34-year old QB Tom Brady has been pretty amazing once again this year for the Patriots.  He has played in 13 games for the Patriots so far this year and he has completed 328 of 496 passes (66.1%) for 4,273 yards with 33 TD passes and 11 INTs (106.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 28 times for 90 yards (3.2 ypc) so far this year.  Brady has certainly come a long way since his days in Michigan, which led him to get picked in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Patriots.  The Patriots hit a homer with that pick.  Brady has now played in 158 games (156 starts) in his career with the Patriots so far and he has completed 3,324 of 5,206 (63.8%) passes for 39,017 yards with 294 TD passes and 114 INTs (96.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 364 times for 697 yards (1.9 ypc) with 7 TD runs so far this year.  The Patriots are 121-35 (77.6%) during the regular season when Tom Brady starts the game at QB.

The New England Patriots won because of Tom Brady and his offense yesterday, once again!  Tom Brady was very solid in this game as he completed 22 of 37 passes for 357 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  Danny Woodhead led the way on the Patriots in this running game with 41 yards on 8 carries (5.1 ypc).  BenJarvus Green-Ellis pitched in with 19 yards rushing on 5 carries (3.8 ypc) in this game.  TE Rob Gronkowski was awesome yesterday as he caught 6 passes for 160 yards (26.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  WR Wes Welker (7 rec, 86 yards, TD) and TE Aaron Hernandez (5 rec, 84 yards) also had solid games for the Patriots yesterday.  The Patriots finished up with 79 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 37 passes (59.5%) for 352 yards as they had possession of the ball for only 23:51.

The defense was awful, once again for the Patriots yesterday.  LB Jared Mayo led the way for the Patriots yesterday with 9 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and 1 interception.  CB Devin McCourty (8 tackles, 3 passes defensed), LB Dane Fletcher (8 tackles and 1 QB hit) and DE Andre Carter (5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 3 QB hits) also had solid games for the Patriots.  DT Vince Wilfork recovered a Rex Grossman fumble (caused by Andre Carter) for a TD.  The Redskins finished up with 170 yards rushing on 34 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 33 passes (60.6%) for 293 yards.  The Patriots are now 10-3 on the year.

The New England Patriots have waived 21-year old rookie CB Sterling Moore.  Moore played in 5 games for the Patriots this year and he had 6 tackles.  He was an undrafted rookie out of SMU, so the Patriots didn’t have much invested in him.  He’s likely going to have a hard time finding a new job as the Patriots’ are giving up 310.0 yards passing per game this year, and he still isn’t good enough to play for them.

The Patriots have signed 30-year old DE/OLB Eric Moore.  Moore played in 4 games for the Patriots last year and he had 14 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  Moore has now played in 33 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 45 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  This was a good move for the Patriots as Moore already knows the defense.

UPDATE:  (12/20/2011) – The Patriots have waived Eric Moore.  He played in 2 games for the Patriots this year but he didn’t have any tackles.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Patriots.

The New England Patriots have placed 23-year old OLB Jermaine Cunningham on the Injured Reserve List due to a hamstring injury.  Cunningham played in 9 games for the Patriots this year and he had 1 whole tackle.  Cunningham has now played in 24 games in his first 2 years with the Patriots and he has 35 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and 1 pass defensed.  The Patriots hope that Cunningham will get back on the right track for them in 2012.

The New England Patriots have won five games in a row by a combined score of 164-83, as they are red hot right now.  The Redskins have lost 7 of their last 8 games as their season continues to spin out of control.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the ball:  Tom Brady is likely going to be facing a heavy pass rush this weekend in Washington.  Even if he has to rush the ball, he’s likely going to have another stellar game this Sunday.  The Redskins don’t have the kind of secondary that can deal with all of the weapons that Brady has at his disposal.  TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are going to cause all kinds of problems for the LBs and safeties of the Redskins.  Wes Welker and Deion Branch also are going to give the Redskins fits this Sunday.  The Redskins have a solid set of LBs, so BenJarvus Green-Ellis is going to have to fight for every yard he gets this Sunday.

When the Redskins have the ball:  The Redskins are likely going to try to feed the rock to Roy Helu in an effort to control the clock and keep the ball away from Tom Brady.  The Patriots are going to try to go all out to stop Helu and force Rex Grossman to beat them with his right arm.  The Patriots will try to get a good pass rush on Grossman as he rushes passes when pressured and he makes big mistakes.  WRs Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney will be his top two targets in the passing game with TE Fred Davis out of the picture due to league suspension.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 31, REDKINS 17

32-year old WR Deion Branch has really been productive for the Patriots so far this year.  He is enjoying single coverage this year as most teams gameplan to stop Wes Welker and the Patriots’ TEs.  Branch has played in all 12 games for the Patriots so far this year and he has caught 48 passes for 665 yards (13.9 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He has now played in 127 games in his first 10 years in the NFL and he has caught 499 passes for 6,462 yards (13.0 avg) with 38 TD grabs.

The New England Patriots raced out to a 31-3 lead in this game, before calling off the dogs.  But, the Colts gave them a scare late in the game by scoring 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to make it interesting.  Tom Brady was solid as usual as he completed 29 of 38 passes for 289 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Stevan Ridley led the way on the ground for the Patriots in this game with 33 yards rushing on 8 carries (4.1 ypc).  BenJarvus Green-Ellis (6 carries, 14 yards, TD) and Danny Woodhead (4 carries for 12 yards) also pitched in a little in the running game for the Patriots.  WR Wes Welker led the way in the passing game yesterday for the Patriots with 11 catches for 110 yards (10.0 avg).  TE Rob Gronkowski was outstanding in this game for the Patriots as he caught 5 passes for 64 yards (12.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 1 time for a 2-yard TD!  TE Aaron Hernandez pitched in with 7 grabs for 43 yards in this game.  The Patriots finished up with 73 yards rushing on 24 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 38 passes (76,3%) for 289 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 24:21.

The defense was outstanding for three quarters, but awful in the 4th.  DT Vince Wilfork (10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) and CB Nate Jones (9 tackles and 1 pass defensed) led the way for the Patriots on D in this game.  WR/S Matthew Slater (7 tackles), LB Niko Koutouvides (7 tackles), LB Jared Mayo (7 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 2 QB hits and a interception) and CB Kyle Arrington (5 tackles and 1 fumble recovery) also pitched in for the D yesterday.  The Colts finished up with 99 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 30 of 37 passes (81.1%) for 338 yards in this game.  The Patriots are now 9-3 on the year.

The Patriots have released 24-year old WR Taylor Price.  Price played in 3 games for the Patriots this year, but he didn’t catch any passes.  He played in 4 games in his two years with the Patriots and he caught 3 passes for 41 yards (13.7 avg).  This isn’t much of a loss at all for the Patriots.  Price was just taking up roster space for the Patriots.

The Patriots are back on the right path as they have won three games in a row by a combined score of 109-39!  The Colts played one of their better games of the year last weekend against the Panthers, but they still got beat 27-19 at home.  Here is a look at the matchups in this likely bloodbath tomorrow in Foxboro:

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are going to try to make quick work of the Colts tomorrow.  The only thing that could stop them from doing exactly just that would be if DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis hit Tom Brady early and often, but that’s just not going to happen.  Brady will likely have time to survey the field and dice up a Colts’ secondary that is allowing opposing QBs a rating of 108.6!  TEs Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and WRs Deion Branch and Wes Welker are all going to have huge games as the Patriots are going to likely move right down the field every time they have the ball tomorrow.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis is also likely going to get his fair share of yards against a Colts’ D that is allowing 150.6 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry.

When the Colts have the ball:  Dan Orlovsky is getting the start at QB for the Colts and he is a better player than Curtis Painter, but that’s not saying much.  The Patriots are likely going to turn loose the pass rush tomorrow in an effort to force Orlovsky into making some mistakes with the football.  WRs Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon are still good players, but the Colts have had issues getting them the ball….look for that to continue tomorrow.  The Colts have a nice set of RBs in Donald Brown, Delone Carter and Joseph Addai but they usually give up on the run early in games.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 49, COLTS  13