That all changed today as they punished St. Louis (3-5, 3-2 home) 45-7 in a game that didn't even feel that close. For whatever reason, the Pats enjoy their trips to the UK: this victory made them 2-0 there and they've outscored opponents (Tampa Bay in 2009) 80-14. Even better, in Bill Belichick's last two games against Jeff Fisher (formerly of the Titans), he has beat him to the tune of 104-7. Haha wow.
Week 1 seems like so long ago and that was a blowout of the Titans while New England also took out Buffalo in convincing fashion (52-28 in Week 4) but for all intents and purposes, today was the first time they put all three phases together: offense, defense and special teams. The crazy part is that they spotted the Rams a 7-0 lead as St. Louis went down the field on its first drive and when Sam Bradford (22 of 30, 205 yards, TD, INT) hit Chris Givens for a 50-yard TD, we all wanted to punch a hole in the nearest TV or wall.
No worries as the Pats proceeded to score touchdowns on their next five drives and end the game with 45 unanswered points. Tom Brady (23 of 35, 304 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) had his best performance of the season and ditto for Rob Gronkowski (8 catches, 146 yards, 2 TDs) who more than covered for Aaron Hernandez's absence. Stevan Ridley ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries while Brandon Lloyd caught a pair of touchdowns.
The combination of a banged up/horrible offensive line and an injured/awful wide receiver core made the Rams the perfect combination as the Patriots' defense built up some confidence. Blitzing Bradford and pressuring him also help immensely. Rookie Alfonzo Dennard had his second interception in two weeks while fellow rookie Tavon Wilson intercepted former Jet Kellen Clemens in garbage time.
It got so bad, that I pleaded on Twitter for running time and the blind hope that Belichick would sit some of his starters lest they run the risk of a needless injury. You can exhale in that case since it looks like Wes Welker's (6 catches, 48 yards) ankle will be OK. I've never been so happy to see Ryan Mallett than I was in the fourth quarter today.
Lloyd's 19-yard touchdown catch tied it at seven midway through the first quarter. Shane Vereen scored on 4th and Goal from the 1-yard line early in the second quarter. Gronk's 7-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was followed by his best celebration (imitating a Buckingham Palace guard) before his signature spike. A flurry of penalties by the Rams gifted Ridley a 1-yard score with 10 seconds left in the second quarter. At that point, down 28-7, St. Louis might as well have packed their bags for the long flight home.
Think of the second half as extended garbage time since New England finally learned how to step on a team's throat and put them out of their misery-something they couldn't against Baltimore, Seattle or the Jets. Lloyd caught a 9-yard touchdown pass on the Patriots' opening drive and later Stephen Gostkowski got some work with a 26-yard field goal. Gronk had one more highlight for his new legion of fans: a 14-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
I wouldn't take too much out of this one game-the eternal lesson of the Any Given Sunday NFL-but it felt nice to see the Patriots look like their old selves again for however long. They improved to 1-2 against the NFC West this season. After some delayed travel due to Hurricane Sandy, New England will come home tomorrow and then they get a week off.
UPDATE 10/30: The Patriots released linebacker Bobby Carpenter, who had played in four games on special teams since being re-signed on October 2.
As my friend Jim Nantz said during the telecast, the bye week couldn't come at a better time. They have played eight games (half a season), they have a week off then they play eight more. Thanks Roger Goddell! When we next see the Pats, Sandy will be long gone, ditto for Halloween and the presidential election. Buffalo travels to Gillette on Sunday, November 11 (CBS, 1 p.m.).
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