Why Bill O'Brien Is Wise to Bury the Hatchet with Patriots QB Tom Brady

When the cameras caught New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady engaged in a heated sideline argument with his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Bill O'Brien, in Week 14, it immediately became a subject of much discussion.

Unwarranted discussion, yes, but discussion nonetheless.

Arguments such as these aren't uncommon. This one in particular was caused by Brady throwing an interception in the end zone. Brady and O'Brien's shouting match ultimately became so heated that other coaches, including head coach Bill Belichick, had to separate the two men.

The image made people wonder if things weren't going so well behind the scenes for the Patriots, who have always taken care as an organization to not allow much information about the team's inner workings to leak to the media. Perhaps there were cracks in the veneer, many speculated.

Ultimately, there was little to see here. Coaches and players argue on the sidelines and in practices all the time. Tempers flare in such an aggressive game, and it's hard to imagine that even a seemingly collected person such as Brady doesn't have moments when he's just angry.

Brady blamed O'Brien for calling the play that led to the interception. O'Brien blamed Brady for throwing it. In a game that was still close, the two men were angry that such a game-changing event had taken place, especially considering that Brady isn't prone to throwing end-zone interceptions.

But after days of everyone outside of Foxboro making a mountain out of a molehill, O'Brien addressed the issue when speaking to the media, saying both he and Brady have moved on from the incident and are focused on the team's next game.

That's literally the only and the best thing that either O'Brien or Brady should say about the incident and nothing more.

There's no reason to speak of it further, no reason to stoke fires where there should be none and no reason to dwell on it when the incident is both in the past and moot—the Patriots won that game, after all.