The Patriots have downgraded guard Stephen Neal (shoulder) and receiver Kelley Washington (hamstring) to out for tomorrow's game with Cincinnati.
The rest of the injury list remains as follows:
QB Tom Brady, right shoulder -- probable
LB Rosevelt Colvin, ankle -- questionable
CB Randall Gay, thigh -- questionable
RB Laurence Maroney, groin -- questionable
WR Donte Stallworth, knee -- questionable
NT Vince Wilfork, shoulder -- questionable
S Eugene Wilson, ankle -- questionable
DE Mike Wright, knee -- questionable
G Billy Yates, shoulder -- questionable
Players who are not out made the trip to Ohio, meaning there's a chance they'll play. That includes Maroney, who had a career day last year against the Bengals.
Yates, listed as Neal's backup, did play last week, but Russ Hochstein started at right guard.
The Patriots and Bengals have updated their Friday injury reports -- Kevin Faulk was removed from New England's list. He had not practiced on Friday, with team decision as the reason given.
For Cincinnati, CB Deltha O'Neal (dental/tooth) was added to the list. He is probable. OL Willie Anderson remains probable; he practiced Saturday after not practicing Friday. G Stacy Andrews (shoulder) participated fully after having limited participation on Friday; he remains questionable.
The Patriots released practice squad tight end Jason Rader today.
Rader had been placed on practice squad/reserve injured list on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4 tight end spent last year with the Dolphins, primarily on their practice squad.
After being the only player not present for the media access portion of practice this afternoon, Kevin Faulk appeared on the Patriots' injury report today.
Faulk did not participate in practice, according to the report, but it was a team decision and he is listed as probable for Monday night's game.
Other than that, everything's pretty much the same for New England...
Limited Participation
QB Tom Brady, right shoulder
LB Rosevelt Colvin, ankle
CB Randall Gay, thigh
RB Laurence Maroney, groin
G Stephen Neal, shoulder
WR Donte Stallworth, knee
WR Kelley Washington, hamstring
NT Vince Wilfork, shoulder
S Eugene Wilson, ankle
DL Mike Wright, knee
G Billy Yates, shoulder
**All of the players except Brady as listed as questionable.
For the Bengals:
Out
RB Rudi Johnson, hamstring
LB Rashad Jeanty, shin
S Ethan Kilmer, knee
WR Tab Perry, hamstring
Did Not Participate
OT Willie Anderson, foot -- probable
LB Ahmad Brooks, groin -- doubtful
LB Caleb Miller, back -- doubtful
DE Justin Smith, foot -- probable
Limited Participation
G Stacy Andrews, shoulder -- questionable
K Shayne Graham, groin -- probable
Full Participation
C Eric Ghiacius, thumb -- probable
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, knee -- probable
LB Anthony Schlegel, toe -- probable
Moss in the locker room: "I've seen him talking to everybody on both sides of the ball, joking around with guys. I've seen Laurence Maroney sitting at his locker talking to him. I've seen him talking to Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney -- of course they spend most of their time in this building together as receivers ... His locker is right next to Tom Brady's, so when they're both at their lockers they're chatting. He may not talk to us [the media], but he's definitely talking to everybody else with the team."
Belichick on Johnson: "I think, if you listen to Bill Belichick enough, when he's asked about players and he says they love the game of football, then that's something he definitely respects. I think he knows Chad Johnson loves the game of football, he loves to play the game of football, and that's just all it is. It's not like he's talking smack about teams and its negative ... People want to associate Chad Johnson with a Terrell Owens, because they're both loud and they both garner attention, but Terrell Owens garners attention in a diffferent way. ... When we talked to [Johnson] yesterday, we were asking him, 'What touchdown celebration do you have planned next week?' And he said, 'I'm not celebrating. We're 1-2, and this is not the time for me to be celebrating.' "
On the Bengals: "I think they're looked at at this point as just underachievers. It seems like going into this year, and last year especially, they were looked at as a dangerous team in the AFC, and they haven't been able to pull the trigger, for whatever reason. They make mistakes at bad times, or they can't come through at the most important times, as we've seen the last couple of weeks with their losses. They have Carson Palmer, they have their offensive weapons. I think their problem might be on defense; they just don't have that balance that you need to be successful in this league."
The Patriots' string of perfect practice attendance was broken today, as Kevin Faulk was not spotted on the field. The running back was not listed on yesterday's participation/injury report.
The Indianapolis Colts today signed offensive lineman Corey Hilliard to their practice squad.
Hilliard, a sixth-round pick for New England out of Oklahoma State, was cut on the Sept. 1 cutdown date. Reportedly, he was in Foxboro earlier this week for a workout with the team he spent training camp with, but today the Colts signed the tackle to their practice roster.
Wright added to injury/participation report; R. Johnson out
The Patriots and Bengals have released their injury/participation report for Thursday, and defensive lineman Mike Wright, who was not on yesterday's list for the first time since the regular season began, is back on today.
Also, Tom Brady is listed as "limited participation"; yesterday he was "full participation."
Here's the full list for New England:
Limited Participation
QB Tom Brady - right shoulder
LB Rosevelt Colvin - ankle
CB Randall Gay - thigh
RB Laurence Maroney - groin
G Stephen Neal - shoulder
WR Donte Stallworth - knee
WR Kelley Washington - hamstring
S Eugene Wilson - ankle
NT Vince Wilfork - shoulder
DL Mike Wright - knee
G Billy Yates - shoulder
For the Bengals:
Out
RB Rudi Johnson - hamstring
LB Rashad Jeanty - shin
S Ethan Kilmer - knee
WR Tab Perry - hamstring
Did Not Participate
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh - knee
OT Willie Anderson - foot
LB Caleb Miller - back
Limited Participation
G Stacy Andrews - shoulder
LB Ahmad Brooks - groin
DE Justin Smith - foot
Full Participation
C Eric Ghiacius - thumb
LB Anthony Schlegel - toe
Bill Belichick is always striving for consistency with his team, and the Patriots have it in at least one area: practice attendance.
Yet again, every player was on the field for today's session, though it remains to be seen how much each player will participate; for the first three weeks of the regular season, Randy Moss and Kyle Brady have been given reduced workloads on Thursday, and several new players popped up on the list yesterday.
Bill Belichick's press conference this morning was pretty light, as the coach looked for help from the crowd a couple of times for help with names of some of the Bengals' offensive linemen and said he wouldn't be the one to fire the first shot at receiver Chad Johnson.
Belichick and Johnson traded good-natured barbs last year in advance of the teams' matchup. But Belichick knows Johnson's antics are all done in good fun, which he seems to respect.
As to one of his own receivers, Donte Stallworth, Belichick expressed no disappointment at the numbers he's put up thus far (4 catches, 66 yards, no TDs): "He's working hard; he's doing fine. We're confident that when he gets his chances he'll make plays."
In the locker room, Oscar Lua was spotted, heavily favoring his injured right knee, and there was a Mike Richardson sighting as well.
Randy Moss walked through the room a couple of times, smiling and trading barbs with some of his teammates.
And Vince Wilfork said he hasn't gotten a FedEx envelope yet -- the typical way the NFL delivers notice of a fine -- for his hit on J.P. Losman, but he expressed concern that his good name is being smeared because it's believed that it was an intentional hit on the Bills' quarterback.
Wilfork has reached out to friends of his on the Buffalo squad, and intends on talking to Losman as well: "Of course. It's a player hurt and I had something to do with it."
Somehow, a clip of the play is still up on youtube.com, and it appears that Wilfork was blocked into Losman by Bills' center Melvin Fowler.
Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber, who co-hosts a weekly show on Sirius radio, expressed amazement at the performances being turned in by New England's Randy Moss.
From his comments, he's clearly glad the Bucs don't face the Patriots this season.
“I can’t imagine anybody that I would rather not play against than Randy Moss when he’s interested and he has a great quarterback on his side and he’s throwing him the ball. And that’s what’s happening in New England right now," Barber said. "The guy goes for another 115-yard performance. It’s almost incredible that he toiled in mediocrity in Oakland those two or three years. The guy’s a great player and we seemingly forgot about it."
Robert Kraft is one of eight individuals joining the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Board of Directors, joining 36 other members of the board.
Kraft and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are the two additions with NFL ties.
Here's some info on the NFF from the press release:
Founded in 1947 with leadership and support from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and renowned journalist Grantland Rice, the NFF serves as a leading voice in the promotion of amateur football and its ability to develop the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic achievement in America's young people.
The NFF programs cover the entire spectrum of amateur football. The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., one of the nation's premier sports museum, stands as the centerpiece to organization's efforts, showcasing the accomplishments of the 993 legends from all divisions of college football who are immortalized within its walls. The 120 NFF chapters in 47 states reach more than 4,800 high schools and 400,000 football players with more than 315 annual events, including coaching clinics, leadership conferences, college nights, media days, awards banquets, and comprehensive free physicals for high school student-athletes via the TOPS program (Team of Physicians for Students).
The Patriots signed defensive lineman Zach West to their practice squad today. The Patriots practice squad now stands at its limit of eight players. West, 23, was originally signed by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Texas-El Paso on May 8, 2007. The 6-foot-5-inch, 305-pound defensive lineman was released by the Patriots in the final preseason roster cutdown on Sept. 1, 2007. West started 32 games at defensive tackle in his collegiate career at UTEP.
The NFL has just announced that Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady is the AFC offensive player of the week after his career performance against Buffalo.
Brady was 23-for-29 for 311 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, which equals a career-best quarterback rating of 150.9.
It is the eighth weekly honor of Brady's career.
Tennessee linebacker (and fellow Orangeman) Keith Bulluck was defensive PofW for his three-interception game against New Orleans, and Baltimore rookie Yamon Figurs won the special teams honor after his 75-yard punt return.
We're just off the field for New England's first practice of the week and there was perfect attendance once again.
Quarterback Matt Gutierrez, and practice squadders Bam Childress and Ray Ventrone were all in black jerseys, signifying their selection as practice players of the week.
Defensive lineman Zach West is back with the Pats; Stacey James tells us he's been signed to the practice squad.
It's a "normal" Wednesday here at Gillette, even though the Patriots have a Monday night game. That means Tom Brady was chatting in front of his locker, and Mike Vrabel, who also tries to limit his weekly appearances to Wednesday, was holding court as well.
As one would expect, there was a lot of talk about the Bengals' offense and receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Carson Palmer's proficiency with the no-huddle offense.
New England's offensive line also got more love, as did Sammy Morris, whom Bill Belichick said is a good guy to be around and a professional, as well as a hard worker who has been able to contribute on all four downs so far.
Rosevelt Colvin was showing off a stuffed parrot he had hanging in his locker that repeats whatever he said...he'll put it to use when he starts hearing the same questions over and over, he joked.
Brady admitted that it's not just fans and media observers who have been surprised by the performance of Morris: ""Sammy has been a surprise for everybody. He's done everything that we've asked him to do. He's very powerful and explosive," he said.
As has often been the case this season, after the interview at his locker, Brady was seen wearing a soft wrap/contraption on his right shoulder. He said he's trying to keep on top of it, but said he's doing OK.
We'll be out at practice shortly and will update you on any absences from there.
China didn't work out like it was supposed to, but is Edmonton, Alberta next?
According to this article in the Edmonton Sun, the Patriots and Broncos may play in the Western Canadian city over Canadian Thanksgiving, which is the second Monday in October.
Pats' spokesman Stacey James said today that the Krafts were in Edmonton recently, but he did not know why they were there.
The game would be played at CFL team Edmonton Eskimos' home field, Commonwealth Stadium, which apparently could hold 64,000 fans. It is one of the larger stadiums in Canada.
Broncos owner Pat Bowlen was a successful lawyer in Edmonton, and his father, Paul, made millions thanks to Canadian oil.
The Patriots have made some practice squad moves, re-signing (actually, re-re-re-signing) cornerback Antowain Spann, while releasing Gemara Williams from practice squad and placing tight end Jason Rader on practice squad IR.
The 6-foot, 195-pound, 24-year old Spann was released just before the start of training camp. The former Louisiana-Lafayette standout had three stints on the 53-man roster last year. He played in eight games, making six special teams tackles.
League rules mandate that players who played in more than nine regular-season games last year no longer qualify for practice squad, so Spann was just under the number.
Williams also has been bounced about -- he spent last year on injured reserve, was cut in August and then signed to the practice squad on Sept. 12.
Rader was signed to New England's practice squad Sept. 3; he spent last year between the Dolphins' active and practice rosters.
Admittedly, when Bill Belichick stood up after yesterday's game and started talking about how his team still had so much to work on, I groaned. Three games, 38 points per game, defense has given up five total touchdowns. What is there to beef about?
But there is one thing that the team clearly needs to fix, and one thing that Belichick clearly isn't happy about: the Patriots' red-zone defense.
All of the five touchdowns they've allowed this season have been in the red zone, a 100 percent conversion rate that has the coach irked.
"It's ridiculous," he said. "It's a combination of bad coaching and bad playing. Hopefully we'll do a better job going forward. It won't take much."
When rookie Trent Edwards came into the game for the injured J.P. Losman yesterday, Belichick said it changed some things for New England defensively, but took away some concern because Edwards is a pocket passer, where Losman is a threat to get outside the pocket.
The coach also lauded the play of Russ Hochstein, who stepped in at right guard yesterday, and said that punter Chris Hanson did what the team wanted him to by making it impossible for Buffalo returner Roscoe Parrish to get his hands on the ball and perhaps have a big return.
Players are in meetings for most of the day, but media will be in the locker room around 4:30 p.m. We'll have a locker room look then.
Your first two touchdown drives were set up with good returns from Wes Welker. How important is it for you guys to get that field position there?
I think we got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, kind of like we did in practice this week. We picked it up there in the second half. But you’re right – Wes set up some great field position and I think the key to the game offensively [was] the offensive line, and the way they performed today was exceptional. It’s kind of what they’ve been doing all year, but they were doing such a good job run-blocking, we had a lot of holes in the run game and they did a great job of pass-protection. That allowed us to hold onto the ball a little bit longer. I don’t know if we had any sacks – maybe one – but I held on to the ball. They did a great job.
On that 45-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss, Coach Belichick thought it might have been incomplete. Did you think it might be too long?
Nope. I haven’t overthrown him yet.
Can you describe that play?
They were playing a lot of cover-2, and they weren’t in cover-2 on that particular play. I just tried to lay it up there for him and he usually comes down with it.
You mentioned the slow start. Was that because of things the Bills were throwing at you or is it just a matter of having to get into a rhythm?
I think it’s a good defense, and I think they did some things. They’re a very fast, physical defense and they have some play-makers over there with Aaron Schobel. I think they played very hard. I think we just capitalized when we had the opportunities – when we got the ball in the red zone on the fumble, missed the fourth down and six, so there’s things that we definitely need to improve on and I’m glad we won, but we have a big week this week.
You made that look easy out there -- To throw that ball the distance you threw it, in-stride, on the outside shoulder -- How hard is it to make that kind of play?
I just throw it up as high as I can and try to put it out there where only he can get it. Like I said, I think his length allows him to even when the DB is on his hip; just he can extend and make the play. It was a great catch. It was a great call by [offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels]. My job is easy. You just have to throw it up there.
You had a slow start this week. Do you think it has to do with an emotional letdown after last week, which was so charged up? How hard is it to maintain that type of energy each week?
[When] you play on Sunday night, you get home at 2:00 in the morning and believe it or not, those things affect you. They carry over for days. You go to bed at 3:00 in the morning and then you’re starting on Monday at the same time as normal. Wednesday afternoon it still kind of feels like late Tuesday night and it just…We have a bunch of old guys on this team and it takes a little longer to recover.
The quarterback is not as young as he used to be.
Yeah, he’s definitely not as young as he used to be. I don’t bounce back quite as fast. You want to have all of that energy all of the time, but some days you just wake up at 6:00 a.m. and say, “Ugh, it’s going to be a long day today.” You have to fight through it, because you can’t lose days. You can’t lose days of preparation. This team knows that and I think Coach recognized it and really came down on us pretty hard – probably harder than he ever has. The team really responded on Friday, Saturday we were focused and today we came out and we made enough plays.
How encouraging does it become that a fumble at the 1-yard line can almost become a momentum builder, given the defensive stop and Wes Welker’s return?
Sure, and it was great that the defense was able to hold them and keep them back there. The fumble was a bad play and you’d rather punch it in there and kick it off to them, but fumbling the ball there on the one and then gaining that field position definitely set us up.
Not that you’d ever fumble on purpose, but did you sense that something was needed at that moment to snap you out of it, because it wasn’t right, and they found the moments to do it?
Like I said, you’d rather have the good plays be the momentum builders than a play like that. I think the defense has given us momentum all year. The punt return that Ellis [Hobbs] gave us in the Jets game, the interception return Adalius [Thomas] gave us last week and then some of those stops and punt returns this week were huge for the offense and setting us up in field position, which is what we’re going to continue to need. I [take] pride [in] that 99-yard drive that we had out there in the fourth quarter. That was pretty good. I hope to continue that.
Were you surprised at the lateral that Wes Walker threw?
I don’t know what they were doing, those two. Maybe Wes learned that in Miami. I’ve never seen it around here. I’m sure Coach is going to [yell at] us for that. It’s just another one of those things that makes tapes. It turned out this time. I don’t know how well it turns out most of the time.
Your first three touchdown throws inside the 10 yard line were to three different people. Are you consciously trying to spread the ball around?
I think this particular time it was just that the coverage really dictated that it go to certain people. We got down there on the first drive and we were inside the five or six yard line and we didn’t get it in. We kicked the field goal and we came back with a good approach the next few times and really pounded the ball in there when we could and then took our shots when we got man-to-man coverage. I thought it was a nice play by Ben [Watson] reading the zone. The second one to Randy was an all-out blitz and the guy had no help in the middle of the field. Randy ran a great route. The third one, Jabar [Gaffney] found a hole. [They] ended up doubling or tripling Randy and Gaff kind of pulled ahead of there and made a catch. I think that’s all set up by great offensive line play, to tell you the truth. For us to hold the ball and sort through that kind of stuff, and with the blitz pick-up like they did, they performed extremely well. And that was a [darn] good defensive line we faced, too, Schobel and [Ryan] Denney and the big guys inside, too, who are excellent. The way they protected and the way they run-blocked for us today – a lot of us do a lot of things offensively.
Don’t you love to throw when Randy is covered and know that the play is still going to be made?
He’s a mismatch every time he’s out there when it’s one-on-one, so if they’re doubling him then you try to find other guys to go to. And if they single him, you have an opportunity even when he’s covered to put the ball in a position [where] only he can make the play because of his height and his length. That’s what happened today. He had pretty good coverage on him. He just made an outstanding catch.
Do you find yourself making throws maybe you wouldn’t have in the past because of who you have out there?
Like I said, we’ve had different styles throughout the years and that style has worked extremely well. This offense is going to just continue to morph into the players that we have. I thought there was a drive there where it was run, run, run, play-action and I hit Wes on that lateral play, but that was fun because we were pounding it in there and finally they had a cover-2 defense, we play-action fake and all three linebackers step up and Wes is wide open. That’s tough on the defense, and the more that we can run it effectively in a play-action pass and then when they give us man coverage you try to throw the ball to your mismatches, that’s a pretty good way to go.
What is it with 38 points?
38? I don’t know. Coach didn’t want to kick a field goal to get to 41 at the end, so…I don’t know. It’s a good number. I think it’s going to be a tough one this week playing on the road on Monday night, so we have a big challenge. I’m glad we have an extra day to prepare.
You gave credit to your offensive line. Going up against the pass-rush and the success Schobel has had, to not hear his name called for the first three quarters must have made you feel good.
Sure, and Matt [Light] did a great job over there on my left side. At the same time, I think we’re trying to scheme things up so he’s not coming off the edge all day, and you always try to keep those pass-rushes accountable for those pass-rushers, because they can ruin a game. That’s where the best guy usually is, right over on the offense’s left side. They did a good job with him. He’s a great player, a Pro Bowl player, but our offensive line is shutting it down this year.
On the play of the defense in the second half
We saw they had success on us and were able to run the ball, which is something you never want to [have]. We just had to buckle down after that and we had some success out there.
On the Patriots’ field position all game
That was a conscious effort from our special team guys to get the return game going. It has been something they have been working on all year and its good to see their hard work pay off and get some good blocks and returns.
On if the Patriots had to change their game plan when Losman got hurt
A couple of us guys got a quick scouting report about the guy coming in and Coach Belichick got us up to speed. We realized he does have some similar abilities as Losman, so we didn’t change much because we wanted to keep him in the pocket and get some pressure on him.
On Randy Moss’s second touchdown catch
It’s fun to watch. We are watching it also, but we are not paying attention on the sidelines, so when we saw it on the Jumbotron we just looked at each other and shook our heads. He has shown us a few of those this year and when you watch the replay again it just amazes you.
On whether the script for the Patriots before the season is becoming a reality on the field
I don’t know. We just go out there and play. I think we’re doing a great job of improving every week, understanding that this a fast-paced league, and knowing that you just can’t roll it out there and expect that guys are going to respect us just because we’re the Patriots. I think we’re [beginning] fast and ending fast. But within there we’re leaving things out there on the field, like Tom [Brady] said earlier in the week. Our biggest thing is to continue to improve down the line.
On making the adjustment from JP Losman to Trent Edwards
I think we were doing pretty well. We didn’t know too much about [Edwards]. But we understood that he was a young quarterback and had the same kind of capabilities, as far as Losman goes, that he wants to get out of the pocket. What we wanted to do was keep his feet moving, keep him off balance, and don’t allow him to make the good, crisp throws.
On having a clear path to JP Losman on his first quarter sack
It was good. We disguised it the right way. Initially, the play was off. But when he came back on with the motion, you just get that feeling that all the dominoes are knocking down. My biggest thing was, ‘Make sure you get the sack first and if the ball comes out, it’s a bonus.’
On breaking up a long pass play toward the end of the game
We knew they hadn’t taken a shot all game. We figured they were going to try to get Lee Evans involved more than they really did. We knew it was coming. He did an out and up route and I was just waiting for one all day. I went up there to try to make the pick, but, stumbling, made sure I knocked the ball down and the play was over with.
On the way the game played out
It was one of those games where we ended up making more plays than they did. I think we’re doing a pretty good job of finishing. The line is working well together and obviously our running backs were on track today. They saw all the holes and they hit them. They did a great job running the ball.
On Aaron Schobel being quiet for about three-and-a-half quarters
Like I said, we just ended up making more plays than they did. I give him a lot of credit. He’s a great pass rusher. He’s a relentless-style rusher that you have to take into account when you play him. He’s a good player. We’ll see him again.
On whether he’s surprised by the Patriots’ offensive production through three game
I’m not really surprised. I don’t go into any game and try to guess what the score is going to be. At the same time, I think we left a lot points out there on the field.
On the offense’s efficiency so far this season
Up front we’ve got a lot of experience and we’re playing pretty well. Our receivers are making plays. I think our rushing attack – we have four guys back there that are running the ball really effectively. Laurence [Maroney] had a big game today. Sammy [Morris], Kevin [Faulk], and having Heath [Evans] come out of the backfield too, those guys are all running the ball really hard.
On Buffalo’s quarterback change affecting the defense’s game plan
No, we still were doing the same thing. We didn’t change anything. We still made the same calls.
On getting off to a fast start this season
It’s a long season still. As far as opportunities go, we’ve been taking advantage of them. But right now we know we have to play Cincinnati and it’s going to be a tough game next week.
On why it took about a quarter and a half to get going
There were just some plays that we could have made but didn’t make them. Everybody basically had to go out there on the next series and do things a lot better, take care of our responsibilities, and do our jobs.
On if it’s characteristic of a good team to play poorly for a stretch but manage to get through it
It’s a 60-minute game. We have to play all four quarters. As far as the way we started off, we had the opportunity to get better as the game went on.
On if the offense being good makes his job on defense easier
It makes it easy on us, I’ll tell you that. We were just worried about getting the Bills offense off the field and letting Tom Brady take care of them.
On if the defense was prepared for what the Bills were going to do
What I’m saying is just because you’re wearing a red shirt one week doesn’t mean you’ll be wearing that next week. That’s all I’m saying. They came out and did some different things to try to defeat what we try to do and obviously we’ve had some success here in the past and in the previous two weeks and they tried to defend what we did then by throwing some misdirections and some plays with the running back, [Marshawn] Lynch. He’s very explosive. They tried to use what we do to their advantage. That’s all I’m trying to say. Not that we weren’t prepared, because we make [adjustments] every week. We make them on the sideline and we made them at halftime. We were definitely prepared for what we saw previous to this game.
On if the team might get used to beating teams by this much
Well, like I said, I think we made some adjustments. The offense, they had a great game. The special teams were good, too. All those guys on special teams did a good job of stopping them and giving us good field position to work with. They were able to stop them on the shorter field. I think other than that long drive that every part of the game complimented each other.
On limiting the other team’s rushing attack
I think it definitely starts up front when it comes to stopping the run. They had a couple of runs where they squirted through with some misdirections and we had a problem stopping those, but I definitely think it starts up front. When things aren’t going well up front, there’s a trickle-down effect, so we definitely take pride in that. We’re not where we want to be, I’ll tell you that. We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to get to where we want to be. We’ve got a tough opponent coming up in Cincinnati on Monday night and go from there.
On his first interception of the year
It felt good; finally to catch one. Last week I dropped one. It felt good to get on the board and catch one. It was a skinny post and I read it pretty good and the quarterback overthrew it. I saw the ball and I jumped up and I grabbed it.
On if he would like to guard Randy Moss
I mean, it would be fun. I am a competitor and he is a great player I would love the challenge, but I am glad he is on my team.
On what tightened up in the second quarter defensively
We just settled down a little bit. We had a couple of miscommunications and we settled down and we started to play together and we just started getting it correct.
On falling behind in the first quarter
There is nothing to say, they went in there and jumped on us early and we didn’t meet their intensity. Obviously, that was taken care of after the second quarter and we went on to do what we had to do.
On the Patriots’ consistency
So far it has been going well and hopefully we can build on it. Obviously, we have a big game against Cincinnati and we will see what happens, but so far everything is working well and looking good. We know that it is one week at a time and a challenge every day.
On how the Patriots in the second half took the game over
Just making big plays. If you make enough big plays it’s definitely going to take the wind out of their sail. But, at the same time, you have a lot of people in this locker room who go out there and do what they have to do and make a big play.
On his punt returns
I think that it is a part of our game that we are trying to get going and Buffalo’s punter put some big punts out there and we still were able to net some yards out there. I still think that we have some room to improve.
On the 75-yard punt
It is one of those deals that you have to become like a receiver, like your trying to catch a deep ball. It was kind of that type of situation, where I wasn’t able to turn around and square up on it, but I was able to field the ball and get it up field and the guys did a great job of blocking this week. They take a lot of pride in that and they did a great job.
On the lateral to Randy Moss
Yeah, I am probably going to get yelled at a little bit tomorrow, but it just kind of happened. It is one of those plays that he was there and I felt like it was safe and a possibility to score.
On scoring 38 points in each of the last three games
We got off to a sluggish start today, but then we picked it up. We need to work on starting faster. We work hard in practice and it translates into the games. We didn’t start as fast as we would have liked to, but we then picked it up and it felt good.
On if what Randy Moss can do surprises him
He is amazing. He goes out and works hard in practice and then he comes out here and works hard in the game and then he does a great job for us.
On if Randy Moss cleared it out for him on his touchdown
Yes. I turned out and Randy ran an in-route, and the defense went with him, which allowed me to break wide open.
Chris Kelsay, Defensive End
On the injuries
It is bad luck I guess. I don’t know how else you would explain it. I have never been a part of something like this, were we have had this many guys go down this early, and especially significant contributors on the defensive side of the ball. It is frustrating. Every time we have had an injury in the last two games, we have said the same thing. You have got to continue to move forward because that is your job. You hate to see it. The guys that are plugged in and healthy have to play at a high level and obviously we are not playing at a high enough level right now.
John McCargo, Defensive Tackle
On the Patriots’ running game
They are a good team and we just had to stop the running game and we just didn’t get it done. We have to put this behind us and look forward to the next game. Take a step forward and don’t look back. Out of sight and out of mind. We can’t go back and play it again.
Ashton Youboty, Cornerback
(On the Patriots’ passing game)
They have three new receivers and those guys are good at what they are here for. They did a good job today. We had a good scheme coming into the game but I think Tom did a good job of picking his battles and getting the ball to the right receiver.
Peerless Price, Wide Receiver
On the Bills offense
The difference was execution. A missed assignment here, a missed assignment there. Getting the proper route, that is all there is. Football isn’t a hard game, but you can make it hard. The team that executes, the team with the fewest mistakes, usually wins.
Angelo Crowell, Linebacker
On how the team continues to move forward after another starter is injured
We don’t have a choice. There is no giving up. You have to keep fighting with the players that you have. You have to believe the next guy is going to get the job done. That is all you can really do. On frustrating the Patriots’ offense early in the game
I felt very confident with the game plan we had coming in here. We were executing and then somehow the tide just turned.
Josh Scobey, Running back
On punt return success
I’ve been returning punts in this league for a long time, so it wasn’t a surprise to me. When you are a backup player in this league, you just want to be prepared to do well. I was able to get a couple of nice returns and help the team out. Overall, we just have to get back to the fundamentals. We’ve got to someway, somehow figure this thing out because this is just unacceptable. This is not the way. On pressure of making a big play
Making a big play is always on my mind. If I could have broke one out it would have been an uplifting thing for our team. I was really trying, but the coverage units were doing a good job today and they put the ball in some places where it made it difficult for us to get some good returns.
Kyle Williams, Defensive Tackle
On looking forward to the next few weeks
The great thing about this league is that you get to play the next week. The hard thing is that you have to play next week. Right now we are in a hard situation because of all the guys we have hurt. No matter who’s playing, we have to go out there and make plays. On injuries
We have a ton of them. But we are getting paid to play football and we have to adapt. It’s tough, but we’re a football team and we have to stick together.
On when he found out he was starting
They told me last night.
On injuries
These are good friends of ours that are going down. So not only are you losing a teammate you’re losing a friend, a fellow man that’s going down and it hurts you.
On the Patriots
They are a good team. We studied film on them but they came out and made plays.
On Tom Brady
He put [the ball] in places it needed to be, so hats off to him. He controlled his throws, put touches on his throws and that made a difference. He made the plays, he had a good game.
On Randy Moss
I think he made the plays that he should have made. There were opportunities left out on the field. I give him all the credit. He made the plays and that’s all that matters. He put the points on the board. But don’t count me out. Next time I will take it back to the drawing board and I have faith in myself. I will make those plays next time.
On the injury
It was a simple swing to Marshawn [Lynch], an early completion to begin the game, and what it seemed like is a guy came in and hit me on the knee, but I have to evaluate film and see. I was really just watching Marshawn when I got hit.
On trying to open things up against the Patriots
I was pretty excited about coming into this week. We got off to a slow start and we wanted to come in here and what better team to try and prove it against. We had a chance to throw it back in everyone’s face and obviously we didn’t get that chance.
On why he came back out
You know, you just stick it out. Maybe the pain will go away. We called a run play and thought maybe the pain would go away. I tried to analyze the situation hoping that I didn’t hurt my team by staying in there with the knee. I’m not saying that’s what caused the fumble, but I was definitely thinking about my knee.
On the game
Any time you play like that, you can’t expect to win. Offensively we had one good drive, and our defense did a good job of keeping us in there early. After that one good drive we couldn’t manufacture anything. When you make a lot of mistakes like that, that is what happens. Mistakes, mistakes, there were mistakes all over the field. If you play like that, you’re going to get beat.
On Trent Edwards
I think he stepped in and handled himself well. He took command of the huddle and was poised in the huddle and that’s all you can expect. He came into a hostile environment against a pretty good defense to say the least. I think he handled himself well.
On the injuries
It’s tough. The guys that are stepping in are stepping up, but it is tough. When have you something like this, you build your camaraderie, your team, especially on defense then someone goes out and it changes things. We have to keep going, this game is over and done with. There is nothing we can do about it except to keep plugging. We have been here before and we know what it takes to come out of it. Everybody has to stay on track and keep going. I think we have a good group of guys and everybody is still pushing in the right direction so that is a good sign.
It couldn’t have been a tougher situation for a first year kid to come in here, against this team and in that situation. Can you comment on that?
In a situation like that, whether it’s a home game or an away game, whether you’re facing the Patriots or you’re facing another team in the league, you have to be ready to get in there when the guy in front of you goes down, and that’s what I tried to do today.
Could you believe how well your first series in a regular season game went; how efficient it was and that you scored on it?
Yeah, we were moving the ball and converting on third downs and that was the key to that drive. We kept our defense off the field and we got the running game going. The third down conversions were huge for us and Marshawn [Lynch] ran really well. In terms of believing whether or not I could do that, you’ve got to have confidence in that position. JP [Losman] has a ton of confidence. I have a ton of confidence in this offense and that’s the way you have to play the position on every drive.
Were you nervous at all?
I don’t think I really had time to be nervous. And that’s something where you can’t be that way, or else you’re not going to perform to the best of your ability.
Obviously, they changed the game plan after JP went out. What do you think about that? What do you think you did less of that you might have done more of?
For the most part, I was prepared for the entire game plan and I’m just out there doing the plays they’re calling.
Did the Patriots dramatically adjust anything defensively? After that first drive, they kind of slowed you guys down after that?
No, I think that was just the first drive of the game, and we were prepared to see some different things out of them. For the most part they were mixing it up a lot and that’s something I need to be able to adjust to. They’re a great, great defensive football team and I need to be able to react to the different things they do.
How do you think you threw the ball today?
There were some good ones and there were some bad ones that will stick out in my mind for the entire flight home. The way you have to look at it is the 24-hour rule-- by tomorrow at this time I’m not going to be thinking about it and we’re going to be preparing for the next game.
How will it be different this week? Having a week to prepare and knowing you’re going to start?
It’s just that you’re going to get more reps in practice, and that’s something that I need to take advantage of. It’s something that I need to be able to do to improve my play-- look at the game film a little bit closer, pay close attention to what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong in the practice, and hopefully I’ll be able to do that here next Sunday.
You just couldn’t convert third downs there for a long stretch. Any of those stick out in your mind?
Honestly, no. They’re all plays that need to be made and that can be made. That’s just what’s going on right now. That’s what’s frustrating. You see their offense and they’re moving the ball down the field and we’re really not helping our defense out by not converting on those third downs. And that’s what frustrated us.
There have been a lot of hypercritical fans wanting to see you. They’re down on JP. Are you aware of that talk and do think this shows some people that maybe it’s not as easy as it looks?
No, I’m not aware of that at all. I’m a big JP Losman fan and I’m going to continue to support him and continue to do what I need to do to help this football team win. That’s to prepare and try to throw the ball on third down, and try to convert and put some points on the board.
Dick [Jauron] said you couldn’t have been thrown into a worse situation.
I wouldn’t say it’s the worst situation. That’s what you prepare for and that’s why you were drafted to the team and why you put so many hours in during the week. You watch film, you go out to the practice field and compete, and you play hard. I don’t think you have to look at it as a worst situation.
The interception on the skinny post, for Peerless [Price], did that one just slip out of your hand?
Yeah, it just got away from me. Peerless ran a great route, it was a great call, and that’s something I can’t do. I need to make that throw and help our offense out and keep the momentum going.
Well, it was a long day. A long day for us in a lot of ways. It didn’t go anywhere near the way we hoped it would have gone. The injuries certainly played a role in that. How big, we’ll never know, but they are a fine team. An outstanding team. JP [Losman] has a strain and it is pretty severe. I think that Bud [Carpenter] said it is grade one, so that is a couple weeks probably. When he came back, he said he could go if he was needed and Bud kind of said the same thing, but he said as the day moves on it is just going to get worse and worse and stiffer and stiffer. Jason Whittle, we think he might have torn his hamstring. We’ll know more about that tomorrow. Of course Paul Posluszny broke his forearm and he’ll have surgery tomorrow. That is kind of where we are. We said coming in that they are a team with no weaknesses. You can’t find any weakness on their football team. We knew it could turn into a long day, and it did for us. It did. Our guys fought, but that is never an issue with them. They are a group of good guys, tough guys. They’ll play, but we are getting worn out.
Can you recall a season in which you have had the number of injuries that you’ve had this year?
No. Not in so short of a span of time. It has kind of really set us back everywhere. Special teams, it definitely hurts us and on defense we have lost so many players. You would have to say obviously again, but it is obvious, how good they are anyway. They don’t need any advantages.
It looked like Jabari Greer had good coverage on those two Randy Moss touchdown receptions. What happened there?
I just saw it on the screen and live. It was a ball that is thrown—it is kind of how you practice it. You put the ball on the outside, the receiver stays on the line and he reaches out at the last minute. It was right there. Jabari maybe could have been right on top of him, could have been right on top of him on the body. But I am not sure even then, just because Randy is so big. He is big and he’s got that long reach and the ball was thrown right where it needed to be.
Do you anticipate keeping Paul Posluszny active? Is that the preference?
My sense is that this may be season-ending. That is my sense. But, I’m not a doctor, I’m just talking to our people. That is what I think at this point.
Do you think Vince Wilfork should be fined for his hit on J.P. Losman?
You know, I didn’t see the hit. I was kind of trailing the play and then I saw him on the ground. The official didn’t think that it was a legal hit. I’ll have to see it on tape. [It is] unfortunate.
Being a former defensive back yourself, what advice do you give to your defensive backs when you see Moss making those plays?
It is just hard. It is a hard day. We said going in that we would have to execute at a real high level and even then you can do everything right and they can still, when they are that talented—and they are—they can still beat you on stuff. That was probably an example of what we are talking about because Jabari [Greer]’s position was not bad. It wasn’t like he took the bait. He didn’t take the bait. He pumped him and he stayed on top of him, but the ball was thrown well and the receiver is arguably in the top ten, maybe in the top five, in terms of skill. And he has shown it over the course of his career. There’s not a whole lot can tell him except keep playing. You just have to keep playing through all of this.
What are your thoughts on how Trent Edwards played?
I thought Trent did a nice job for his first NFL game. I am not certain you could be thrown into a worse situation—so early in the contest, so early in the year against a team that is on a roll right now. They are real hot. Again, there are not any weaknesses on either side of the ball. So, I thought he did a good job. That being said, you could see some of the throws he missed and some of the things that went wrong. But, he doesn’t panic. I really do believe that he’s got a bright future in the league because he is a tough guy and he understands quarterback.
Did your game plan change at all when Trent Edwards entered the game?
Yes, it did. It changed significantly. And the way the game went kind of changed it, too. We end up on our one-yard line backed up and we had some field position issues. But, yeah, it did.
Is that the reason we saw fewer 3- and 4-wide receiver sets?
Probably, yeah. But, you have to give them all the credit. They dictated the pace of the game. We just couldn’t respond to them. We couldn’t respond enough.
After Posluszny got hurt were you forced to stay in a nickel package and do you think that is why the Patriots ran the ball?
No, we just kind of stayed with our game plan. When you look at them and look at the matchups, you’ve got to make some choices. We continued to make our choices to try to stay in the game and keep ourselves in the game. We just couldn’t respond. We couldn’t respond when they did something. Really I though with five minutes to go in the first half if we could have—if we could have, there were a lot of those—and we didn’t, but it doesn’t matter. To get a first down or to get off the field, certainly at 10-7 and then 17-7, the way things had gone, was not the worst thing in the world. We had to do more on offense and we were a little bit handicapped by ourselves and by them.
With all of the hardships the team has experienced, how hard will it be to keep this team moving forward?
I don’t think it will be hard with these guys. They are a real good group. Most of the groups are good. Most of the players in this league are really quality people. These guys, they just keep working and I believe that they will. We don’t lie to them. Clearly this is not the start we imagined. This is not where we want to be, but this is where we are. But I don’t believe it will be hard to keep them working.
On being 3-0
I think we are doing a lot of things well and we are minimizing our mistakes and capitalizing on the other team’s mistakes as a unit. I think we are playing great team ball and we are improving each week.
On if the Patriots’ offense could play at a higher level
It remains to be seen. I think we have had three different styles of game. The first game we came out with a traditional offense and drove the ball down the field. In the second game we had more of a 2-minute mode offense and this one we had a little more diversity and it was refreshing to see us bounce back from that.
On falling behind early in the game
We didn’t feel like there was a reason to be flustered and abandon our game plan. We just had to minimize the mistakes we were making and just flat out play better.
On Tom Brady’s play so far this season
Tom’s a great leader and makes a lot of plays out there and he directs the offense perfectly.
The postgame notes from the Patriots' public-relations department:
SCORING STREAK
The Patriots have scored points in each of their 12 quarters of play this season and have scored in 31 consecutive quarters dating back to last season (including regular season and playoff games). Since being shut out 21-0 against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 10, 2006, the Patriots have scored in 35 of 36 quarters. Since that game against Miami, the Patriots have averaged 34.8 points per game in nine regular season and playoff contests. Over that nine-game span, the Patriots have scored 34 or more points seven times.
MOSS FIRST IN NFL HISTORY WITH 100-PLUS YARDS IN FIRST THREE GAMES WITH TEAM
Randy Moss caught five passes for 115 yards, making him the first player in NFL history to record three straight 100-yard receiving games in his first three games with a team (rookie or veteran). His total of 403 receiving yards rank second to the 1963 total of 422 yards by Oakland’s Art Powell for the highest receiving yardage total in NFL history for a player’s first three games with a team. Moss’s three-game total of 403 receiving yards marks the second highest total by a Patriot since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, ranking second only to Terry Glenn’s three-game total of 431 yards from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3, 1999. Moss is the first Patriots player to top 100 yards in three straight games since David Givens did it from Oct. 24 to Nov. 7, 2004. The game against the Bills marked Moss’s 49th career regular season 100-yard game.
NFL RECORD BOOK
MOST REC. YARDS / FIRST THREE GAMES W/NEW TEAM
Player Team Year Yds
Art Powell OAK 1963 422
Randy Moss NE 2007 403
Laveranues Coles WAS 2003 391
Anquan Boldin ARZ 2003 378
PATRIOTS RECORD BOOK
MOST REC. YARDS IN A THREE-GAME SPAN SINCE 1970
Player Yds Dates Gm1 Gm2 Gm3
Terry Glenn 431 9/19/99-10/3/99 122 95 214
Randy Moss 403 9/9/07-9/23/07 183 105 115
Terry Glenn 401 9/26/99-10/10/99 95 214 92
Ben Coates 393 9/4/94-9/18/94 161 124 108
MOSS SCORES TWO
Randy Moss caught two touchdown passes for the second straight game, becoming the first Patriot to have two or more receiving touchdowns in back-to-back games since Ben Coates hauled in two scoring passes in the first two games of the 1994 season (9/4/94 and 9/11/94). Against the Bills, Moss scored a 3-yarder in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 17-7 lead and a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter to give New England a 38-7 advantage. The touchdowns give Moss a team-high five through three games this season and raise his career total to 106 receiving touchdowns, a mark that ranks fifth in NFL history.
CAREER-HIGH GAME FOR BRADY
Tom Brady set a career high with a 150.9 passer rating and tied his career high with four touchdown passes. Through three games, Brady has totaled 887 yards and has completed 70-of-88 passes (79.5 percent) and has compiled a 141.8 passer rating. Brady’s 79.3 percent completion rate against the Bills (23-29) is the fifth-highest completion percentage of his career. Each of his three games this season rank among the top six single-game completion percentages of Brady’s career.
BRADY’S TOP PASS RTGS
Rating Date Opp.
150.9 9/23/07 vs BUF
148.3 10/21/01 at IND
147.6 11/03/02 at BUF
146.6 9/9/07 at NYJ
143.9 11/25/01 vs. NO
140.4 10/09/05 at ATL
BRADY’S TOP TD GAMES
TD Date Opp.
4 9/23/07 vs BUF
4 11/19/07 at GB
4 10/30/07 at MIN
4 12/27/03 vs BUF
4 09/22/02 vs KC
4 11/25/01 vs NO
BRADY’S TOP COMP. PCTS.
Pct Cmp-Att Date Opp.
84.6 22-26 11/03/02 at BUF
81.5 22-27 10/09/05 at ATL
80.6 25-31 9/17/07 vs. SD
80.0 16-20 10/21/01 at IND
79.3 23-29 9/23/07 vs BUF
78.6 22-28 9/9/07 at NYJ
BRADY: CAREER-BEST THREE-GAME TOUCHDOWN TOTAL
Tom Brady tied his career high with four touchdown passes, marking his sixth career game with four scoring throws. Brady has thrown for three or more touchdowns in three straight games to begin the 2007 season - the first time in his career that he has thrown three or more touchdowns in three consecutive games. His three-game total of 10 touchdown passes is the highest three-game total of his career. His previous three-game high was nine touchdowns, achieved in the first three games of the 2002 season.
THREE WINS TO START SEASON
The Patriots have begun the 2007 season with a 3-0 record, marking the seventh time in the franchise’s 48-year history that they have begun the season with three victories in a row. New England last achieved the feat in 2004 and has done it five times in the 14 seasons since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994.
THREE GAMES, 114 POINTS
New England has scored a total of 114 points through three games this season, marking its highest three-game scoring output in a single season since the first three games of the 2002 season, when it totaled 115 points. The Patriots' 114 points in three games is tied for the third-highest three-game total in franchise history during a single season. The Patriots set a team record in 1962 by scoring 118 points over a three-game span from Sept. 16 to Oct. 6.
MARONEY: 100-YARD GAME
Laurence Maroney totaled 103 yards on 19 carries (5.4 avg.), marking his second career 100-yard rushing game. He also broke the 100-yard mark at Cincinnati on Oct. 1, 2006, when he totaled 125 yards on 15 carries (8.3 avg.). Through three games this season, Maroney is averaging 4.7 yards per carry, totaling 252 yards on 54 carries.
ASANTE SAMUEL INTERCEPTION
Asante Samuel picked off a Trent Edwards pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 42 yards, recording his first interception of the season and the 17th interception of his regular season career. Samuel has also recorded four playoff interceptions for New England. With his interception against the Bills, Samuel has now recorded 10 interceptions in his last 12 regular-season and playoff games, dating back to a three-pick performance against Chicago on Nov. 26, 2006. Including the playoffs, Samuel has returned five of his 21 career interceptions for touchdowns.
WATSON SCORES FOR THIRD STRAIGHT GAME
Tight end Benjamin Watson hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead in the second quarter. The scoring grab was the 10th of his career and marked Watson’s third straight game with a touchdown reception. He also snared a 7-yard score last week against San Diego and grabbed a 5-yard touchdown in the season opener against the New York Jets. Dating back to last season, Watson has caught a touchdown pass in five of his last seven regular season games.
MOSS PASSES 11,000 YARDS
With a 45-yard reception in the third quarter, Randy Moss became the 19th player in NFL history to gain 11,000 or more career receiving yards. Moss finished the game with 11,103 career receiving yards. Moss, a 10th-year veteran, entered the game ranks third in NFL history by averaging 78.8 receiving yards per game (11,103 yards in 141 games).
GAFFNEY TOUCHDOWN
Jabar Gaffney scored his first touchdown of the season on a 4-yard reception from Tom Brady in the third quarter. The touchdown was the ninth of Gaffney’s regular season career and his second regular-season touchdown in a Patriots uniform. Gaffney also scored a pair of touchdowns for New England in the 2006 playoffs. Gaffney’s touchdown against the Bills capped off a 9-play, 89-yard drive and gave the Patriots a 24-7 lead.
HOBBS STRIP SACK
Ellis Hobbs strip-sacked Buffalo’s J.P. Losman, forcing a fumble on a 9-yard sack in the first quarter. Jarvis Green recovered the ball for the Patriots, who proceeded to march deep into Buffalo territory and take a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. The sack was the first of Hobbs’ career and his forced fumble was also a career first. For Green, it was his fifth career fumble recovery. Hobbs’ strip-sack was the Patriots’ fourth of the season. In the season opener against the Jets, Mike Vrabel sacked Kellen Clemens and forced him to fumble in the fourth quarter (the Jets recovered the ball). Last week against the Chargers, Rosevelt Colvin sacked Philip Rivers and caused him to fumble twice (the Patriots recovered once).
RECORD IMPROVEMENT
-- Today’s game was the 141st consecutive home sellout for the Patriots. The streak includes every preseason, regular season and playoff game since the 1994 regular season opener.
-- The Patriots improved to 82-33 (.713) at home since 1994, including regular season and playoff games.
-- The Patriots improved to 31-9 (.775) all-time at Gillette Stadium, including regular season and playoff games.
-- Tom Brady improved to 24-1 (.960) as a starter in games played on artificial turf during the regular season. His only career regular season loss on turf came to the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the 2003 season opener.
-- Brady improved to 12-1 (.923) as a starter in his career against Buffalo.
-- Brady improved to 45-10 (.818) as a starter in home games, including regular season and playoff contests.
-- The Patriots improved to 41-1 (.976) when Tom Brady posts a passer rating of 100.0 or higher.
SERIES STATS
-- With their victory today, the Patriots now own 13 wins over the Bills in a 14-game span, marking the first time in franchise history that New England has defeated an opponent as many as 13 times in a 14-game span. The Patriots have defeated Buffalo eight straight times dating back to the Bills’ 31-0 victory in the 2003 season opener.
-- The Patriots defense has held the Bills to a touchdown or less in five of the last eight games between the teams.
-- The Patriots are now 20-6 in their last 26 meetings with the Bills.
-- The Patriots have now recorded 54 wins over the Bills, the most against any opponent.
-- Bill Belichick holds a 13-2 record against the Bills as head coach of the Patriots.
SILVER JERSEYS
The Patriots wore their silver jerseys today - the sixth time that the team has worn them since they were introduced in 2003. New England improved to 5-1 while wearing silver. Below is a recap of New England’s record when wearing silver.
GAMES WEARING SILVER JERSEYS
(all at Gillette Stadium)
Date Opponent W/L Score
11/16/03 Dallas W 12-0
12/07/03* Miami W 12-0
12/12/04* Cincinnati W 35-28
10/02/05 San Diego L 17-41
12/17/06 Houston W 40-7
09/23/07 Buffalo W 38-7
*-New England clinched AFC East title with win
SEAU MOVES UP LIST
Junior Seau played in his 244th career game today, moving into second place on the NFL’s list of most games played by a linebacker. He has played in 244 games over 18 seasons with San Diego (1990-2002), Miami (2003-2005) and New England (2006-2007). Seau passed Bill Romanowski’s mark of 243 career games, which he achieved from 1988-2003. Clay Matthews holds the NFL record for most games played by a linebacker, appearing in 278 contests from 1978-1996 with Cleveland and Atlanta.
BRADY-TO-BRADY
Kyle Brady grabbed his first pass in a Patriots uniform in the second quarter, hauling in a 20-yard reception from Tom Brady to bring the Patriots to the Bills’ 2-yard line and set up Randy Moss’s touchdown catch that made the score 17-7.
STARTING STRONG
The Patriots scored first, taking a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski in the first quarter. New England has scored first in six straight regular-season home games and has scored first in each of its three games this season.
Complete transcript of Bill Belichick press conference
The transcript of Bill Belichick's postgame press conference:
I thought it was a good win for our team out there today. We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but I thought that in the end all three phases came back and we made some plays. We had some good coverage plays on special teams and finally got the punt return going a little bit. Defensively after that long drive there in the first quarter, we played better after that. Offensively we kind of sputtered around a little bit there, but then we started scoring some points in that second and third quarter, even though we moved the ball earlier we weren’t able to convert and get the kind of points that we would like to get off of those drives. In the end, we made enough plays to win. That was good. I thought the players played hard, especially after we got past that first quarter, quarter-and-a-half there. We just didn’t do a good job. Buffalo ran some new schemes on us and we had a little trouble adjusting to those, but I thought the players did a good job in the end. Now we’re moving on to Cincinnati.
You mentioned the punt return game. Can you maybe expound upon that a little bit? It seemed like that sparked a little bit of a turnaround.
We haven’t really done anything with the punt return game all year, including preseason. We’ve worked hard the last couple of week and we usually work on it one day a week. We’ve worked on it two, and one time even three days just to put more emphasis on it and try to improve. I think it all starts with getting those guys held up on the line of scrimmage. Wes [Welker] made some good decisions, good ball handling, it was a tough ball he handled on the long one. I don’t know how far it went. It seemed like it went about 70 yards. What was it?
75 yards.
75. That guy is a great punter. It was just a combination of things. No penalties. That’s the best way to get a punt return, is to not get it called back. That was good. It was something that we’ve worked hard on and I’m glad that we can reinforce that with some positive results.
It looked like your offensive line had a pretty good day, especially keeping [Aaron] Schobel out of the backfield. Can you talk about their performance a little?
We tried. We certainly put enough guys over there to try to block him, but they still got us a few times and then they moved him inside and stunted him. He’s a tough guy to block. He’s really a good player. He’s quick. He’s explosive and strong for his size. He’s very instinctive and he has a great motor. He’s a hard guy to stay with. We got him a few times, but he got us too. He’s a guy you have to game plan for. He’s tough.
Is it good to see your team come back after an emotional game last week to put up another win?
We try to put all of the games behind us as soon as we can. By tomorrow afternoon, we need to get on to Cincinnati, correct the mistakes from this game, watch the tape and move on. It doesn’t really matter whether we win, lose, lose a tough one, win a big one, whatever. We have to get onto the next game. We only have 16. They’re too important and we can’t let one game carryover into another one. I think the guys are pretty good about trying to do that. This will be an important week for us to get off to a good start against Cincinnati, especially defensively. We know what they’re capable of doing from a production standpoint. They can score a lot of points.
Does anything Randy [Moss] does surprise you or do you think you’ve seen enough of him?
There’s a lot of things he can still work on. He hasn’t had that much time in the offense, but his production has been good. Tom [Brady] has been able to find him when he’s been open and Randy has been able to convert. It was a really nice play down there in the red area on the slant pattern. It was really good coverage by [Jabari] Greer. There was almost no space to get the ball in there. It was just well executed and that’s what it needs to be down there. It was good.
Did you see Randy’s second touchdown catch at all from where you were?
Are you talking about the one down the sideline in front of their bench?
Yes.
When Brady let it go, it looked to me like it was going to be an incomplete pass. It didn’t really look like there was much room for the ball to get in there and if it did, the defender would probably get it and somehow it would drop just beyond the corner, just inside the sideline right into Randy’s hands. I was a long way away from it. I didn’t really get a good look at it, but when the ball left his hand the last thing I was thinking was, ‘This is going to be a touchdown.’
You’ve seen a lot of great things from Tom over the years. These past couple of weeks, has this been as good of a stretch that he’s played that you’ve seen?
I think he’s played well. He’s had some other games that were pretty good games. It doesn’t really matter. We have a long way to go. We just need to keep improving each week. I’d like to see him handle the ball a little bit better and not fumble it down there on the goal line. I’m sure he’d like to have that play back. There’s always going to be plays like that that every player would like to have back, calls that every coach would like to have back. We have a long way to go and I hope that we can continue to get better.
It seemed like Laurence [Maroney] ran with some more authority today and he was decisive in his cuts. Is that accurate?
I think Laurence has done a good job for us. He’s done a good job for us. I thought the line blocked well. The way that Buffalo plays defense sometimes it’s a little bit of if there’s a good hole there that you can get through or there’s nothing and we saw some of both. I thought the backs ran hard, but I think they’ve been running hard.
How do you feel about the balance of your offense? Do you feel at all that the efficiency of your running game has been overlooked?
Well, the most important thing to me is scoring points on offense. I don’t really care how we score them. We’ve thrown the ball a lot. We’ve run it a lot. We’ve been balanced. I think in the end, you have to be able to execute the plays that are the most advantageous to you based on your personnel and what the defense is doing. As long as we’re moving the ball and scoring points, then we’re doing well offensively. If we’re not, then we’re not. It doesn’t make any difference what we’re doing. That’s the only reason that unit goes out on the field, is to score. If we just wanted to run three plays and punt, we could find a lot of guys to do that. Their job is to move it.
What was your reaction when Wes Welker lateraled the ball to Randy?
I don’t think that was the best play that I’ve ever seen; let’s put it that way. When the players have the ball out there, they have to make the plays and it’s their job to do what they think is best. Being aggressive and trying to make plays is good. Being careless and not taking care of the ball is bad. I’ll talk to Wes about it and see exactly what he saw. I don’t think we want to make a habit of that. In that case, it worked out for a few extra yards. It’s hard to get on him, but we’ll try. We’ll get on him anyway.
Quick snippets from Tom Brady's postgame press conference . . .
On the Pats' getting better as the game went along
We got off to kind of a slow start offensively, just like we did in practice this week . . . But [coach Bill Belichick] got on us [this week in practice], probably more than he ever has, and by Friday we kind of got back in rhythm.
On the offensive line
I thought the play of the offensive line was exceptional, kind of like they've been doing all year.
On whether Randy Moss ever surprises him with the plays he makes
Nope. [Laughs]
On if he thought he had overthrown Moss on the 45-yard TD pass
I haven't overthrown him yet, so . . .
On the play
I throw it as high as I can and try to put it where only he can get it. It was a great catch, a great call by [offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel]. My job was easy. I just had to put it out there.
On the Bills' defense
That's a good defense, a very fast, physical defense, and I think they played very hard. We just capitalized when we had the opportunity.
On throwing TD passes to three different receivers in the red zone
I think this time it was just the coverage dictated [where I threw it] . . . The one to Ben [Watson] was zone coverage, the second one to Randy was an all-out blitz, the third one . . . they ended up doubling or tripling Randy and [Jabar Gaffney] got open.
On Moss
He's a mismatch every time he's out there when he's one-on-one.
Quick snippets from Bill Belichick's postgame press conference:
On the game
In the end, we made enough plays to win. I thought the players played hard, especially after that first quarter, quarter-and-a-half.
On the punt-return unit
We haven't really done anything in the punt-return game all season, including the preseason . . . It was good to get some positive reinforcement on something we worked very hard on this week.
On the carryover of individual games
We try to put all the games behind us as soon as we can . . . We have to get on to the next game. We only have 16, they're too important.
On Randy Moss
There's a lot of things he still can work on. But his production's been good, Tom [Brady's] been able to find him when he's been open.
On Moss' catch for his second TD
When Brady let it go, it looked to me like it was going to be an incomplete pass . . . The last thing I was thinking was, it was going to be a touchdown.
On the team
We got a long way to go. We just need to keep improving each week. I hope that we can continue to get better.
On Laurence Moroney and the running game
I think Laurence has done a good job for us. I thought the line blocked well for us. I thought the backs ran hard, but I think they've been running hard.
On offensive balance
The most important thing to me is scoring points on offense. I don't care how we score them . . . As long as we're moving the ball and scoring points, we're doing the job offensively.
FOXBORO -- With less than six minutes to play in the second quarter, the New England Patriots trailed the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Not by much -- four points -- but they were behind.
That they wound up winning by 31 speaks to . . . what?
More than anything, it speaks to their talent. Their relentless, multifaceted offense wore down and finally broke Buffalo's defense -- which had protected its early 7-3 lead with a pair of noble stands in the first half -- and the Pats rolled to their third straight win of the season, 38-7.
The Patriots drove 89 yards in nine plays on its second possession in the third quarter, the big play being a 45-yard Tom Brady-to-Randy Moss pass that put the ball on the Buffalo 23. Four plays later Brady hit Jabar Gaffney with a four-yard TD pass, giving the Patriots a 24-7 lead.
They increased it 31-7 on their next possession on a four-yard scoring run by Sammy Morris, capping a four-play, 58-yard drive. Moss was in the middle of that one, too, taking a lateral from Wes Welker at the end of a 26-yard throw-and-catch with Brady and taking it 11 more yards down to the 4.
And Moss closed things with a highlight-reel, one-handed catch of a Brady bomb down the right sideline that he took in for a touchdown, a 45-yard play that made the final 38-7.
The Pats' dominance was evident all over the stat sheet. Get the numbers here.
Come back later this afternoon and evening for Shalise Manza Young's game account, stories by Rob Lee on Randy Moss and Wes Welker, Jim Donaldson's column, and various other news snippets and notes, including a piece on the combined running of Laurence Moroney and Sammy Morris.
