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October 7, 2007

Patriots postgame notes

FIVE STRAIGHT WINS BY 17+ POINTS
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the 2007 Patriots are the fourth team in NFL history to win each of its first five games by a margin of 17 points or more. The Patriots have won by 24, 24, 31, 21 and 17 points in their five games this season. The other teams to achieve the feat are the 1999 St. Louis Rams, the 1968 Dallas Cowboys and the 1921 Buffalo All-Americans.

TEAM-RECORD FIFTH STRAIGHT GAME WITH A 100-YARD RECEIVER
With Benjamin Watson’s 107-yard receiving day against the Browns, the Patriots had a 100-yard receiver for the fifth consecutive game, setting a new team record. The previous team record was four straight games with a 100-yard receiver — from Nov. 23 to Dec. 21, 1975, when Russ Francis, Randy Vataha, Don Calhoun and Andy Johnson each broke the 100-yard mark one time in a four-game span. In addition to Watson’s 100-yard game against the Browns, Randy Moss exceeded the 100-yard mark in each of the first four games of the 2007 season.

FIFTH STRAIGHT GAME WITH 34+ POINTS; 182 TOTAL POINTS
The Patriots have scored 34 or more points in each of the season’s first five games, marking the first time in team history that they have scored at least 30 points in as many as five consecutive games. The Patriots have totaled 182 points through five games, marking the second highest five-game point total in team history, trailing only the 187 points scored by the Boston Patriots in the first five games of the 1962 season. The Patriots have outscored their opponents 182-65 so far in 2007, with their +117 point differential marking the best total for any five-game span in team history.

MORRIS IS THIRD STRAIGHT 100-YARD RUSHER FOR THE PATRIOTS
With Sammy Morris’ 102-yard effort, the Patriots had a 100-yard rusher for the third consecutive game, marking the first time since 1995 that the Patriots have achieved that feat. Curtis Martin broke the 100-yard mark in four straight games from Nov. 26 to Dec. 16, 1995. Against Cleveland, Morris gained 102 yards on 21 carries (4.9 avg.), marking his second consecutive 100-yard game and the third 100-yard game of his eight-year career. Morris had 117 yards on 21 carries on Oct. 1 at Cincinnati. Morris also exceeded the 100-yard mark on Dec. 10, 2006 while playing for Miami in a game against the Patriots. Morris’ 100-yard game against Cleveland marked the Patriots’ third consecutive game with a 100-yard rusher – Laurence Maroney totaled 103 yards on 19 carries on Sept. 23 against Buffalo.

BRADY TIES NFL RECORD WITH THREE OR MORE TOUCHDOWNS IN FIRST FIVE GAMES
By throwing three touchdown passes today, Tom Brady tied an NFL record by throwing for three or more touchdowns in each of the season’s first five games. The only other player in league history to achieve the feat was San Francisco’s Steve Young in 1998. Brady has totaled 16 touchdown passes through five games in 2007. Brady has now thrown for three or more touchdowns 24 times in his regular season career and his five three-touchdown games in 2007 tie his career-high, also achieved in 2002. Last season, Brady threw for three or more touchdowns in a game on two occasions.

SCORING STREAK
Prior to being shut out in the third quarter against Cleveland, the Patriots scored points in each of their first 18 quarters of play this season and scored in 37 consecutive quarters dating back to last season (including regular season and playoff games). The Patriots’ streak of scoring points in 18 consecutive quarters to begin the season is the longest to begin an NFL season since the 2000 St. Louis Rams scored in their first 24 quarters of the year. Since being shut out 21-0 against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 10, 2006, the Patriots scored in 41 of 42 quarters, with that streak ending in the third quarter against the Browns.

WATSON SETS CAREER MARKS FOR TOUCHDOWNS, RECEIVING YARDS
Benjamin Watson totaled a career-high 107 receiving yards, marking his the first 100-yard game of his career. He also caught two touchdown passes today, recording the second multiple-touchdown game of his career and bringing his 2007 total to a career-high five touchdown receptions. His previous season-best was four touchdowns, achieved in the 2005 season. Watson has scored touchdowns in four of the Patriots’ five games this season and has reached the end zone seven times in his last nine regular-season games dating back to November 2006. His two touchdowns against the Browns raised Watson’s career touchdown total to 12, marking the highest total in a Patriots uniform by a member of the team’s active roster (Kevin Faulk, 10). In addition to today, he also scored a pair of touchdowns at Miami on Nov. 13, 2005. Watson caught six passes for a career-high 107 yards, marking the first 100-yard receiving game of his career. His previous career high was 95 yards, achieved on seven receptions on Oct. 30, 2006 at Minnesota.

TWO INTERCEPTIONS FOR SEAU
Junior Seau intercepted two passes in the first half – picking off a Derek Anderson pass in the end zone in the first quarter that was deflected by Asante Samuel and snaring an Anderson pass in the second quarter that had been tipped by Mike Vrabel. The interceptions were the 16th and 17th of Seau’s 18-year career and marked his first interceptions since Sept. 15, 2002, when he picked off a pass by Houston’s David Carr while playing for the San Diego Chargers. The interceptions marked Seau’s third career multiple-interception game and his first in 11 seasons. He also picked off a pair of passes on Sept. 19, 1993 against the Houston Oilers and on Sept. 29, 1996 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

INTERCEPTION IN THREE STRAIGHT GAMES FOR SAMUEL
Asante Samuel intercepted a Derek Anderson pass in the first quarter, picking off a ball that was deflected by Adalius Thomas. The interception was Samuel’s team-leading third of the season and was his third in as many weeks. Samuel has now recorded 12 interceptions in his last 14 regular-season and playoff games, dating back to a three-pick performance against Chicago on Nov. 26, 2006. Samuel’s interception against Cleveland set up a 34-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Donte’ Stallworth on the next play, giving the Patriots a 10-0 lead. It was the 19th interception of his regular-season career. He also has recorded four career playoff interceptions, giving him a total of 23 interceptions since entering the NFL with the Patriots in 2003.

FUMBLE RETURN FOR A TOUCHDOWN BY RANDALL GAY
Randall Gay stripped Cleveland’s Kellen Winslow, recovered the fumble and ran 15 yards to the end zone for his second career fumble return for a touchdown. The play came on the first forced fumble of Gay’s career and was his third career fumble recovery. The only other touchdown of Gay’s career also came against Cleveland, when he scooped up a William Green fumble caused by Richard Seymour and raced 41 yards to the end zone on Dec. 5, 2004 in Cleveland.

TWO SACKS FOR BRUSCHI
Tedy Bruschi tied his career high with two sacks against Cleveland, raising his career sack total to 30.5 sacks. He is the 13th player in Patriots history to record 30 or more sacks in a New England uniform. His two sacks tie his single-game career-high with 2.0 sacks, tying his totals on Dec. 17, 2005 against Tampa Bay and Oct. 6, 1996 at Baltimore. He also had 2.0 sacks in Super Bowl XXXI against Green Bay on Jan. 26, 1997. Against Cleveland, Bruschi sacked Derek Anderson for a 10-yard loss in the final minute of the first half and dropped him for a 6-yard loss in the third quarter. Entering today’s game, the Patriots are 23-2 when Bruschi totals at least one sack.

QUICK HITS
-- Today’s game was the 142nd consecutive home sellout for the Patriots, a streak that includes every preseason, regular-season and playoff game since the 1994 regular-season opener.
-- Ellis Hobbs batted down a Derek Anderson pass intended for Joe Jurevicius in end zone in the first quarter.
-- Vince Wilfork sacked Anderson for a 10-yard loss in the fourth quarter, recording his first sack of the season and raising his career total to 4.5 sacks.

STALLWORTH SCORES
Donte’ Stallworth hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 10-0 lead. The touchdown catch was Stallworth’s first in a Patriots uniform and was the 29th scoring grab of his regular-season career with New Orleans (2002-05), Philadelphia (2006) and New England (2007). Stallworth became the sixth different player to catch a touchdown from Brady in 2007.

STARTING STRONG
The Patriots scored first, taking a 3-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski in the first quarter. New England has scored first in each of its five games this season and has achieved the feat in eight straight regular season and playoff games dating back to Jan. 7, 2007.

GOSTKOWSKI’S SUCCESS STREAK
Stephen Gostkowski nailed two first-half field goals – a 20-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and a 25-yarder to give the Patriots a 13-0 second-quarter advantage. He has hit seven of his eight field goal attempts this season (87.5 percent) and has nailed 28 of his last 31 attempts (90.3 percent) dating back to Nov. 5, 2006, including a perfect 8-for-8 performance in last season’s playoffs.

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:11 PM to Asante Samuel , Ben Watson , Donte Stallworth , Junior Seau , Randall Gay , Sammy Morris , Stephen Gostkowski , Tedy Bruschi , Tom Brady | Permalink