Entries Tagged 'Patriots Games' ↓

OK, the game’s not quite in the books yet, but both third-string quarterback Matt Guttierez and 86th-string running back Kyle Eckel are both on the field at the same time, which as far as we can tell is the visual equivalent of taking a knee. So we’re calling it at 52-7.

Tedy Bruschi cast a Halloweenish figure on the field yesterday in another Pats whitewash.

Now, 52-7 is the biggest rout yet. Against the team that was supposed to put up the second-toughest test yet. Does that mean the Patriots are getting better? Quite possibly.

No matter what it does, it shows that they’re getting more diverse. Randy Moss only caught two passes, but the Pats rolled. Tom Brady threw three touchdowns, again, and ran for two. With the Redskins clearly keying on Moss, Laurence Maroney looked terrific.

Then there was the defense, which didn’t allow points until the game was well out of hand, already up 52-0. Tedy Bruschi forced three, count them, three, fumbles (Editor’s note: It was actually Mike Vrabel who forced all three fumbles, not Bruschi as alleged here, with an assist to an alert commenter for pointing it out). Rosevelt Colvin returned one for a touchdown. And the entire time, Bill Belichick stood on the sideline looking slightly smug and unfulfilled, which is the exact thing that will keep the team moving forward.

For what it’s worth, not that it matters at all - period - in the win-loss column, here’s the final heat-check board:

Tom Brady: 29-for-38, 356 yards passing, 3 TD’s through the air, 2 rushing TD’s

Wes Welker: 9 receptions, 89 yards, 1 TD

Randy Moss: 3 receptions, 47 yards, 1 TD

Donte’ Stallworth: 4 receptions, 44 yards

Jabar Gaffney (remember him!): 4 receptions, 39 yards

Laurence Maroney: 14 carries, 75 yards, 2 receptions, 37 yards

At a certain point, even video game offenses get completely out of hand. And when you consider the fact that New England backup Matt Cassel was nearly as effective as the Washington offense was all day, if not more so, this qualifies as one of those games.

After all, the final score is all you need to see to know how ridiculous it was.

– Cameron Smith

Ummm, 38-0? How about we just forget that post we had that runs a few below here, huh?

Fittingly for a Bill Belichick-coached team, it was a defensive touchdown that put New England over the top, none other than linebacker Roosevelt Colvin returning the third fumble forced by Tedy Bruschi today alone, and taking it to the house. The camera panned over to Washington quarterback Jason Campbell as he walked off the field and he looked positively stunned.

For what it’s worth, if the Redskins were worried about being burned by Moss, they’ve avoided that. The speedy and elusive wideout has only two catches entering the fourth quarter. Instead, it’s been everyone else, almost literally. While the Patriots find themselves running out of people on the roster to throw to, Washington is getting the look of a dazed puppy.

Here’s the quarter’s scoring rundown, and you’ll see what I mean:

Another Brady run in the red zone for a score, this one from two yards: 31-0.

Colvin’s 11-yard return: 38-0.

Translation? Ouch. And the best part, for New England fans, is this: It’s hard to bet that there isn’t more coming.

– Cameron Smith

Here’s one thing Patriot fans have learned this year: Give him a quarter, and Randy Moss will probably find a way to get in the end zone.

After a beautiful fake spike, Tom Brady found Moss in the right side of the end zone, completed a 6-yard touchdown pass and gave New England a dominant, 24-0 lead heading into halftime. This after a drive sputtered but still ended in a field goal, after another drive ended in Brady’s 28th touchdown. Remember, he has a rushing touchdown in the first quarter, too.

As expected, Washington has given Brady a bit more trouble than anyone else has been able to. He’s thrown 7 incompletions already, more than any other week. But despite that, the superstar passer has still completed 24 passes, racking up 237 yards and two touchdowns in the process. Wes Welker already has 76 yards on 7 catches, running back Kevin Faulk has 7 for 57 yards, and Donte’ Stallworth has 3 for 29, a strong start for him.

Add in 73 yards on 13 carries and 37 yards on 2 receptions for Laurence Maroney, and that dynamic offense Pats fans have grown to adore is humming again.

As if Washington wasn’t already having a tough day, they haven’t been able to do anything on offense after a solid start, with linebackers like Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi all over quarterback Jason Campbell. If things don’t change soon, this one could get ugly.

Not that New England fans will find anything wrong with that, we’re sure.

– Cameron Smith

Well, it’s hard to argue with a lead, even if it’s a little more slow-going than it has been in other weeks.

You think Tom Brady and Randy Moss are getting along? It’s worth metioning that this celebration came after Brady scored, not Moss.

The Pats are up after the first quarter, again, though this time it’s only 7-0. Washington put together a few first downs to start the game, an early concern for sure, but the Pats responded with a long, 90-yard drive that was capped with a Tom Brady plunge into the end zone on a pass route where he easily could have found Randy Moss in the back of the end zone if he so chose.

Those are the types of decisions the Pats have been rolling out this year. Laurence Maroney looks like he’s in for a solid game, Wes Welker has already been active and while the defense has room to improve, they’ve been stout enough to make the lead hold up so far.

It may not continue, as the Washington defense is considerably tougher than any the Pats have faced this year. Still, so far New England seems to be playing with what has worked so far, passing the ball around the field to as many different targets as possible, dumping the ball off and leaving it for Maroney when they can’t.

Now we’ll see if that continues.

– Cameron Smith

OK, so things devolved for the Pats there a bit in the fourth quarter. We get it. But we’re not willing to say that it took anything away from what was a truly ridiculous whitewash in Miami this afternoon.

Even Kyle Brady got in on the routing act in Miami.

Just look at the final numbers:

- Tom Brady finished 21 of 25 for - get this - 354 yards and 6 TDs. Six! It’s almost preposterous.

- Randy Moss had two more touchdown catches, both on pseudo jump balls where he out-battled defensive backs. One was from 50 yards. That’s almost not fair.

- Wes Welker actually led the receiving corps, catching 9 balls for a whopping 138 yards and 2 TDs of his own. It seems fair to say he’s hit his stride.

- Donte’ Stallworth had a touchdown on three catches, but set the tone with his early grab and juke to the end zone.

- Kyle Brady caught a touchdown pass for the second straight week after not getting one in years. Coincidence? We think not.

- Miami scored 28 points, but only 14 were truly given up by the starting defense, which spent an awful lot of time on the field because the Pats offense was so efficient.

Oh, and in case you forgot, there was an excellent fourth quarter exclamation mark: Brady’s second TD toss to Welker. The score came after Bill Belichick had already pulled Brady for backup Matt Cassel, but Cassel threw a pick which was returned to the house by longtime Pats nemesis Jason Taylor. It temporarily pulled the Dolphins within 21, not that it would last. Billy B brought Brady back in, the quarterback led another quick touchdown drive and the Miami crowd tried to figure out how to absorb yet another stomach punch.

That’s exactly what you wanted if you’re a New England fan: Lots of stomach punches for Miami. Sunday afternoon you got them. In a bundle.

– Cameron Smith, AP Photo

For the record, this isn’t exactly a revolutionary trudge through molasses, it’s just a slowdown on the part of the New England freight train.

The Pats were finally limited a bit in the third quarter, with Miami putting up a more formidable defensive front to slow New England’s one offensive possession, in which the Patriots focused a bit more on the run and hybrid pass game which almost simulates the run. You may remember that the team traditionally focused on that hybrid passing game in the past, at least before Tom Brady had three ridiculously dangerous new weapons - Randy Moss, Donte’ Stallworth and Wes Welker - dropped in his lap in the offseason.

That drive followed an extremely length - though ultimately unproductive - Miami drive, a possession in which the Dolphins systematically drove down the field, but ultimately watched the latest of Randall Gay’s interceptions, an improvement that has helped shore up the depth of the New England secondary. Seriously people, this is the only lingering drama in this thing … how well the Patriot reserves will play if given a chance to flex the team’s depth.

We’ll see if that changes in the fourth. It could. But the way things are going at the moment, one would be hard-pressed to say that New England will go away from the run, or give up much of anything to Miami.

– Cameron Smith

Evidently this is how you put a stamp on a win … by taking a 42-7 lead to the locker room.

In all seriousness, what else can you say about this afternoon’s one-sided walkover? Tom Brady is 11 for 13 through the air, with an ungodly five first half touchdowns. Better yet, he’s getting all his targets involved. The first pass was to Donte’ Stallworth, then he hit his newest weapon, Kyle Brady. By the time Randy Moss got involved, he made it 28-7, following the shocking Willie Andrews kickoff return for a touchdown (Did anyone see him bringing that back before it happened? Really? We sure as hell didn’t), and Randy went out and decided he wanted a second scoring grab for the books shortly thereafter. Throw the Wes Welker score on the final drive in there, and Miami fans had plenty to boo about as their team left the field.

This, of course, doesn’t even take the defensive dominance being flexed out there into account. It’s stunning. Cleo Lemon looks like a middle school passer who can’t find an open man because he’s not on a sandlot field. Ronnie Brown is chugging along, but inevitably his progress gets popped by Tedy Bruschi or Junior Seau, who’s flying around like he still has vengeance pent up for Miami. It’s terrifying.

Clearly this thing is over. The only question is how bad it’ll get in the second half.

– Cameron Smith

So this one looks like it’s already over. In the first quarter.

Tommy Boy is perfect so far, and even his personal nemesis - the Miami defense - doesn’t look like it knows how to stop him.

If there were thoughts about dousing the Pats offense, they seem to have evaporated quickly. Tom Brady already has two more touchdown passes, including a crisp pass to Donte’ Stallworth, the breakout receiver who’s quickly moving up towards the Randy Moss echelon in terms of explosiveness.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins offense looks thoroughly confused, to the point that Ronnie Brown looks like the team’s lone weapon. Not exactly what new coach and alleged offensive genius Cam Cameron had in mind, for sure. The team is driving the field as we write, but even that seems like small consolation … it’s taken a perfect play call on a 4th and 1 and a couple of lucky grabs just to keep the drive going.

Should the Dolphins score a touchdown here at the doorstep things could get a little interesting, but we kind of doubt it. After all, Tommy Boy is 7-for-7 so far today. Even Miami legend Dan Marino could take notes from that.

– Cameron Smith, AP Photo

At least when it comes to drama with the Pats. All those lingering questions about New England holding on for a win? Yeah, they disappeared in the fourth, when Randy Moss scored again but had the points erased because of a near-phantom push off.

Randy Moss and Donte’ Stallworth? They were just part of a crew of Patriots who trashed the Dallas secondary yesterday afternoon. Wes Welker might ring a bell, too.

In the end, the game’s fourth quarter served as strong reassurance of two things: 1) The Patriots offense really is as dominant as it has appeared throughout the season. Tom Brady threw a monstrous five touchdown passes - FIVE!! - and actually threw a sixth to Moss before both were taken away, as mentioned above. Not that Brady would care, of course. He and his teammates were too busy beating a fellow undefeated team.

That’s what the New England defense was doing, too, in the classic “bend, but don’t break” fashion of more famous Patriots stops in recent years. The Pats gave up another field goal, but Junior Seau picked off the first pass on Tony Romo’s final drive to put a ribbon on the New England win.

In fact, that pick was not only pre-ordained by CBS commentator Phil Simms, it was also highlighted by another insightful comment from the former Giants quarterback (shocker, I know). Simms was talking about New England’s rejuvenated approach in 2007, and chalked some of the team’s early success to the organizational realization during the offseason that certain teams are just going to score points against you, no matter how good a performance you throw at them. It’s absolutely the truth. The Pats D can keep shutting down receivers of T.O.’s ilk over the middle. They can keep stuffing running backs at the line of scrimmage and reading prescribed passing routes before they happen.

But against certain teams - Dallas, Indianapolis, maybe Pittsburgh - they’re still going to give up 20, 25 points. It’s going to happen.

That’s why Brady and the team’s explosive offense is so impressive. Tom Terrific completed all the big passes he needed to. Was he as perfect as he’s been earlier this year? No. But prior games were being played against a defense full of Pro Bowlers either.

In the end, that’s what makes this week’s victory so impressive. The Patriots won when they were tested. Finally. And they did it with less than maximum drama, which in this case just makes the victory even more impressive.

– Cameron Smith

Was anyone else incredibly relieved when the Patriots D finally just stopped Dallas’ offense? Thought so.

Tom Brady’s composure on the Pats’ first possession of the third quarter may end up playing a big role in the trajectory of the game.

After the Cowboys opened the quarter with a touchdown drive, sending New England to its first deficit of the season during the second half of a game, the Pats followed with a block in the back on a kickoff and seemed to be nearing a prepice that, should they slip off of, could create a huge hole in the fourth quarter.

Instead, Tom Brady marched the Pats down the field, albeit with the loss of a key component in Sammy Morris, and punched the ball in with the first touchdown pass that Kyle Brady has caught in two seasons. The best part of the series-clinching toss? The receiving Brady was wide open because the Dallas goal line defense was too preoccupied with linebacker/fullback/tight end phenom Mike Vrabel to put anybody on Brady, leaving him wide open in the back of the end zone.

But as has seemed to be the case throughout much of this game, even the good news came with an asterisk. When Tom Brady sent a deep bomb to Randy Moss nearing the end of the quarter, Moss pulled down what looked like one of the most graceful and acrobatic catches in football this year, if not ever. But in review after a Dallas challenge, the points were pulled off the board because Moss lost control as he hit the ground, and the Pats had to settle for a field goal.

In most weeks that might not be such a big deal, but against a Dallas team that seems firmly confident they can compete with New England, it could spell trouble in the later stages of the game. Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs have looked much better in tight coverage of Terrell Owens and the rest of his receiving posse, but they’ll have to push their effort if they’re going to keep holding them off.

We’re about to find out if that can happen, minus Morris and Maroney and all.

– Cameron Smith