The Patriots had a so-so effort last night in New Jersey.  Tom Brady made a brief appearance as he completed 4 of 8 passes for 51 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Brian Hoyer replaced him and he played most of the rest of the game as he completed 15 of 26 passes for 266 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Zac Robinson finished up this game at QB and he completed only 1 of 5 passes for 6 yards.  Laurence Maroney led the way for the Patriots on the ground in this game with 32 yards rushing on 9 carries (3.6 ypc).  Thomas Clayton pitched in with 7 carries for 26 yards (3.7 ypc) in this game.  WRs Darnell Jenkins (5 rec, 93 yards, TD) and Rod Owens (2 rec, 73 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Patriots last night.  Rookie TE Rob Gronkowski only caught one pass last night but it went for a 5-yard TD.  The Patriots finished up with 73 yards rushing (3.2 ypc) and 310 yards passing in this game.

The Patriots were pretty awful on defense in this game despite only giving up 20 points.  LB Tyrone McKenzie led the way for the Patriots in this game with 10 tackles.  LBs Dane Fletcher (8 tackles) and Rob Ninkovich (7 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 2 QB hits) also had solid games for the Patriots.  The Giants finished up with 160 yards rushing (5.0 ypc) and 254 yards passing in this game.  The Patriots finish up the pre-season with a 2-2 record.

The Patriots have placed CB Leigh Bodden, S Bret Lockett, S Josh Barrett and DE Darryl Richard on the Injured Reserve List ending their seasons.  Leigh Bodden is the only big loss of this bunch.  He played in 15 games (14 starts) for the Patriots last season and he had 55 tackles, he forced a fumble, defensed 18 passes and he had 5 interceptions (one of which he returned for a TD).  Bret Lockett played in 10 games as a rookie last season for the Patriots and he had 7 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  Josh Barrett was just claimed off waivers from the Broncos a couple of weeks ago despite him needing shoulder surgery.  He played in 14 games for the Broncos last season and he had 10 tackles.  DE Darryl Richard didn’t play in any games as a rookie for the Patriots last year.  He had 4 tackles this pre-season for the Patriots. 

2nd year QB Brian Hoyer is starting to look like he might be a solid long term backup for Tom Brady.  Hoyer has completed 17 of 31 passes (54.8%) for 205 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs (96.8 QB Rating) so far this pre-season.  It appears that Bill Belichick has found another QB that no one else knew much about as Hoyer signed on as a undrafted free agent last year.  Could he be another Matt Cassel?  Only time will tell.

The Patriots only had the ball for 16:14 last night and they still almost beat the Rams.  Tom Brady was outstanding as usual completing 18 of 22 passes for 273 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Brian Hoyer finished up the game by completing 1 of 3 passes for 5 yards with 1 TD pass.  Benjarvus Green-Ellis led the Patriots in rushing last night with 13 yards on 5 carries (2.6 ypc).  Kevin Faulk only had 1 carry for 3 yards last night but he also caught 4 passes for 34 yards (8.5 avg).  Randy Moss (3 rec, 74 yards, TD) and rookie TE Rob Gronkowski (3 rec, 66 yards, 2 TDs)  led the way in the passing game for the Patriots last night.  WRs Sam Aiken (4 rec, 22 yards) and Wes Welker (2 rec, 41 yards) also pitched in last night for the Patriots.  The Patriots finished up with 28 yards (2.5 ypc) and 260 yards passing last night. 

LB Jared Mayo (10 tackles) and safety Patrick Chung (10 tackles) led the way for the Patriots’ D last night.  The Rams finished up with 136 yards rushing (3.3 ypc) and 326 yards passing in this game.

The game did start off with a bang for the Patriots due to WR/KR Brandon Tate who returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a TD.  He caught 2 passes for 17 yards last night in addition to returning 3 kickoffs for 164 yards (54.7 avg) and 1 punt return for 0 yards.  If Tate can stay healthy for the Patriots this year look out!

The Patriots have acquired 26-year old G/T Quinn Ojinnaka from the Atlanta Falcons for a undisclosed future draft pick.  He played in 9 games (5 starts) last season for the Falcons.  He has now played in 39 games (12 starts) in his four years in the NFL.  Ojinnaka has been suspended for the first game of the year by the NFL due to domestic battery.  This was likely a good deal for the Patriots due to the status of the offensive line right now.