Can we just let Kevin Faulk start writing his speech for the Patriots Hall of Fame? When talking about Faulk (just like it used to be with Troy Brown), you run out of original thoughts. Faulk is the consummate professional, who always steps up and makes plays when his team needs him most.
With Laurence Maroney on IR, Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordan out with injuries, Faulk made the biggest play of the game as the Patriots held off the St. Louis Rams, 23-16, at Gillette Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Faulk had 13 carries for 60 yards and four catches for 47 yards. With the game tied at 16 late in the fourth quarter, Faulk split out wide and caught a 15-yard TD pass from Matt Cassel (21 of 33, 267 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs).
On a day when both Randy Moss (7 catches, 102 yards) and Wes Welker (7 catches, 79 yards) dropped passes they would normally haul in, Faulk showed why he is Mr. Patriot (now that Brown is retired and Brady is on IR).
There were plenty of reasons why New England (5-2) should have lost: their running game as alluded to was a mess, their secondary sucks and that's compounded by the fact that everyone is going down with an injury. Cassel, his receivers and the Patriots front seven wouldn't let that happen.
As predicted, the Rams (2-5) came out looking to win after knocking off the Redskins and Cowboys in consecutive games. New England caught a major break when Steven Jackson was held out of the game with a thigh injury. Still, Marc Bulger (18 of 34, 301 yards, TD, INT) had no trouble gashing the Pats for long gains.
Rookie receiver Donnie Avery (6 catches, 163 yards) was unstoppable on deep balls all day.
The Rams went for it on 4th-and-1 on their opening day and eventually scored on Josh Brown's 20-yard kick.
New England answered with a 2-yard TD run by rookie Benjarvus Green-Ellis.
In the beginning of the second quarter, Avery caught his second long reception. This time it was 69 yards for a score as two Patriots defenders ran into each other as Avery elluded them both.
Two Stephen Gostowski field goals (30 and 27 yards) let New England take a slim 13-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The only score of the third quarter was a 44-yard kick by Brown. Cassel had bad luck on two drives as a pass to Moss, bounced off Moss' hands and into O.J. Otogwe's. Later, Welker slipped, allowing Fahkir Brown to pick another pass off.
Brown added a 25-yard boot at the beginning of the fourth quarter to give St. Louis a 16-13 lead. From there, the Patriots buckled down. They tied it on Gostowski's 41-yard kick then went ahead for good with 3:13 left on Faulk's grab.
Adalius Thomas (7 tackles, 2 sacks), Richard Seymour (7 tackles, 1 sack), Tedy Bruschi (11 tackles) and Ty Warren (sack) were all standouts on the defensive side of the ball for New England.
Even Deltha O'Neal made a play, picking off Bulger as the Rams tried to tie it at the end.
It wasn't pretty but it was a step forward for Cassel and the Patriots, who are now tied atop the AFC East since Buffalo lost to Miami yesterday.
There are no great teams in the AFC (assuming the Titans come back to earth) so the Patriots are in good shape to win their division and make the playoffs. We couldn't ask for much more at this point.
The Pats travel to Indy next Sunday night for a showdown with their biggest rivals, the Indianapolis Colts. It'll be interesting to see how the Colts do tonight against the Titans; Peyton and the Colts could easily be 1-5 rather than 3-3.
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