The Patriots turned to the ground game to pull them through in this game.  With Tom Brady a little gimpy the running backs picked him up today.  Brady completed 19 of 32 passes for 192 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Laurence Maroney was solid with 22 carries for 94 yards (4.3 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 17 yards (8.5 avg).  Kevin Faulk pitched in with 10 carries for 58 yards (5.8 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 17 yards (5.7 avg).  Sammy Morris even got in on the action today with 6 carries for 35 yards (5.8 ypc).  Wes Welker carried the passing game for the Patriots today with 10 grabs for 105 yards (10.5 avg).  TE Ben Watson pitched in with 3 grabs for 37 yards (12.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Randy Moss disappeared right before our very eyes today as he only caught 1 pass for 16 yards.  The Patriots finished up with 377 total yards on offense (185 rushing, 192 passing) in his game as they held onto the football for 34:15!

LB Jared Mayo (7 tackles) and safety James Sanders (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed) led the way for the Patriots on D today.  The Panthers finished up with 305 total yards on offense in this game (126 rushing, 179 passing).  The Patriots are now 8-5 on the season as they stay one game ahead of the Dolphins and Jets who both won today.

The Patriots choked on defense in this game as they led Chad Henne torture them all game long.  Fins’ kicker Dan Carpenter kicked a 41-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the game as the defense let the kid QB drive right down the field at the end of the game to beat them.  LB Jerod Mayo led the way for the Patriots on D last night with 12 tackles, 1/2 a sack and he had a QB hit.  CB Darius Butler pitched in with 8 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  The Dolphins finished up with 416 total yards on offense (88 rushing, 328 passing) in this game.

Tom Brady had a so-so game for him completing 19 of 29 passes for 352 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs.  Laurence Maroney led the way on the ground for the Pats yesterday with 41 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.2 ypc).  Sammy Morris pitched in with 40 yards rushing on 9 carries (4.4 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 25 yards (12.5 avg).  Kevin Faulk pitched in with 3 carries for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Wes Welker had another outstanding game for the Patriots with 10 grabs for 167 yards.  Sam Aiken only caught 1 pass but it went for a 81-yard TD.  Randy Moss only caught 2 passes for 66 yards (33.0 avg) with a TD.  The Patriots finished up with 448 yards on offense (96 rushing, 352 passing) in this game.  The Patriots are now 7-5 on the season but their lead in the AFC East is only 1 game over each the Fins and the Jets.

The New England Patriots (7-4) were not able to keep up with Drew Brees and the high-scoring New Orleans Saints (11-0).  The Saints offense did to the Patriots what they have been doing to every other team all season, as they Pats let Brees throw for 371 yards and 5 touchdowns on 18/23 passes.  They didn’t do a good job stopping the run either, with Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas combining for 114 yards 24 carries.  The defense was not able to slow down the Saints very much at all, which put a lot of pressure on Tom Brady and the offense.

The Patriots offense was able to keep up with the Saints for most of the first half, but the Saints were still able to build a 24-10 lead at halftime.  Tom Brady did not have his best stuff, as the Pats needed a near perfect game out of Brady for him to keep up with Brees.  Brady overthrew a few receivers and just wasn’t sharp.  He ended up with 2 interceptions and failed to reach to the endzone, passing for 237 yards 21/36.  Laurence Maroney had a good game, rushing for 64 yards on 15 carries.  He had a nose for the endzone as well, getting in for 2 rushing touchdowns.  The Patriots need more production like that out of Maroney, although he did lose a key fumble.  I thought the Patriots were at the same level as the Saints, but it looks like they need to make some improvements if they want to get to the Super Bowl this year.

The New England Patriots (7-3) were able to force 5 turnovers against the New York Jets (4-6) and cruised to an easy win.  Leigh Bodden got the Patriots off to a good start when he intercepted a Mark Sanchez pass and ran it back 53 yards for the first score of the game.  Bodden ended up intercepting Sanchez 3 times, and Sanchez finished the game with 136 yards and 4 interceptions on 8/21 passes.  The Patriots defense didn’t do as well against Jets’ running back Thomas Jones, who had 103 yards on 21 carries, but they kept the Jets scoreless until late in the first half, giving the offense the chance to build a big lead.

Tom Brady and the offense were able to get pretty much whatever they wanted.  Brady and Welker hooked up for some big plays in this game, as Welker caught 15 passes for 192 yards.  Brady finished with 310 yards and a touchdown on 28/41 passes.  Laurence Maroney also rushed for 2 touchdowns and 77 yards on 22 carries.  The closest the Jets got to the Patriots was 24-14 in the 3rd quarter, but the Patriots held them off the rest of the game and scored another touchdown in the 4th quarter to seal the win.

This game between the Indianapolis Colts (9-0) and New England Patriots (6-3) lived up to all of the hype and came down to the wire.  Who would have thought a coaching mistake from Bill Belichick would end up being the Patriots’ downfall.  Widely considered the best coach in the NFL, Belichick took a big gamble with 2:08 left when he went for it on 4th and 1 from his own 28-yard line.  The Patriots were up 34-28 and turned the ball over on downs, giving Peyton Manning a short field.  This was obviously a bad call by Belichick as Manning easily led his Colts’ to a touchdown with 13 seconds left.  The Patriots blew a 17 point lead going into the 4th quarter, the biggest 4th quarter lead that a Belichick team has ever blown.

Tom Brady and the offense had an outstanding game, but they needed one more yard to win this one.  Brady outplayed Manning through most of the game, but not by much.  Brady and Randy Moss hooked up for some big plays throughout the game, including two touchdown passes.  Brady went 29/42 for 375 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception while Moss had 9 catches for 2 touchdowns and 179 yards.  The Patriots’ defense contained the Colts running game to 91 yards, but they could have done a better job against a Colts’ team that has struggled to run the ball all season.  Manning ended up on top in the quarterback shootout, getting one more touchdown than Brady but also throwing one more pick.  He had 28/44 for 327 yards and 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.  The Patriots defense did what they could against Manning, but Belichick put them in almost an impossible situation late in the game and it obviously cost them.

The Patriots held off the pesky Dolphins today in Foxboro.  Tom Brady was solid as usual as he completed 25 of 37 passes for 332 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Laurence Maroney had one of his better games in a while as he carried the ball 20 times for 82 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Randy Moss was outstanding for the Patriots today as he caught 6 passes for 147 yards (24.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Wes Welker was also pretty busy in this game with 9 catches for 84 yards (9.3 avg).  The Patriots rolled up 432 total yards of offense in this game (109 rushing, 323 passing). 

The defense had a rough time overall in this game but they did hold the Dolphins to only 17 points.  LB Jared Mayo led the way for the Patriots in this game with 12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit.  Safety Brandon McGowan also had a solid game with 11 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  OLB Tully Banta-Cain had one of his best games of the season today with 9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 3 QB hits.  The Dolphins finished up with 334 total yards in this game (133 rushing, 201 passing).  The Patriots are now 6-2 on the season.

The New England Patriots (5-2) and Tom Brady put on a show for the Wembley Stadium crowd in London, England on Sunday and crushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  The Patriots got off to a quick start, building a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.  Brandon Marriweather set the tone for the Patriots defense, picking off Buc’s quarterback Josh Johnson on the fifth play of the game and returning it 39 yards for a touchdown.  Brady hit receiver Wes Welker for the second touchdown of the quarter on a 14-yard pitch and catch.  Welker was Bradys’ favorite target in this game, hitting him 10 times for 107 yards and that first quarter touchdown.  He also hooked up with Randy Moss five times for 69 yards. Brady tacked on another touchdown early in the second quarter with a 54-yard catch and run to Sam Aiken.  Brady was not perfect in this one though, throwing two picks in the second quarter.  He finished the game with three TDs and two picks for 308 yards on 23/32 attempts.

The Buccaneers offense finally answered near the end of the half with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Josh Johnson to Antonio Bryant, making it 21-7 at the break.  That would be the only score of the game for the Bucs, as the Patriots defense did a good job forcing Johnson into a lot of mistakes.  Johnson threw three interceptions and one touchdown, on 9/26 attempts before being replaced in the 4th quarter by rookie Josh Freeman.  Laurence Maroney had a touchdown for the Pats, but only got 43 yards on the ground in 13 carries (3.3 avg).  I would expect more yards out of Maroney against such a bad Bucs defense.  The Patriots have a bye this week, but they look like they are back in that 2007 groove, and will look to continue their dominant play November 8th against the Miami Dolphins.

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (4-2) put on quite a show against the Tennessee Titans (0-6) in a snow-filled excuse for a football game.  It was like the Patriots were playing a high school team, as they put up a franchise record in total points (59) and total yards (619).  Brady also set an NFL record with most passing touchdowns in a quarter, when he threw five TD’s in the second quarter.  Brady ended his game early as the Patriots were embarrassing the Titans and finished with 380 yards and six touchdowns on 29/34 (85%) attempts.  Brady has finally returned to his 2007 form, and hopefully he can keep it up against better opponents.

The Patriots defense held the Titans scoreless and made Kerry Collins look awful (-7 passing yards), but they gave up way too many yards on the ground.  Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed for 128 yards on 17 carries.  Brian Hoyer came in for Brady in the 3rd quarter and didn’t miss a beat.  The rookie back-up went 9/11 for 52 yards.  The Patriots were very impressive in this win, but the Titans are a really bad football team.  The Patriots need to make sure they do not let this huge win get to their heads, which I am sure Bill Belichick will not let happen.  They take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week.

The New England Patriots (3-2) failed to score any points in the second half and fell to the Denver Broncos in OT Sunday on the road.  The Broncos have usually been relying on their running game to win games this year, but with the Patriots building an early lead they were forced to throw the ball early and often.  The Patriots defense did not do a good job holding on to their lead and let the Broncos score 13 unanswered points.  They made Kyle Orton look like John Elway, as the Broncos’ quarterback threw two touchdowns and 330 yards on 35/48 attempts (73%).  Tom Brady looked like the old Kyle Orton, missing receivers all day and finishing with 215 yards on 19/33 attempts (58%).  Brady did have two touchdowns, but he had two key separate plays that would have been touchdowns had he made an accurate throw.  He overthrew a wide open Randy Moss in the endzone and under-threw a streaking Wes Welker, who had nobody between him and the goal line had Brady hit him in stride.

The Patriots are looking less and less like the dominant team of recent years and Tom Brady is still rusty.  The defense gave up a total of 424 yards and did not come out focused in the second half.  Orton hit receiver Brandon Marshall late in the 4th to tie the game, and Matt Prader hit a 41 yard field goal to win it in overtime.  The Patriots need to realize you can’t win games on reputation in the NFL and they need Tom Brady to step his play up.  Good thing they are taking on the winless Tennessee Titans at home on Sunday.

The Patriots fought tooth and nail in this game to prevail at home.  Tom Brady had a solid game completing 21 of 32 passes for 258 yards with 1 TD pass.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 11 yards (2.2 ypc) with a TD run.  All was not good for Brady as he lost a fumble that was recovered by the Ravens in the end zone for a TD.  Fred Taylor rushed for 25 yards on 7 carries (3.6 ypc) to led the Patriots on the ground and he also caught 1 pass for 13 yards.  Sammy Morris was also somewhat effective carrying the ball 6 times for 21 yards (3.5 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 5 passes for 35 yards (7.0 avg) in this game.  Randy Moss led the Patriots in this game with 50 yards receiving on 3 grabs (16.7 avg) with a TD.  Wes Welker was also busy with 6 grabs for 48 yards (8.0 avg).  The Patriots finished up with 319 total yards on offense (85 rushing, 234 passing) in this game.

Brandon Meriweather led the way on defense for the Patriots in this game with 9 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  DE Mike Wright had the best game of his NFL career today as he finished with 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and 3 QB hits.  The Ravens finished up with 363 total yards on offense in this game (116 rushing, 247 passing).  The Patriots are now 3-1 on the season as they are now tied with the Jets for first place in the AFC East.