When he's not smokin' trees at Lil' Wayne concerts, Kevin Faulk is a hell of a player

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.

Winter Weather in New England, the Great Equalizer

After a substantial snow storm on Thursday, New England was hit hard yesterday with a wintry mix of snow, rain and extreme wind. Of course, it all happened during the Patriots-Jets game at Gillette as the storm system seemed to center around the stadium. Pregame talk of how much the Pats were going to beat the Jets by looked silly as the terrible conditions rendered this a survival game. The Pats (14-0) did enough to win, 20-10, and are now just the second team in NFL history (you know the other) to start 14-0.

New England punted on its first possession but backed the Jets up against their goal-line as special-teamers Kelley Washington and Willie Andrews downed the ball at the 3-yard line. Two plays into the drive, Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour broke free and planted Jets QB Kellen Clemens just when he let go of the ball. The pass was a duck and Pats safety Eugene Wilson came off local milk cartons and made the easiest 5-yard interception return for a touchdown that you'll ever see. Wilson became the 21st different Patriot to score a TD this year, tying the '87 Rams and '00 Broncos for the record.

With the intense wind and slippery conditions, it was clear from the start that the Pats vaunted passing attack would be subdued. A good result of this was that the running game was finally a factor. Running back Laurence Maroney had a career-high 26 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown. It was enough to offset Tom Brady's (14 of 27, 140 yards, 1 INT) worst game of the year.

It will sound arrogant (which it probably is) but you just had the feeling, even when the Jets were down by a single score in the fourth quarter that they just had no chance to win. The elements helped them hang around but ultimately, they have way too many bums to take out the Patriots this season. Whipping boy Chad Pennington played most of the game for the Jets and actually was pretty decent (25 of 38, 186 yards). If you thought he had a rag arm before, you should have seen him dink and dunk yesterday. It was amazing the ball even made it the requisite five yards on his normal patterns. The guy is a joke. Even more hilarious, the Jets used Brad Smith (an option QB at Missouri) at quarterback to give the Patriots a different look. It worked the first time as Jets running back Leon Washington took an option pitch 49-yards but after that it was a lame gimmick used by a desperate coach.

After a Stephen Gostowski 26-yard field goal put the Patriots up 10-0 early in the second, two bizarre plays happened less than seven minutes apart that you'll probably never see back-to-back again in an NFL game. First the Jets blocked a Chris Hanson punt and David Bowens returned it 26-yards for a score. On the ensuing Jets drive, after stalling near their end zone, Washington came around the corner and blocked the Jets punt, giving the Pats the ball at the Jets 3. Maroney slammed it in from a yard out to give the Patriots a 17-7 lead at the half.

Other than the running game, the other biggest positive for New England to take from this game was that their red zone defense was spectacular. The Jets had four trips inside the Pats 20 and came away with three total points. A missed field goal, turnover on downs and forced fumble were the costly mistakes.

Linebacker Adalius Thomas has been justifiably criticized much of this season since he's disappeared in most games. Yesterday, however was his best game of the year by far. He had nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and he forced the fumble (which was recovered by Wilson). Fellow linebacker Junior Seau was also great with nine tackles and two sacks. Does any defensive player in the league celebrate more than him?

The scoring in the second half was limited to a field goal for each team in the fourth quarter. The Jets appeared to have a touchdown with 2:30 left in the fourth but Justin McCareins was ruled to be juggling the ball when he caught it in the back of the end zone. True to form of a bad team, the Jets missed the field goal try after that and the game was effectively over.

Moss had five catches for 79 yards while Wes Welker was held in check with three catches for 30 yards. Welker did go over 1000 yards for the season though as he and Moss are the first Patriots duo since Stanley Morgan and Harold Jackson (in 1979) and only the second in history to accomplish that feat. Brady also surpassed his career-high for passing yards as he now has 4235. His previous best was 4110 in 2005.

Miami finally got a win yesterday, 22-16 in overtime so they won't come to Gillette next Sunday winless. The Pats should have no problems with the hapless Dolphins but as yesterday proved, the winter weather can bring the Pats down a few notches. We'll have to see what Mother Nature has in store for Sunday.

a Juggernaut in Foxboro

After the mess of last week-"Cameragate"as the wags have dubbed it-the Patriots needed a night like last night against the Chargers. Everyone and their mother has weighed in on the Patriots since the taping scandal and it seemed nearly unanimous that the Pats must have cheated in pretty much every game under Belichick. Throw out the three Super Bowls, the great seasons, it's all a sham.

Give me a break. Last night proved more than any words I could come up with that the Patriots are a great team-cheating or no cheating. They completely dominated what is supposed to be one of the best teams in the league. 38-14 Patriots was the final score and it could have been worse. It was 24-0 at halftime. The Chargers were motivated from last season's early exit in the playoffs and supposedly were going to take care of unfinished business with the Pats. Uh ok. They showed that they're light years away from being at New England's level. Philip Rivers looked Rex Grossman-like with a terrible INT on his first attempt. LT was completly contained. Merriman got his obligatory two sacks but other than that and a little dancing, he was non-existent. The only real threat seemed to be Antonio Gates. The best tight end in football is San Diego's only real receiving threat and he made a great stretch for a TD.

The hypocrisy of a team like the Chargers and particularly a Grade A scumbag like Merriman was on display as he danced (which he said he won't do anymore) after getting a sack. The score at the time? 17-0 Patriots. He just doesn't get it. The Bolts made it 24-7 and recovered the ensuing kickoff from the Pats, they looked poised to make a game of it. After causing the fumble, San Diego's Kasim Osgood posed on the bench like he'd just won the Super Bowl. What a loser. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Mr. Old School NFL who hates celebrations of any kind. I just feel like you have to pick your spots. Pats linebacker Rossevelt Colvin for example seemed to do this perfectly last night. He was all over the place with a fumble caused, INT, 2 sacks and 5 tackles. His dancing heated up as the game went on. Makes sense, no?

Bigger picture, the Pats look unstoppable. They started the game and ran seven straight passing plays. It culminated with a beautiful Brady-to-Moss hookup. Before the Chargers knew it, the scoreboard read 17-0. Then another new Pats player-linebacker Adalius Thomas turned in the play of the game as he intercepted Rivers and sprinted 60+ yards for the touchdown, making it 24-0 going into the half. It was one of the best halves of football I've ever seen and against a very good team no less.

Last year, Brady didn't have enough weapons in the passing game and they still came so close to the Super Bowl (which they would have won). Now they have an overabundance of talent. Kelly Washington plays special teams and Donte' Stallworth catches two passes in a game, welcome to the 2007 New England Patriots. Moss is obviously Brady's first option and Wes Welker (a younger, white Troy Brown) is 1B. These guys have looked like video game players in the first two weeks. Keep in mind that the Jets and especially Chargers secondaries are pretty bad but you still have to be impressed with the Pats receivers.

With back-to-back incredible performances, it's hard not to be drinking the Pats Kool-Aid. They don't even have Harrison or Seymour and they look unbeatable. The AFC East is still dog shit: Buffalo, Miami and the Jets are all 0-2. Still, this is the NFL in 2007. Nobody will go undefeated. The Pats still have some tough games: at the Cowboys, at the Colts, at the Ravens and vs. the Steelers. Lets not forget that Miami has really played them tough in recent years. The Bills seem to excel in Foxboro and the Jets will certainly be tougher the second time around. Even with the success the Pats have had in recent years, these two wins have been a completely different animal. Usually, New England would outlast/outsmart/out execute teams. Now, it appears like they can hang 30+ on anybody. It should be a long and memorable season.