Brady, Offense (Jokingly) Hope 59-0 Quiets Belichick

A few more weeks like this, and Patriots fans may forget the early season struggles had by New England’s offense.

The Patriots set nine team records and two NFL records in the team’s 59-0 victory over the Tennessee Titans in the snowfall of Gillette Stadium.

Up until this Week 6 game, New England was the only NFL team without a pass over 40 yards or run over 20 — head coach Bill Belichick was sure to point that out to his team prior to Sunday’s game. The message was heard.

With the ball at Tennessee’s 40 yard line, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dropped back and fired a pass down field, hitting Randy Moss in the end zone for the first of Brady’s five second quarter touchdown passes — an NFL record.

“Had we hit a few more of those in the past — last week, obviously — it’d be a different story, but we’ve got to make those plays when they’re there,” Brady said. “Coach Belichick was on us pretty tough, being the only team to not hit a 40-yard pass play or have a 20-yard run all season. Hopefully we kept him quiet for a week or two.”

“I think we were just sick of hearing him and we just wanted to shut him up,” receiver Wes Welker said with a smile.

Of course, Brady and Welker would not be able to poke fun at Belichick’s criticism had they not delivered big plays on the field.

“I think we were able to do that today a little bit, but it’s something that definitely needs to be a part of our offense,” Welker said.

Five of New England’s eight touchdowns came on plays of 25 yards or more, effectively taking the Red Area problems experienced in Weeks 1 through 5 out of the picture.

“We’ve missed on some of those big plays over the first five games and it seemed like we hit on most of them today,” Belichick said.

New England first got on the board thanks to the legs of Laurence Maroney, who burst through the line for a 45-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Maroney did not hide his excitement and nor should he have — the former first-round pick was buried on the depth chart this season and only got his shot in the snow due to a first-quarter injury to running back Sammy Morris. Maroney finished the game with 123 yards on 16 carries.

From the start of the second quarter through halftime, it was all Brady, though. Battling an unseasonably early snowfall, Brady performed at 2007 levels, tearing apart Tennessee’s defense en route to an NFL record 45-0 halftime lead.

“Having No. 12 in there and kind of back to his old self — I think he kind of showed it tonight, and under the conditions he played really well,” Welker said.

Brady spread the wealth in the second quarter, tossing five touchdown passes — two to Moss, two to Welker and one to Kevin Faulk. He capped his day with a 9-yard third quarter touchdown pass to Moss before being replaced by rookie backup Brian Hoyer.

Perhaps most surprising about New England’s offensive coming out party was that it occurred on a day when snow and rain fell upon Foxborough. That is, until one looks closer at history. In 2008, with Matt Cassel playing in an injured Brady’s stead, the Patriots defeated eventual NFC Super Bowl representative the Arizona Cardinals 47-7 in the snow of Foxborough. Brady credited Sunday’s pouring-on to the team’s ample time spent practicing in the unfavorable New England weather.

“We’ve always tried to be a good situational team, a good bad weather team and really put a lot of pressure on the defense and today was a lot better,” Brady said.

New England will need to prove over the remainder of the season that this one, snow-filled win against a now (0-6) team was no aberration. The Patriots travel to London, England this week for the team’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before re-cooperating during the Bye Week.

*****

Via the Patriots Media Relations Department:

Team records set by the Patriots