December 13, 2007
Hey all --
As if on cue, it began snowing as soon as the media was let onto the field for the Patriots' practice session. Even though it was freezing, it was actually kind of like being in a snow globe.
There were two absences today -- G Billy Yates and DL Mike Wright.
As for the black jerseys, there were several: Chad Jackson, Chad Brown, Matt Cassel, Ray Ventrone, Ryan O'Callaghan, and Tim Mixon.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young 
at 12:15 PM | Permalink
November 25, 2007
FOXBORO -- Asante Samuel became the 20th -- that's right, 20th -- New England player to score a touchdown this season when he returned an interception 40 yards for a score in the opening minutes against the Eagles.
He joins Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Benjamin Watson, Sammy Morris, Donte Stallworth, Kyle Brady, Tom Brady, Kyle Eckel, Ellis Hobbs, Mike Vrabel, Willie Andrews, Matt Cassel, Rosevelt Colvin, Heath Evans, Kevin Faulk, Jabar Gaffney, Randall Gay, Laurence Maroney, and Adalius Thomas in getting into the end zone for the Patriots.
The NFL record for most players scoring in a season is 21, shared by the 2000 Denver Broncos and the 1987 Los Angeles Rams.
-- JIM DONALDSON
Posted by Jim Donaldson at 10:06 PM | Permalink
October 28, 2007
EIGHT STRAIGHT GAMES WITH 34+ POINTS
The Patriots have become just the second team in NFL history to score at least 34 points in each of its first eight games of a season, joining the 2000 St. Louis Rams. The Patriots have scored 38, 38, 38, 34, 34, 48, 49 and 52 points in their eight games this season, for a total of 331 points. The 2000 Rams scored 41, 37, 41, 41, 57, 45, 34 and 34 points in their first eight games, for a total of 330 points. In their ninth game of the 2000 season, the Rams scored 24 points in a 27-24 loss to Carolina (Nov. 5, 2000).
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT IN CONTEXT
The Patriots scored 52 points today against Washington, tying the third highest single-game point total in team history. The 52 points was New England’s highest total since Sept. 9, 1979, when they scored a franchise-record 56 points in a 56-3 win over the New York Jets. New England scored 55 points in a 55-21 win over the Jets on Oct. 29, 1978, and also scored 52 points in a 52-21 win over Buffalo on Oct. 22, 1961. The Patriots’ 45-point margin of victory over the Redskins is the second largest victory margin in team history, trailing only a 53-point victory over the Jets on Sept. 9, 1979 (56-3).
BRADY TIES NFL MARK FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH 3+ TD PASSES
With three touchdown passes against the Redskins, Tom Brady has thrown for at least three touchdowns in all eight games this season, tying the NFL record for consecutive games with three or more touchdown passes. Peyton Manning also threw for three or more touchdown passes in eight consecutive games in 2004.
BRADY SETS NEW CAREER HIGH WITH 30 TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN 2007
Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes against Washington and ran for two more touchdowns. His three touchdown passes raised his season total to 30, a number that represents a new career high and is the second highest single-season total in team history, trailing only Vito “Babe” Parilli’s franchise-record total of 31 touchdowns in 1964. Brady has thrown 30 touchdowns and just two interceptions through eight games this season. Brady set a new single-season career high when he threw his second touchdown of the day and his 29th touchdown pass of the season – a 6-yard strike to Randy Moss – topping his 28 scoring passes in 2002 and 2004.
VRABEL SCORES EIGHTH CAREER REGULAR-SEASON TOUCHDOWN
Linebacker Mike Vrabel caught his eighth regular-season touchdown pass and his 10th overall touchdown pass (including two in the playoffs) on a 2-yard scoring catch from Tom Brady in the second quarter that gave the Patriots a 14-0 lead. Vrabel also caught a touchdown pass on Oct. 1 at Cincinnati, and has tied his single-season career high with two touchdown catches this season. He also had a pair of scoring grabs in 2005. Each of Vrabel’s 10 career receptions have been for touchdowns – including one in Super Bowl XXXVIII and one in Super Bowl XXXIX. Including his one career interception return for a touchdown, Vrabel now has totaled nine career regular-season touchdowns – the fifth-highest total in a New England uniform by a current Patriot (trailing only Troy Brown, Kevin Faulk, Randy Moss and Benjamin Watson).
VRABEL: THREE STRIP-SACKS
Mike Vrabel recorded three strip-sacks against the Redskins, all of which created fumbles that were recovered by the Patriots. His third strip-sack of the day caused a fumble that was picked up by Rosevelt Colvin and returned 10 yards for a touchdown. Vrabel also had two strip-sacks in the second quarter, with both fumbles being recovered by Ty Warren to give the Patriots possession. Vrabel’s three sacks tie his single-game career-high, also achieved on Oct. 26, 2003 against Cleveland. He is the first Patriot to record three or more sacks in a game since Jarvis Green had three on Oct. 1, 2006 at Cincinnati. Vrabel’s three strip-sacks against Washington give him four strip-sacks for the season, with his other strip-sack coming in the fourth quarter against the New York Jets on Sept. 9. Since joining the Patriots prior to the 2001 season, Vrabel has recorded 12 regular-season strip-sacks (four in 2003, one in 2005, three in 2006 and four in 2007) and three playoff strip-sacks (one in 2003, one in 2004 and one in 2006). Vrabel tied for the team lead with three strip-sacks in the 2006 regular-season and added one more in the 2006 divisional playoffs against San Diego. With his three strip-sacks against the Redskins, Vrabel raised his season total to 7.5 sacks, a tally that leads the team and stands as the second highest total of his career, trailing only his team-high 9.5 sacks in 2003. Vrabel’s three strip-sacks against Washington set up 17 points off turnovers, with his first strip-sack setting up a field goal drive that gave the Patriots a 17-0 lead, his second setting up a touchdown drive that gave the Patriots a 24-0 lead.
BRADY SCORES TWO RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
Tom Brady scored two rushing touchdowns against Washington, setting a new single-game and single-season career high. Brady had three career regular-season rushing touchdowns heading into today’s game – one in each of the 2002, 2003 and 2005 seasons. Brady is the first Patriot to rush for two or more touchdowns in a game since Corey Dillon did it in the 2006 regular-season finale on Dec. 31, 2006. Against Washington, Brady gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead with a 3-yard scoring run in the first quarter and gave New England a 31-0 lead with a 2-yard scoring plunge in the third quarter. Prior to today, the last time Brady had scored a rushing touchdown was on Dec. 11, 2005 at Buffalo. The last Patriots quarterback to run for two or more touchdowns in a game was Tony Eason, who did it on Oct. 14, 1984 against Cincinnati. Brady’s performance is the fifth two-plus touchdown game for a Patriots quarterback since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger – in addition to Eason’s game in 1984, Steve Grogan ran for two touchdowns three times in 1976 and Jim Plunkett did it once in 1973.
BRADY: THREE-PLUS TOUCHDOWNS, 100.0-PLUS PASSER RATING AND 300-YARD GAME
Tom Brady achieved a passer rating of 125.5, and has totaled a rating of at least 100.0 in all eight games this season. He has had a rating of at least 115.0 in seven of the eight games and has totaled a rating of 123.0 or higher in six of the eight games. Brady also threw for 306 yards against Washington, marking his third straight game exceeding the 300-yard passing mark and becoming his fourth game of 300 or more yards this season. Brady has thrown for at least three touchdowns, totaled at least 300 yards and had a passer rating of at least 100.0 for three straight games.
COLVIN: FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN
Rosevelt Colvin scooped up a Jason Campbell fumble forced by Mike Vrabel in the third quarter and rumbled 11 yards to the end zone for his first career touchdown. The fumble recovery was the eighth of Colvin’s career. The fumble return for a touchdown was the third by the Patriots this season – Randall Gay returned a fumble 15 yards for a score against Cleveland on Oct. 7. Colvin’s touchdown marked the Patriots’ third defensive touchdown of the season, with Adalius Thomas returning an interception 65 yards for a score in addition to Gay’s fumble return. Colvin’s touchdown was the Patriots fifth touchdown on a return this season, with their three defensive scores joining a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns.
CASSEL: RUSHING TOUCHDOWN
Quarterback Matt Cassel gave the Patriots a 52-0 lead on a 15-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter. The rushing score was the first of Cassel’s career and was the third by a Patriots quarterback on the afternoon – the highest total of rushing scores by Patriots quarterbacks in any game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
MOSS: 11th TOUCHDOWN CATCH OF THE SEASON
Randy Moss caught his 11th touchdown pass of the season, a 6-yard grab in the second quarter that gave the Patriots a 24-0 lead. Moss’s 11 touchdown receptions stand as the second highest single-season total in Patriots history, trailing only Stanley Morgan’s franchise-record 12 touchdown receptions in 1986. Moss’s 11 touchdown catches tie the fourth highest total of his 10-year career, trailing only his 17 touchdown catches in with Minnesota 1998 and 2003 and his 13 touchdown receptions for the Vikings in 2004. He also had 11 touchdown receptions for the Vikings in 1999.
FAULK MOVES INTO SIXTH ON PATRIOTS’ ALL-TIME RECEPTIONS LIST
With a seven-yard reception in the first quarter – the 293rd catch of his career and his second of the game – Kevin Faulk passed Gino Cappelletti (292 catches) to move into sixth place on the Patriots’ all-time career receptions list. Faulk is the Patriots’ all-time leader in receptions by a running back. Cappelletti was once the Patriots’ all-time leading receiver, holding the record until Stanley Morgan passed him with his 293rd career catch on Nov. 11, 1984. Troy Brown is the Patriots’ all-time leading receiver with 557 career receptions.
SOLID DEFENSIVE EFFORT
The Patriots allowed just seven points, tying their best defensive effort of the season. They also allowed just seven points in a 38-7 win over Buffalo on Sept. 23. New England has allowed seven or fewer points five times in its last 18 games.
SINGLE-GAME TEAM RECORD: MOST FIRST DOWNS
The Patriots gained 34 first downs today, setting a new franchise record for most first downs in a single game. The previous single-game team record was 32 first downs, achieved on Dec. 11, 2005 in a 35-7 win at Buffalo. In their 52-7 win over Washington, the Patriots gained 13 first downs rushing and 21 first downs passing.
BRADY-TO-WELKER
Wes Welker caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the fourth quarter, giving the Patriots a 45-0 lead. The touchdown reception was Welker’s sixth of the season and was the seventh scoring catch of his career. With two-touchdown performances last week against Miami and two weeks ago against Dallas, Welker has caught five touchdown passes in his last three games after catching two scoring passes in the first 52 games of his career.
SAMUEL RECORDS 20th CAREER INTERCEPTION
Asante Samuel intercepted a Jason Campbell pass in the second quarter, recording his team-high fourth interception of the season and the 20th pick of his regular season career. He also has four career interceptions in the playoffs. Samuel’s 20 career interceptions rank 11th on the Patriots’ all-time list and lead all active Patriots. Samuel has recorded 13 interceptions in his last 17 regular-season and playoff games. Last season, he led the NFL with 10 regular-season interceptions.
STARTING STRONG
The Patriots scored first, taking a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Tom Brady in the first quarter. New England has scored on its opening drive in each game this season, totaling five touchdowns and three field goals. New England has scored first in each of its eight games this season and has achieved the feat in 11 straight regular season and playoff games dating back to Jan. 7, 2007.
GOSTKOWSKI’S SUCCESS STREAK
Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 17-0 lead. He has hit nine of his 10 field goal attempts this season (90.0 percent) and has nailed 30 of his last 33 attempts (90.9 percent) dating back to Nov. 5, 2006, including a perfect 8-for-8 performance in last season’s playoffs.
RECORD PERFORMANCE
With the Patriots’ victory this afternoon, Tom Brady has now defeated each of the 31 other teams (besides New England) as a starting quarterback. Entering today’s game, the Redskins were the only team against which the Patriots had not won with Brady as a starting quarterback. Additionally, Brady raised his career records (including playoffs) to… 90-26 overall, 47-10 at home, 30-2 on artificial turf, 25-4 against NFC teams
HOME SELLOUT STREAK REACHES 143
Today’s game was the 143rd consecutive home sellout for the Patriots, a streak that includes every preseason, regular-season and playoff game since the 1994 regular-season opener.
INTERCEPTION-FREE STREAK
With his 38 interception-free passes today, Tom Brady has now thrown 164 consecutive passes without an interception, tying the longest such streak of his career (11/30/03 to 9/9/04). The Patriots record is 179 consecutive passes without an interception, achieved by Drew Bledsoe from Oct. 23 to Nov. 26, 2005. So far in 2007, Brady has thrown 30 touchdowns and two interceptions.
HIGH OCTANE MATCHUP
The Patriots-Colts matchup on Nov. 4 will pit the 8-0 Patriots against the 7-0 Colts, marking the first time in the 88-year history of the NFL that two undefeated teams with seven or more wins have faced each other, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. There are only five previous instances in which undefeated teams with five or more wins have faced each other, and the Patriots have been involved in the last two such matchups, including a 48-27 win by the 5-0 Patriots over the 5-0 Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 14, 2007 and a 13-7 win by the 5-0 Patriots over the 5-0 New York Jets on Oct. 24, 2004.
Posted by Art Martone at 9:55 PM | Permalink
October 21, 2007
Tom Brady threw a Patriots franchise record six touchdown passes, five of them in the first half, as the 7-0 New England Patriots rolled over the 0-7 Miami Dolphins, 49-28, today in Miami. The win gave the Patriots their best start in franchise history.
Brady threw two touchdowns each to Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and one each to Donte Stallworth and Kyle Brady. He did not throw an interception, leaving him with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions on the season so far. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 354 yards.
Brady left the game after completing New England's final drive of the third quarter, but returned after backup Matt Cassel -- on just his third play of the game -- threw an interception that Jason Taylor returned for a Miami touchdown, making the score 42-21. Brady promptly led the Patriots on a four-play, 59-yard drive that ended in a 16-yard touchdown toss to Welker.
Third-string quarterback Matt Gutierrez finished things up for the Patriots.
Willie Andrews, a second-year backup cornerback, had his proudest moment as a pro, returning a short kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, after Miami had pulled to within 14-7. It was Andrews' first NFL touchdown.
Projo.com will have much more Patriots coverage all night long. We'll post game reports from Miami as we get them, with our full report online by about 8:30 tonight. We'll also bring you a gallery of Glenn Osmundson's photos.
For now, we invite you to answer this question: Were the Patriots trying to humiliate the Dolphins today?
Posted by Mike McDermott at 4:05 PM | Permalink
In news that cannot be good for Matt Cassel, Bill Belichick has decided to pull Tom Brady once again, but this time it is undrafted rookie Matt Gutierrez under center and not Cassel.
Gutierrez showed pretty well during the preseason, and has just completed his first NFL pass, to Donte Stallworth for a first down.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 3:53 PM | Permalink
MIAMI -- Tom Brady, who came back into the game after his backup, Matt Cassel, threw an interception that Jason Taylor returned for a touchdown, set a franchise record by throwing for his sixth TD pass of the game -- a 16-yarder to Wes Welker that capped a 4-play, 59-yard drive and made the score 49-21.
For the game, he has completed 21 of 25 passes, for 354, and the team-record six TDs.
Posted by Jim Donaldson at 3:34 PM | Permalink
MIAMI -- Finally going into the game in relief of Brady with 11 minutes left to play, Matt Cassel's first pass attempt was incomplete, and his second was intercepted by Jason Taylor, who returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to trim New England's lead to 42-21.
That prompted Bill Belichick to send Brady back into the game with 9:30 remaining.
Posted by Jim Donaldson at 3:28 PM | Permalink
Tom Brady has finally come out of the game, making way for Matt Cassel.
Brady's incredible day: 19-for-23, 327 yards, five touchdowns, one sack...and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, the first time in his career Brady has posted a perfect rating and the second time this season he's exceeded 150 -- against Buffalo, Brady's rating was 150.9.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 3:26 PM | Permalink
MIAMI -- I don't get this. Never have. Never will.
The only way this spectacular Patriots season can go wrong is if QB Tom Brady gets hurt.
So why, with an exceedingly comfortable, 42-7 lead midway through the third quarter against a totally overmatched Dolphins team is he still in the game?
And taking a big hit from Jason Taylor after throwing a pass.
Why not put in Matt Cassell and give him some playing time in this blowout?
Posted by Jim Donaldson at 3:03 PM | Permalink
October 11, 2007
Hey all --
On a rainy Thursday, things were pretty subdued here at Gillette as well.
Bill Belichick began his press conference by saying that the "more I look at Dallas, the better they look," in all facets of the game.
The coach was asked about Cowboys' running back Marion Barber, who shared carries at Minnesota with Pats' back Laurence Maroney. Belichick said it was easy to see how the Gophers were so successful with the Barber-Maroney tandem running the ball.
Though New England has turned the ball over just three times this season, Belichick isn't completely happy with the team's ball security:
"The numbers are OK, but I think we can do a better job with ball security. I really do," he said. "Guys don't secure it as well as they could." And if that's not corrected now, it could be a problem later.
Belichick also seemed pleased with the development of first-round draft pick Brandon Meriweather, whom he said has gotten better on a per-play basis, both in practice and in games.
In the locker room, backup quarterback Matt Cassel filmed a short bit for ESPN, working off yesterday's Kenny Mayne skit premise about Tom Brady's weekly appearance on the injury report.
Cassel, looking dejected, said "every week they give me hope, and every week they take it away," and threw a water bottle to the floor in disgust.
Pretty funny.
And new practice squad cornerback Tim Mixon backed up former Cal teammate Ryan O'Callaghan's claim that Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch was fibbing when he said the offensive lineman's nickname was "Big Baby."
"I don't remember that one," said Mixon, who was signed earlier this week. O'Callaghan so wanted to defend his good name -- or nickname -- that he led two reporters over to Mixon's locker to have him dispel Lynch's story.
shalise
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 12:04 PM | Permalink
September 23, 2007
With New England holding a 31-point lead with 8:15 to play, Tom Brady has been pulled from the game and backup Matt Cassel is in the game.
Brady was 23-for-29 on the afternoon -- again completing 79 percent of his passes -- for 311 yards, 4 touchdowns, no interceptions and one sack.
Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 3:37 PM | Permalink
