Rainy Day Winnin’ #14 & 17

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

Not quite what you expected, huh?

Me neither. Things rarely go according to plan while a Nor’easter is advancing, I guess. They certainly didn’t at Gillette Stadium yesterday, where the undefeated Patriots found themselves entangled in a rather nasty affair with the 3-10 New York Jets, who were supposed to be the doormat on which New England would wipe its slushy cleats.

Not quite. Thoughts of triple-figure revenge and NBA scoreboards quickly disappeared, as removed from the cold, wet stadium as September’s blue skies and balmy temps.

But you know what? The Patriots won anyway, becoming the second team in NFL history to begin 14-0, and with its 17th straight regular-season win, New England is just one victory from tying the league mark it set in 2004.

Most importantly, the Patriots clinched home field advantage through the 2007 AFC playoffs.

And when it was over, an ebullient Bill Belichick bounded across the soggy field to greet Eric Mangini with a broad smile and an “awesome!” A hilarious development that was as jarringly unexpected as the Jets performance was.

Quite a day after all. A few thoughts:

*No one could have conceived of the day Tom Brady would have, not after he’s strode the earth like a Colussus all season. I thought Brady was mightily impatient early on, passing up open receivers underneath by forcing balls to Randy Moss up the field. He never got untracked, save for a couple of big fourth quarter completions to Wes Welker (an improvised third down conversion) and Moss (a 46 yard jump ball) that set up a Stephen Gostkowski field goal and a late two-score lead. That was it. In a game where he might have been expected to challenge the touchdown pass record, he threw none, while pitching an awful interception to Darrelle Revis on the Patriots first possession of the second half. The pick amounted to nothing, not unlike the Patriots passing game.

*I don’t know how much of that was due to the weather (a toxic looking mix of snow, sleet, rain and high winds) and how much was due to the Jets’ game planning. Considering the Pats ran roughshod over New York’s secondary in Sptember, I’m inclined to attribute their futility yesterday to the difficult conditions, BUT……..it wasn’t like Brady was missing a lot of open receivers with wind-blown passes. There was nobody open, especially in the second half.

*So it was left to the defensive and special teams units to give the Pats an edge, and they did. With New York backed up against its own goal line, Richard Seymour knocked Kellen Clemens on his left shoulder and out of the game on the Jets’ second offensive play, and the bloop that squirted from Clemens was gathered in by Eugene Wilson for the easy score. If you’re Eugene Wilson, you’ve got to like that bunny in your first series as James Sanders’ fill-in.

*Chris Hanson had a pretty good game, but he royally screwed up in the second quarter when, after a bobbled snap, he tried to get a punt through an approaching rush. The block by David Bowens (and easy return) gave the Jets their only touchdown, which kept them in the game through the fourth quarter. It’s easy for me to say, but I figure in that situation (an inevitable block), take off running, and whatever you get is better than what the Patriots got today.

*But Kelley Washington went tit-for-tat late in the first half, blowing through with a perfectly timed, one-handed block of a Ben Graham punt from the Jets 17. I could hardly believe how perfectly and effortlessly Washington blocked that punt, as if he could do it whenever he wanted. It set up the only offensive touchdown of the day.

*So back to the defense for a minute - they started out like they were going to dominate, but Chad Pennington (after a couple of quarters that Mangini wasted by alternating him with Brad Smith) eventually began to chip away underneath, and the Patriots D ended up spending an awful lot of the second half on the field. It got hairy there for a minute (Justin McCareins’ bobbled and overturned touchdown would have cut the lead to three), and I’m wondering if the defense is going the way of the offense. Yet, when it was all said and done, they allowed three points all day.

*Laurence Maroney probably did as much to win this game for the Patriots as anybody. Oh, I’m sorry, do you have to sit down? I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ll eat this plate of crow all day long, because I have often wondered if Maroney had it in him. He stood tall when the weather forced the ball his way, carrying 26 times for 104 yards. Most of it came with a gang of Jets on his back. The only time the Patriots looked good on offense was when Brady turned and simply handed Maroney the ball. To their credit, they did it often. Now, let’s not put him in Canton yet, all right fellas? If I’m not mistaken, he went the wrong way on a couple of early running plays. But today was a great start, and a sight for sore eyes.

*The Pats o-line had a devil of a time with false starts, and later, they seemed to falter in the face of a rallying Jets pass rush. They did do a good job of creating a rugby scrum around Maroney every time he carried the football, a tactic not widely used since the early 1900’s. I LOVED it.

*Adalius Thomas was a man possessed for some reason, laying the wood to anything he could get his hands on. A couple of time he’s got up acting as though he was a blink away from a five-star nutty. What got into him? Can we get him some more? He also chased down Chris Baker and forced him to fumble, which was recovered by……Eugene Wilson. Is he pulling a Costanza here or something, where he’s doing the opposite of what his instincts tell him? What’s with this change in luck?

*Junior Seau was an inspired sidekick to Thomas, and Mike Vrabel came hard off the edge despite being listed as questionable. Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren stuffed the Jets early, and Seymour’s explosive sack of Clemens was a welcome flashback. The cornerbacks stood out mainly because they didn’t convert any of the interception chances that came their way.

*I suppose the question will be asked: can anybody else do what the Jets did to Brady, or was the weather The Main Ingredient of his frustration? I guess everybody plays the fool, sometimes.

*Belichick must have figured that every camera in the stadium  would be trained on him the second the clock went to zero, and the images taken as he crossed the field towards Mangini would soon be hurtling across every corner of the Internet, when they could be scrutinized, analyzed, and quite probably scandalized. I like to think that the usually dour coach burst out laughing at the thought of it, and that’s what carried him across to Mangini, and then some warm embraces by a few Jets, before a triumphant fist pump to the Patriots sideline. That ending wasn’t the one we expected either, but it was great.

*”The whole chipper, friendly “great game, great game….awesome” veered dangerously close to John Denver “far OUT!” territory. Man, that was fun.

*With the top seed now clinched, the debate begins: will Belichick rest some starters over the final two weeks? why, with the bye week that’s only two Sundays away? I don’t know if Maroney was this involved in the game plan before the weather arrived, but I’d like to see a lot more of him and his flying wedge, for example. I’d like to see more of Adalius Thomas sprinting around, and perhaps another Richard Seymour sack or two. I’d like to see Tom Brady come out and have another great game, if only to assuage any lingering thoughts of yesterday.

Men Separated from ‘Boys

logoby Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

The Dallas Cowboys thought they had the New England Patriots for a minute there yesterday, as they rallied for a 24-21 third-quarter lead after having trailed by two touchdowns.

No dice.

The Patriots exploded for 27 points over the game’s final 25 minutes - to just 3 from the overwhemled Cowboys - to close out a 48-27 win as the ‘Boys were separated from the NFL’s real men in Dallas.

Tom Brady continued his stratospheric play with a franchise-best 5 touchdown passes, and Wel Welker and Donte Stallworth combined for 250 yards and 3 scores as the Patriots ran their record to 6-0 for only the second time in team history.

The Patriots defense teetered on the edge for a good bit of the day but gathered themselves to hold the Cowboys to just three first downs after Dallas briefly (for about 5 minutes) took their three-point third-quarter lead.

The Cowboys - one and done playoff losers in 06 - thought their 5-0 record to start this season entitled them to join the legion of knuckleheads casting aspersions on the Patriots as they prepared to face the team that had won 3 world championships since Dallas’s last playoff win.

New England did their talking on the field, getting off to an increasingly typical 14-0 lead on the strength of Brady throws to Randy Moss and Welker, while Dallas’s vaunted offense struggled to gain even a first down against the Patriots defense.

But a second-quarter breakdown between Brady and Stallworth left the MVP candidate holding the ball too long as Greg Ellis rushed from the edge, and the resulting fumble took a bunny hop to Ellis’s linemate Jason Hatcher, who raced 29 yards untouched for Dallas’s first touchdown. New England’s lead was suddenly tightened to 14-10.

Even a 7 minute New England drive that ended with Welker’s second score and a 21-10 lead was not enough to dissuade Dallas and quarterback Tony Romo, as America’s Next Top Mimbo began to shred the center of the New England secondary with repeated open throws to Jason Witten, Patrick Crayton and Terrell Owens.

Romo rolled over the Pats’ suddenly porous pass defense to lead Dallas on a 3 minute, 84 yard touchdown drive that brought them within four and forced Brady to finish the first half on his right knee.

Brady started the second half hardly better, as an invigorated Dallas defense opened the third-quarter by forcing a quick three-and-out, and after a Chris Hanson punt, Dallas again tore upfield (behind Julius Jones, who had two consecutive carries that totaled 43 yards) with a 74 yard touchdown drive in just over 3 1/2 minutes. Crayton’s 6 yard scoring pass from Romo left the Patriots trailing in the second half for the first time this season.

And it was then that New England took over and showed the rest of the league just how far the Patriots rivals have yet to come.

The Patriots scored on every one of their remaining 5 possessions. First, Brady regained the lead with a short scoring toss to Kyle Brady (in relief of Benjamin Watson, who was lost early to an ankle injury) that closed out a 5+ minute drive that did much to cool off the boiling Dallas offense. A short field goal drive followed (after a spectacular Moss near-touchdown in the right corner was disallowed on a replay challenge), and then Brady slammed the door with a perfectly thrown 4th quarter pass down the middle that Stallworth gathered in before breaking a tackle and racing for a 69 yard touchdown that gave the Pats a 14 point lead with just 12 minutes left.

When Dallas could muster only a field goal in response, the game was over. But just in case the Cowboys hadn’t yet gotten the picture, the Patriots poured it on.

New England held the ball for 12 of the final 15 minutes, and only let up after Kyle Eckel’s short touchdown run with just 19 seconds left finished a drive that began with a Junior Seau interception at the Dallas 20.

Wade Phillips, who would do well to lose Peter King’s cell phone number, may have expected the Pats to take a knee to avoid running up the score (as they had done in previous weeks), but if he did, he was dead wrong. The Pats pounded away, much as Phillips had done during the week, as he openly questioned (even mocked) the legitimacy of New England’s success this decade. His after-the-fact denials did little to dissuade Bill Belichick from pushing the ball across the goal line a final, emphatic time.

When it was over, Phillips could barely look at Belichick as the two exchanged a terse post-game handshake. He wouldn’t have the balls to be pissed at Belichick for running up the score after Phillips has spent the week having a few Spy-gate laughs at Belichick and his team’s expense, would he? He couldn’t be that stupid, could he?

Evidently, he could. Which may explain why his cocky 5-0 team just took a 21 point loss in their own ballpark, thanks in large part to their coach’s big mouth.

Any more Spy-Gate questions, fellas?

Brown Out

logoby Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

The old dog had some old tricks for the Patriots yesterday.

Former Pats defensive chief Romeo Crennel and the Cleveland Browns managed to do what no one had done yet - extricate Randy Moss from the center of an explosive New England offense - but in the end, they couldn’t cover everybody, or cover for their own mistakes. 

The Patriots defense forced four Cleveland turnovers and Tom Brady teamed with Ben Watson and Sammy Morris to get by the Browns, 34-17, for a win that was not nearly as comfortable as the final score would indicate.

For the first time this season, the Patriots offense stumbled - converting just 2 of 12 third downs and scoring just 1 touchdown in 4 red zone tries on a frustrating afternoon  - as Crennel and the Browns blanketed Moss (just 3 catches) and forced Brady to look elsewhere for help.

Ultimately, that help was there for the deep Patriots, as Watson gathered in 100 yards and two scores and Morris piled up his second straight 100 yard game in relief of Laurence Maroney, allowing Brady to overcome the partial loss of power and throw for at least three scores for the fifth consecutive week.

The New England defense intercepted Derek Anderson three times on deflected first half passes and Randall Gay stripped Kellen Winslow and returned the fumble for a touchdown to mask a pedestrian afternoon in which Anderson and the Browns totaled 22 first downs and 350 yards of net offense on the formerly top-rated Patriots D.

The turnovers kept the Pats comfortably in front through the first half, but Anderson came back to lead the Browns to 17 points over the final 30 minutes and force the Patriots to play for keeps well into the late afternoon.

It might have been worse, had Anderson not bounced an end zone pass off Asante Samuel into the arms of Junior Seau after driving the Browns 60 yards on their first possession, which would have given them an early lead in the Pats’ own park. Instead, the ill-advised pass (Samuel was the only one open on the play, though he muffed it straight in the air) kicked off a series of events that left the Browns trailing by 20 at the half.

The Pats caught more than one break on that drive: after an impressive 11 yard run on the first play, ace runner Jamal Lewis limped off with an ankle injury, never to return.

After the Patriots could do nothing with the turnover, Anderson took over and again went back to pass, this time to the right flat. There waited the Ali-like wingspan of Adalius Thomas, and this time it was Samuel on the other end of the tipped ball near the Cleveland 30.

Brady, who on the opening possession had been held to a field goal after a long drive was stunted in the red zone, immediately went to the air himself. There, safely behind impregnable protection (ouch - no pun intended), he scanned a series of options before deciding on Donte Stallworth, who gathered it in at the Browns 25 and outweaved everyone to the end zone, and a 10-0 lead.

Stallworth had his second straight strong game - he’s quickly becoming the Pat most likely to do something interesting after the catch. He slithers more than he runs. He was surrounded by Browns on the touchdown, but was always just out of their reach. With Moss limited to two first-half catches (both on the opening drive), Stallworth emerged to retain the Pats’ outside game.

Everything started, as it should, with the superlative play of the New England offensive line. It’s like future politician Brady has already been assigned a Secret Service detail. He’s getting all the time on the rope line he needs, and the backs continue to find creases in which they can square up and plow ahead.

Morris is nothing if not the living definition of solid, a physical back that almost always is able to lean forward for three and four yards. With the official designation of Maroney as “Injury Prone” now but a formality, Morris is increasingly becoming an indispensible player for the Patriots.

As is Russ Hochstein, who moved to center for the ailing Dan Koppen after filling in for the previously-ailing - and now returning - Stephen Neal at right guard. The Patriots have suffered two injuries to the core of their line and haven’t skipped a beat, thanks to the long-time standby who’s often as effective as any starter.  

The two turnovers slowed the Browns, who kept it close to the vest for a bit, content to distract the Pats with Scott Player’s ridiculous moustache. If you are going to make a facemask choice like that, why add the friggin’ handlebar moustache? A blond handlebar moustache? Player, please. I think he even spooked Brady, who again drove New England inside Cleveland’s 10 only to be turned aside with only another field goal. Despite two long drives and two turnovers by their opponent, the Patriots still led by less than two touchdowns.

Emboldened by their (relatively) good fortune, Cleveland began to drive again, and three first downs brought them to midfield. But at the two minute warning, Mike Vrabel’s bull rush from Anderson’s right put him on the quarterback’s hip as he tried to throw. The ball was free in the air again, and again it was a Patriot - Seau, for the second time - that was waiting.

Seau just about gave everybody a heart attack by stopping in the middle of his return - perfectly positioned in the center of the field, where everybody could see - to wave the ball wildly in the air as angry Browns approached. He was mercifully tackled before he could pitch the ball to Bill Belichick or something equally as puzzling as his mid-return brainfart.

The interception gave Brady the ball at the Browns 25, and Watson stepped forward for the first of his two touchdown catches, an easy flip and run to the left side flag from the Cleveland 7. Watson later beat single coverage to race down the right hash and pull in a perfectly thrown Brady pass for a 25 yard, fourth quarter score, his fifth of the season. His development into a reliable contributor this year has been a quiet success story for the highly-touted Pats.

With a 20-0 lead to start the third quarter, the biggest concern for New England was how quickly the game clock could tick off the final 30 minutes. It felt that way anyway, as the offense stalled for its first scoreless third quarter of the season and the defense striggled to get off the field. Cleveland seemed to hold the ball for most of the period, as the Patriots offense could only muster two first downs. Here Moss’s absence was most deeply felt, as for the first time his year, his connection with Brady seemed ill-timed. Brady’s forced attempts flew wildly past a blanketed Moss again and again, leaving all due credit to Crennel and his staff, who offered the league’s first answer to the dynamic duo. Did the three-time champion coordinator start a book on Moss yesterday by showing the rest of the league how to dim New England’s brightest light? We’ll find out.

Just as we’ll find out about the Patriots defense, who started the day at the top of the league’s statistical rankings but ended it by getting backpedaled by Anderson, who directed two fourth quarter touchdown drives to keep the game close. Backup tailback Jason Wright (100 total yards of offense) proved problematic for New England, as did Braylon Edwards (100 receiving), Tim Carter (a 21 yard TD pass from Anderson) and Kellen Winslow (a 15 yard score to complete a bang-bang two-play drive). The Patriots couldn’t cover anybody and couldn’t get off the field, despite a season-best effort from Tedy Bruschi (two sacks on wide open blitzes).

That left the Pats with a ten point lead and six minutes to play, and as has been their custom, the offense launched a clock killing ball control drive behind Morris and Kyle ‘The Kloser’ Eckel, who provided late game relief for the second straight week. But again, Cleveland closed the Pats down inside the red zone, and Belichick eschewed a field goal for a failed 4th down pass to Kyle Brady, which had no chance of succeeding from the snap. This confused me almost as much as Seau’s premature celebration; why not take the sure three and a thirteen point lead, forcing Cleveland to score two touchdowns in one minute to win, rather than just a touchdown and a field goal to tie? 

Maybe it was because it left the Browns backed up to their own goal line, and when Winslow was stripped by Gay (who finished with a neat cross-country return for TD), it didn’t end up mattering. The Pats left the field with another three-score margin of victory, though they had to know just how slim that margin really was.

Defense Rests

gdrv102by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

Score one for the Patriots defense.

Their offensive teammates have been the NFL’s big story over the first month, but last night, the Patriots defense led the way as New England ran their record to 4-0 with a 34-13 win over the Bengals in Cincinnati.

Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati offense were held to 280 total yards and only one touchdown, and the Patriots forced two turnovers, including Asante Samuel’s game changing interception as the first half closed.

With the Bengals driving to cut a 17-7 deficit to just three points before halftime, Samuel stepped in front of a Palmer misread at the Patriots goal line, preserving the two score lead and cutting off what turned out to be Cincinnati’s last real chance to be competitive on the night.

The Pats had just one sack, but they kept steady pressure throughout with a four man rush (led by Ty Warren), as the New England secondary blanketed all-world receiver Chad Johnson (the only man alive having a better year than Randy Moss), holding him to just 53 yards on 3 catches. Running mate TJ Houshmandzadeh had 100 yards and Cincinnati’s only touchdown, but it took him 10 catches (several in garbage time) to do it. When it mattered most, the Bengals vaunted passing game was held in check. 

After some early success, backup running back Kenny Watson was eventually sat on by the New England front, who held the Bengals to just 15 rushing attempts. With nowhere to turn, Cincinnati did not convert a single third down opportunity, going 0-7.

Though they are one of the top statistical defenses in the league, most observers remained skeptical about a New England unit that had struggled in the red zone and had yielded a few extended drives under the cover of three blow out wins to start the season.

But last night the Patriots defense stepped forward against one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses and shut them down in their own ballpark.

But yeah, the offense wasn’t bad either.

Tom Brady and Randy Moss continued their blistering pace, as Moss piled up another 100 yard, two touchdown game. He was never more impressive than on his first touchdown, which capped off a seven-minute, 62 yd second quarter drive as the Pats nursed a precarious 10-7 lead.

The Bengals had just driven 65 yards in about two minutes to swing momentum to their side and bring them within three. Brady and the Pats took over again at their own 40, and a ball control drive featuring Sammy Morris brought the ball inside the Bengals 10. Yet Cincinnati stiffened, and Moss took cornerback Jonathan Joseph on a third down route into the end zone that left him well covered and pinned against the sideline to Brady’s left.

Brady threw it anyway, a bullet to Moss’s back shoulder, and the veteran muscled Joseph out of the way to gain possession and tap both feet before being driven out of the end zone. A sensational play by perhaps the most sensational Patriot ever, and New England had a two-score lead for the first time on the night.

Samuel’s interception followed, and the Patriots were in full control. Without Moss’s brilliance, they may have been turned away with only a field goal, and who knows what could have happened then.

Brady was tremendous again, in full command of the vast arsenal at his disposal. With the ESPN Monday Night Football crew fawning at his every move, the telecast eventually devolved into a full-on “Brady for MVP” rally, led by Tony Kornheiser, who is just plain awful.

Morris was fantastic in relief of Laurence Maroney, who missed the game with a groin injury. The Patriots came out with a spread pass-first offense, but when the Bengals suffered more injuries to their already decimated linebacker corps, the Pats went to Morris, who finished with 117 yards in 21 carries (and a third quarter touchdown). His bruising lean-forward style furthered battered the Bengals and allowed the Pats to control the game and stunt an early Cincinnati pass rush that had Brady moving around the pocket with urgency.

The Pats offensive line had another top performance, opening holes for Morris and the other running backs (173 yards rushing) while keeping the Bengals speed rushers at arm’s length from their quarterback.

Mike Vrabel caught his seventh career touchdown pass (on seven receptions) from a first quarter goal line set, leaving us to wonder: why the hell doesn’t anybody ever cover him in that situation? 

That’s a question for another day.  The answers came on the other side of the ball last night.

Wake and Bake

logoby Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

In the first twenty-three minutes of play yesterday, the Patriots:

*Took a turnover on their opponent’s first possession to a 1st and Goal, yet came away with only three points;

*Gave up a seven minute, 80 yard touchdown drive - and the lead - to a rookie quarterback seeing his first NFL action;
 
*Scored no points after being stuffed on a fourth down try near their opponent’s 20;

*Lost another score when their Super Bowl MVP quarterback fumbled inches from the opposing goal line;

*Lost two instant replay challenges, and two timeouts.

Then they woke up.

And in the end, those early cobwebs proved insignificant as the Patriots rolled to another impressive win, 38-7, over the undermanned and overmatched Buffalo Bills yesterday at Foxboro.

Tom Brady threw for four touchdowns, Randy Moss continued his remarkable start with two more scores, Laurence Maroney ran for 100 yards and the defense held the Bills to under 200 in total offense while forcing two turnovers, as New England ran their record to 3-0 for the first time since 2004.

I’m sure the Patriots were trying, but they were horribly sloppy in the first quarter and a half, which resulted in Buffalo having a surprising early lead despite losing starting quarterback JP Losman on their first possession to a questionable low hit by nose tackle Vince Wilfork.

It shouldn’t have been surprising - after two emotionally taxing weeks, the Patriots were facing a winless opponent that had suffered nothing but indignity and grievous injury since the season’s opening kickoff.

Those injuries only continued for Buffalo when Losman went down after Wilfork dove at his knees on a short completion on the first play of the game. Wilfork was undoubtedly shoved towards Losman on the play, but its hard to feel good about the elbow Wilfork threw at Losman’s knees after the ball had cleared.

To Buffalo’s credit, they overcame the loss to quickly take the lead behind a rookie quarterback who was taking his first NFL snaps. 

To New England’s credit, their reeling defense quickly gathered themselves to shut down Trent Edwards - who hit his first four passes as a pro to drive the Bills the length of the field and into the New England end zone - giving Brady and company the chance to take over the game, then put it out of reach.

It was Wes Welker who snapped the Pats out of it.

After the Brady fumble at the Buffalo goal line, the slot receiver (who also had 6 catches for 69 yards, including a 26 yard catch and run that ended with an ill advised lateral to Moss) had consecutive darting punt returns of 29 and 26 yards to twice set the Patriots offense up with short fields, which led to two New England touchdowns and a 17-7 halftime lead.

The Pats rumbled on in the second half, scoring three times while not allowing the Buffalo offense to cross midfield.

Brady finished with a remarkable 23/29/311 line, as he scales new statistical heights in his eighth year. Moss became the first NFL player in history to have 100 yards receiving in each of his first three games with a new team.

Who keeps track of things like that? Do they know if the Pats set a team record for most consecutive weeks scoring 38 points?

Anyway, after Ben Watson got the first Pats score (after deftly finding a soft spot in Buffalo coverage at the goal line), Moss extended New England’s lead to two touchdowns when he muscled his way open on a short slant pattern in front of Jabari Greer, who was left alone to defend the indefensible. He had no chance when Brady threaded the needle with the throw.

Later, he streaked past Greer to gather in a perfectly thrown 45 yarder from the Pats qb for the score that sent most New England veterans - including Brady - to the bench for the rest of the afternoon.

As I said last week, there are no words to describe Moss’s impact on Brady and the Patriots offense. He already has five touchdowns, and again, his very presence makes the game look easy for his teammates. Brady completed passes to eight different receivers, including Jabar Gaffney (a third quarter TD), Donte Stallworth (a 28 yarder for a first down), Kyle Brady (a 20 yard over the head grab to the Buffalo 2) and Dave Thomas (an early third down conversion).

The Patriots offensive line kept Brady clean (just one sack) against a line it has often struggled with, while guards Russ Hochstein and Logan Mankins and center Dan Koppen opened holes for Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and Heath Evans, who combined for 177 yards rushing.

The tandem of Maroney and Morris accounted for 149 of those, as Maroney slithered for nearly 5.5 yards a carry while counterpoint Morris pounded away for a respectable 3.8 clip and a short touchdown.

Buffalo linebacker Paul Posluszny was badly hurt (forearm) in the first half while trying to slow down that Patriots running game. Losman hung in after Wilfork’s low hit, but just long enough to be stripped two plays later by a blitzing Ellis Hobbs, who hacked the ball away from an unaware Losman. Soon after, he was limping to the Bills locker room, and Edwards was driving Buffalo to a score.

Just one, as the Patriots veteran defense adjusted to the rookie and kept him miles away from replicating his maiden voyage. Given their inexperienced and undermanned competition, though, there was nothing overtly impressive about the Patriots defense yesterday. 

Yet, maybe that’s impressive in and of itself. After two weeks that will go down as two of the most emotionally wringing in team history, the Patriots on Sunday faced an less threatening opponent, one they should beat easily. In other words, the protypical trap game. One they could just as easily lose, if a hangover persisted and they chose to sleep it off.

They might have been tempted to pull the covers over their heads for a few minutes yesterday, but in the end, the Patriots dragged themselves out of bed, and went to work.

A lesser team may not have woken up at all. 

Make It Eight

gdrv_sm.jpgby Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

Before last night’s game with the Patriots, Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson told NBC’s John Madden that if San Diego played New England ten times, the Chargers would win nine.

Make it eight.

After a week in which they and their head coach were the object of national scorn, ridicule and cheap talk like Tomlinson’s, the stoic Patriots did their talking on the Gillette Stadium field last night, blowing out the chatty Chargers 38-14 before a national television audience.

Madden’s broadcast partner Al Michaels called it: “Pretty much no contest from early on.”

Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns, two to Randy Moss, and the New England defense forced three San Diego turnovers while adding a score of its own, as Bill Belichick and his three-time champions offered their first extended response to the controversy that continues to swirl around them.

Tomlinson, who attacked Belichick last January and again this week before his amateurish boast to Madden, carried 18 times for a meager 43 yards. It is not known who or what Tomlinson will blame his team’s latest failure on, but rest assured, it will be something.

If he wants to be honest (he doesn’t), he can start with Patriots linebackers Rosevelt Colvin and Adalius Thomas, who harrassed Phillip Rivers and the San Diego offense to the extent that it was the third quarter before they could muster something other than bumbling inefficiency.

Colvin intercepted Rivers on the Chargers first offensive play, strip sacked him on two others, and led all Patriots in tackles in perhaps his most dominant performance as a Patriot. His new teammate Thomas, who was all over the field despite a modest stat line, stepped in front on another Rivers pass before returning it 65 yards for a touchdown that gave the Patriots a 24-0 halftime lead that all but put the lights out in San Diego.

The game began with a hysterically laughable Andrea Kramer report from just outside the San Diego locker room, where head coach Norv Turner happened to share with Kramer a fantastic tale of “extraordinary meaures” taken to ensure that shadowy New England operatives, most likely trained by G. Gordon Liddy (if Kramer could be believed), didn’t abscond with Chargers trade secrets, including a closely guarded list of scripted plays that Turner prepared specifically for the occasion.

It might have been the most ridiculous moment in a week that was filled with them. One question: how did that script work out for you, Norv?

Well, three turnovers and three punts in the game’s first thirty minutes of play. Don’t expect any Academy Award nominations for that script, Norv. But don’t worry - you’re still in the running for Best Dramatization by a Totally Overmatched Coach.

Brady (25/31/279) and Moss (8-105) were incredible again, throwing and scoring at will while opening up the field for teammates like Wes Welker (8-91), Ben Watson (5-49 and the game’s first touchdown) and Laurence Maroney (15-77 after a slow start). I have neither the time nor the words to describe the difference Moss is making in New England; it matters not how many defenders bracket him, he simply runs by them to create a Great Wide Open that makes it look like the Patriots are playing on a CFL field.

The success was keyed again by an offensive line led by Dan Koppen and Logan Mankins, who combined to drive Pro Bowl tackle Jamal Williams to the ground, and then finally, from the game. Even two sacks (and a strip) by dangerous pass rusher Shawne Merriman were rendered irrelevant by New England’s mastery of the team that many had deemed their superior.

The Chargers finally put together two scoring drives in the second half, but for the second straight week, the Patriots owned the fourth quarter, controlling the ball for nearly thirteen of the fifteen minutes before punctuating their dominance with a late Sammy Morris touchdown run that closed out the scoring.

The night ended with Belichick, haggard but unbowed, acknowledging the well wishes of the Gillette Stadium faithful as he made his way to the New England locker room. Behind him, his quarterback, left to deal with Kramer (who added a report that the last place Jets are considering further charges - shocking), called him “the greatest coach in the history of the NFL.”

He is that - and once again, he’s coaching the best team in the league.

Grand Opening

logo 98by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

The 2007 New England Patriots opened for business on Sunday and instantly began crushing competitors like a gridiron Super Wal-Mart.

The first Mom and Pop operation to go belly up was the New York Jets, who fell to the Patriots 38-14 in a game that was, and I say this without a trace of sarcasm, not as close as the score indicated.

The Pats slaughtered the Jets from pillar to post, owning the line of scrimmage and every square inch surrounding it, emphatically denying any claim New York may have laid - prematurely, it seems - to the AFC Eastern Division.

One can only guess which ancient prizefight film Eric Mangini showed his team to prepare for this game. Emile Griffith and Benny “Kid” Paret?

Score over the last eight quarters played between the two teams? New England 75, New York 30.

Randy Moss was sensational in his Patriots debut, threatening the team’s single game receiving record and threatening the rest of the American Conference with his explosive presence in New England’s lineup.

Ellis Hobbs, quite combustable himself, broke an NFL record with a 108 yard kickoff return for touchdown to open the second half. That, and Moss’s 51 yard score from Tom Brady just moments later, also broke the Jets.

New York quarterback Chad Pennington was forced from the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter, to cheers from the Jets faithful.

It all started, though, with the Patriots utter dominance of New York’s offensive and defensive lines. When Brady took the field, he did so with complete immunity from the Jets pass rush. When Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris lugged the ball, they did so through seams and alleys made clear by the physical, yet athletic New England front. There have been few days where all elements of the Patriots offense have meshed better.

This was never more true than on New England’s first possession. After being pinned inside their ten by a Jets punt, the Patriots offense worked free of their own goal line by handing the ball to Maroney, who carried three times for 21 yards. When the Jets moved up to defend, Brady calmly went over them, hitting Wes Welker and then Moss (alone, in full stride in the center of the field) for easy first downs. It was Welker, set in a formation that left him one-on-one with a single defender, that finished the 91 yard drive with a nifty catch, cut and run for the Patriots’ first score of the season.

On the other side of the ball, the New England defensive line immediately took away Thomas Jones and the Jets running game behind the push of Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren, while Jarvis Green and Mike Vrabel collapsed the pocket around Pennington. 

It was only a subsequent series of relativetly minor New England miscues that gave the Jets any hope, and Pennington eventually took advantage, driving the Jets 66 yards with short passes to Laverneus Coles and Jericho Cotchery to tie the game at 7.

But Brady took the game right back for the Pats, leading the offense on another balanced drive that again featured thrilling contributions from Moss, and again ended in the New York end zone. The two time Super Bowl MVP first went right (on a perfectly thrown loft that netted 33) and then left (an overhand fastball for 22) on consecutive plays to Moss, which set up a big-league TD catch by Ben Watson on 3rd and Goal from the Jets 5, as the tight end worked himself free along the back line while Brady whistled one through the Jets for the score, and the 14-7 lead. New York went to the locker room with none of the momentum it had so temporarily held.

Nor would they ever come close to recapturing it, even after the break. Thanks for this goes first to Hobbs, who opened the second half by returning a kickoff from eight yards deep in his own end zone. Which come to think of it, is probably not the best idea. But Ellis Hobbs is no shrinking violet, and so he took it left up the sidelines, where Watson stepped up again with the crucial block that set Hobbs free on his record-setting run. What did I tell you about Hobbs? How can you not have him return kicks?

After the defense again made quick work of the Jets, knocking Pennington to the sidelines with a Jarvis Green sack, Brady went back to Moss for 19 more before sending him deep through a morass of New York defenders, where he took in an on-target Brady bomb to the left flag for the controversial veteran’s first touchdown as a Patriot, and a two touchdown lead.

Pennington and the Jets fought back from his ankle injury to drive again, as Jones began to find open running room for the first time. He ran 4 times for 26 yards (half of his total for the day), and two Pennington strikes to tight end Chris Baker set up a second short touchdown by Coles. The lead was back to 7. 

But it was all the Jets had. Brady and Sammy Morris made sure of that, as they both took the Pats on a drive that ate up 75 yards and more importantly, nearly eleven minutes from the clock. It ended with a 22 yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal, and Clemens began warming up for mop up duty.

Heath Evans added a short touchdown plunge with two minutes remaining.

It’s just one game, but it was a victory so complete that surely someone somewhere will lose their head and declare the division race over before it begins. I won’t go that far, yet, though the Patriots appeared so omnipotent on offense that I hardly recognized them. What a juxtaposition from last year at this time, when passes went awry and body language made headlines. This year, though there are even more new faces than in 06, the Patriots offense moved which such precision and ease that even the most ardent fanboy had to rub his eyes in disbelief of what he was seeing.

As for Moss, there are few superlatives that can adequately describe his immediate and stunning impact on the Patriots attack, so I won’t bother. Except to say that regardless of his well-publicized and well-earned foibles, New England has never had a receiver that was his equal. His route on the 51 yard bomb was stunning; bracketed by three men, Moss simply glided past them to an open area across the field, where he easily gathered in Brady’s accurate toss.

Brady finished with a 22/28/297/3 td (now at 150 on his career) line, and it’s unlikely he’s had a smoother or more tranquil day at the Pats controls. He’s found a fast friend in Welker, who worked quick routes to safe completions and first downs throughout. He and Moss combined for 15 catches and nearly 250 yards.

Maroney and Morris played a solid, albeit secondary role, but it was their steady hand in the early stages that set the Pats on their way. Ryan O’Callaghan joined the Pats offensive line often as a third tight end, and played well as Dante Scarnecchia’s unit had one of its better days.

On defense, Vrabel and Green were the leaders, combining for 4.5 sacks, while Wilfork and Warren ate up the middle. Adalius Thomas played an under-stated role, but proved valuable as a pass defender as he covered a lot of ground in the intermediate middle. He nearly picked off a Pennington pass on the Jets first possession. Asante Samuel and the Pats secondary played off the Jets receivers and, while Pennington had an efficient day, he could generate none of the big plays that vexed New England last season.

Returning vet Eugene Wilson led all Patriots tacklers with 8.

If any Patriot had a rough day, it was Matt Cassel, who as holder flubbed a Lonie Paxton snap that derailed an early field goal attempt. He was later replaced by Chris Hanson (who held Gostkowski’s successful 22 yarder), and when New England needed a backup quarterback to take the final snap, the coaches turned to Matt Gutierrez instead. Ouch.

With week one now satisfyingly under their belts, New England’s players and coaches will turn their attention to the San Diego Chargers, the other team who left the field for the final time in 06 grousing about the Patriots. They open the home schedule at Gillette Stadium next Sunday night.

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