If this headline starts becoming a recurring theme, don't be surprised.
Tom Brady was unstoppable once again, throwing for 423 yards and three touchdowns yesterday at Gillette Stadium, defeating the Chargers and improving their record to 2-0.
Brady started the scoring on a fantastic strike to Aaron Hernandez in the first quarter. Hernandez beat Bob Sanders down the field, curling behind Sanders' outside shoulder and made a great leaping catch to put the Pats on the board. Sanders didn't even look back for the ball as Brady put it where only Hernandez could make the play.
The Chargers tied the game on a 10-yard run by Ryan Matthews and they made it look easy, dumping the ball off to Tolbert and Matthews when their wideouts were covered.
The Patriots owned the second quarter, as they had a 99-yard scoring drive for the second straight game. After a Mayo stop on Tolbert at the Patriots' 1-yard line, Brady led the offense down the field on an impressive drive which ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski, extending the Patriots' lead to 17-7.
The Patriots had another Dan Connolly moment late in the first half, when Vince Wilfork picked off Philip Rivers and rumbled 28 yards in the opposite direction. It was his first career interception, but the massive Wilfork didn't seem to be tired. "I'm a well-conditioned athlete. I didn't need any oxygen," said Wilfork after the game.
The Patriots were able to end the first half with a last second, 47-yard field goal from Steven Gostkowski and went into the locker room up 20-7.
After a scoreless third quarter, Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson early in the fourth, cutting the Patriots lead to six. Jackson was an absolute beast all game long, making great catch after great catch even in tight coverage.
After Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko hurt his knee in the third quarter, the Patriots were forced to go for it on 4th-and-4. An incomplete pass intended for Deion Branch ended their drive and gave the Chargers new life.
The Pats defense bailed out the offense just three plays later, as Rob Ninkovich recovered a Tolbert fumble. Brady took just four plays to make the Chargers pay, as he delivered another strike to Gronkowski. Danny Woodhead ran in the two-point conversion to give the Patriots a two-touchdown lead.
Rivers and Jackson hooked up once again on the ensuing drive, as Rivers floated an absolute beauty into double coverage that reached the diving Jackson.
The Patriots got the ball back with just over two minutes left in the game and bled the clock, using timely running from BenJarvus Green-Ellis and big plays from Gronkowski to ice the game with a BGE TD run, effectively closing the door on any San Diego comeback attempt.
Game Notes
*Did anyone else shit their pants when Brady's surgically repaired knee was rolled up on in the third quarter? While I don't think it was a dirty hit, it's still something that you never want to see. Brady never left the game but appeared to be walking gingerly in between plays, while not making any unnecessary movements in the pocket. Something to keep an eye on I guess. Expect to see Brady on the injury report as "Probable-Lower Body" for the next two years.
*While the Pats defense didn't get to Rivers, they did a decent job collapsing the pocket and forcing bad throws. On the Sergio Brown pick, Andre Carter bullrushed the Chargers' right tackle into Rivers, causing him to take a little bit off the throw. Brown was right there to make the play and I still thought it was Meriweather (since he's wearing the Big Bang Clock's old No. 31).
*The defense is starting to make me nervous however. For the second straight week, they have allowed over 400 yards in the air, which must come to an end. I'll chalk this up to the new defensive backfield, for now. If Ryan Fitzpatrick throws for more than 250 next week, then i'll admit that the pass defense, like last year, is a legit cause of concern.
*What really sucked was the Chargers going 10-12 on 3rd down. Yikes. I can't do another year of "bend but don't break". Yes, they made some huge plays on defense when it matters, but Brady isn't going to throw for 400+ every game. This has got to change and fast.
*My favorite part of the broadcast was a tie between the slow motion replay of Vince's interception return and Phil Simms explaining why Andre Carter was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Wilfork replay was clearly only broadcast to show his stomach bouncing up and down. Literally no other reason. Carter got flagged for "leading with the hairline of the helmet" whatever the fuck that means. Simms was hilarious and said that he got a penalty for "wrapping him up and driving him into the ground." In what looked like a perfect tackle, Simms kinda poked fun at the rule, which was hilarious.
*Another negative from the game was the injuries. Aaron Hernandez sprained his MCL and is expected to miss 1-2 weeks. Patrick Chung missed some time in the second half, and Kyle Arrington got his bell rung on a big hit late in the game. The good news is the Pats have the Bills and Raiders in the next two weeks, so hopefully they can get healthy before their huge Week 5 matchup with the Jets.
*Chad Ochocinco had a decent game, making a couple nice catches on the only times he was targeted. The Patriots clearly don't need him to be THE guy for this offense, so I'm not going to freak out over a two-catch performance. Now if this was Randy Moss underperforming that one thing but the offense doesn't revolve around Chad, so that's a good thing.
*Man, I'm glad that the 4th-and-4 didn't come back to haunt the Patriots like the 4th-and-2 did against the Colts in 2009. Granted, the Patriots had an excuse this time because Mesko was hurt but the media would've had a field day with that.
*I love how they closed out the game too. They needed to run the ball and keep the clock moving so that's exactly what they did. Great gameplanning and execution all around.
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