,” Brady said Monday on WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan show. “A lot of our problems on offense were self-inflicted, and I have a lot of respect for that defense. They rush, they cover, they’re physical, they force turnovers. It was just a sloppy game by us; it was a sloppy game by both teams in some respect. They just weren’t quite as sloppy as we were. You can’t play 25 minutes of good football against a good team. You just can’t do it.