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November 19, 2007

Game story: Parity? What parity?

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Somewhere, Pete Rozelle must be spinning in his grave.

The longtime late NFL commissioner worked throughout his career to make sure that there would always be parity in the league, that at the start of each season and on any given Sunday, every team would have a chance to win.

And this year, the New England Patriots are making a mockery of Rozelle’s life’s work.

Making everything look easy from the opening snap, the Patriots returned to their dominating ways against the Buffalo Bills, tying the team record for points in a 56-10 embarrassment of their AFC East foe.

While New England’s supremacy this season has taken on an almost absurd quality, Tedy Bruschi said believing that they can be beaten is what drives the Pats.

“I can only tell you how I look at it as a player, and the reason we prepare so hard, I prepare so hard, each week is because of the knowledge that we can get beat each week,” he said.

With an average margin of victory of 24.4 points, the Patriots can make it look easy. But the finished product, Ellis Hobbs noted, is the result of long hours.

“The thing about it is, it’s not that easy,” said Hobbs, who flashed some great hands during a 35-yard fumble return touchdown in the fourth quarter. “You’re just seeing the finished product of hard work. We work hard all through the week.”

In its last game two weeks ago, New England needed 60 minutes to edge Indianapolis, but last night it took all of five plays to announce their intentions against Buffalo: to score often, and to score at will.

The Bills were without rookie running back Marshawn Lynch due to an ankle injury, and lacking their leading rusher, Buffalo became one-dimensional, putting the game almost squarely on the (shaky) right arm of quarterback J.P. Losman.

Losman found Lee Evans for a 16-yard gain on the first snap of the game, but then was dropped for a nine-yard loss by Adalius Thomas. On second-and-19, Losman dropped back, looked downfield for Josh Reed – and found Randall Gay instead.

Gay returned his third interception of the season 21 yards, and New England had 15 more tacked on after that when Bills’ offensive lineman Langston Walker shoved Gay after he had gotten out of bounds.

Starting at the Buffalo 13, Tom Brady hit Jabar Gaffney for a seven-yard gain. Then Laurence Maroney got the ball – an infrequent occurrence for him when the Pats are in a goal-line situation this year – and the middle of the line parted. Maroney ran untouched into the end zone for his first touchdown of the season.

The game was less than three minutes old and already, it seemed, the outcome had been decided.

Parity, as it has on so many Sundays (and one Monday) thus far this season when New England is playing, had taken the day off.

The plucky Bills, who have overcome a devastating Opening Day injury to one of its players and season-ending injuries to 11 others and came into the night on a four-game winning streak and an unblemished record at home on Sunday nights, would have no chance on this night.

No chance to win, and no chance to slow down Randy Moss.

The receiver, in his first season with the Patriots and 10th in the NFL, put up numbers in the first half that many wideouts long for in a game – eight catches, 112 yards and four touchdowns.

Yes, a single-game franchise-record four. In one half. He now has a single-season team record 16 scores in 10 games.

But Moss, who acknowledged after the game that he knew about Dallas’ Terrell Owens also recording four TDs on Sunday – though Owens needed four quarters, not just two – wasn’t all that impressed by his performance.

“I’ve never been a big fan of records. I learned at a young age that records are meant to be broken. I’ve never lived on records or getting my name in the record book,” he said.

Moss, like Brady, also knew where to give a lot of the credit for the passing game’s success.

“The whole offense executed, starting with the offensive line; they gave Tommy time to throw,” said Moss. “The offensive line did their job and it trickled down to everyone else.”

The first of Moss’ touchdowns, like so many of the throws and catches between Brady and Moss this season, was gorgeous, a 43-yard arching bomb on third-and-12. Moss had defensive back George Wilson all turned around, and when the ball came, Wilson was a good three yards from Moss – and facing the wrong way – more than enough space for Moss to work with.

“I saw the flight of the ball and I thought I had a shot at it,” Wilson explained. “But as I went back and jumped, the ball went over my hand and Moss was there in the end zone. It was a tough way to start out on defense.”

Buffalo did breathe life into aging Ralph Wilson Stadium on its next drive, as Losman connected with Roscoe Parrish for a 47-yard touchdown to cut the score to 14-7. Ellis Hobbs fell in coverage and was not able to make a play on the ball.

It was one of the few missteps by a Patriots player all night.

As if his first half weren’t impressive enough, Moss was on the field with the defense on the final play of the half, when Losman dropped back for a Hail Mary.

Not surprisingly, he got his hands on that ball as well, knocking it down to the turf.

Other players got involved in the second half, as Benjamin Watson made a nice catch in the right corner of the end zone, and Kyle Eckel dove over the goal line for his second score of the season.

And Hobbs, who has said he lives for the bright lights of prime time games, made a prime time play in the fourth. Losman completed a short pass to Dwayne Wright, and James Sanders jarred the ball loose knocking Wright out of bounds.

The ball popped up in the air, and Hobbs came down with it, racing 35 yards to the end zone and the Patriots’ eighth touchdown of the night.

Rozelle wanted parity, and he has it – everywhere but in New England.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:19 AM | Permalink