New England Patriots’ game-by-game
December 30, 2007
By PA SportsTicker
A week-by-week look at the New England Patriots’ undefeated regular season:
WEEK ONE
NEW ENGLAND 38, NY JETS 14: Randy Moss made a sensational debut with his new team, hauling in nine passes for 183 yards and a touchdown as the Patriots rolled to a 38-14 victory at East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Despite sitting out the entire preseason, Moss registered the third-highest single-game yardage total in his career. Tom Brady completed 22-of-28 passes for 297 yards and three TDs.
Ellis Hobbs reeled off a 108-yard TD return on the first play of the second half to make it 21-7 and start the rout. It was the longest kickoff return in NFL history.
But the result would be overshadowed in the following days when it was revealed that the Patriots were illegally taping defensive signals of the Jets.
That led to a $500,000 fine levied against coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 fine against the club and the forfeiture of one or more draft picks depending on how the team finishes.
WEEK TWO
NEW ENGLAND 38, SAN DIEGO 14: Three days after drawing the heavy fine and loss of draft picks in the wake of “Spygate,” Belichick was introduced to a thunderous standing ovation in the home opener.
Brady and Moss then garnered their own applause, hooking up for a pair of touchdown passes as the Patriots steamrolled the Chargers.
Moss finished with eight receptions for 105 yards, marking his first back-to-back 100-yard performances since the beginning of the 2005 campaign. Brady was 25-of-31 for 279 yards and three TD passes as New England bolted to a 24-0 lead and was never challenged.
WEEK THREE
NEW ENGLAND 38, BUFFALO 7: Brady tied a career high with four touchdown passes as the Patriots cruised over the visiting Bills.
Moss, acquired in a draft-day trade, continued to look like the biggest steal of the offseason, hauling in two of Brady’s touchdown passes and finishing with five receptions for 115 yards.
It gave the former Pro Bowl receiver five touchdowns and made him the first player to crack the 100-yard receiving mark in each of his first three games with a new team.
Moss also surpassed the 11,000-yard receiving plateau - the 19th player in NFL history to reach the milestone.
Brady finished 23-of-29 for 311 yards and no interceptions as the Patriots scored 38 points for the third consecutive week.
WEEK FOUR
NEW ENGLAND 34, CINCINNATI 13: The Brady and Moss show starred again under the bright lights of Monday Night Football in Cincinnati.
Moss had nine receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns, giving him seven scoring receptions in four games. He also became the first player to crack the 100-yard receiving mark in each of his first four games with a new team.
Brady finished 25-of-32 for 231 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception. It gave Brady 13 scoring passes against just two interceptions.
At the quarter pole of the season, New England had put up 148 points and won each of its first four games by at least 21 points.
WEEK FIVE
NEW ENGLAND 34, CLEVELAND 17: Taking advantage of three first-half interceptions, Brady and the Patriots built a 20-point halftime lead in beating the visiting Browns.
Derek Anderson was intercepted twice by New England’s Junior Seau in the opening half. Cornerback Asante Samuel had an interception and forced another one in the first half as New England took advantage of the turnovers to race out to a 20-0 lead.
Brady threw three touchdown passes, completing 22-of-38 passes for 265 yards, and tying an NFL record in the process. Brady joined Steve Young as the only quarterbacks to throw at least three TDs in five consecutive games to begin a season.
WEEK SIX
NEW ENGLAND 48, DALLAS 27: In a matchup pitting two undefeated clubs against each other, Brady completed 30-of-45 passes for 377 yards and a career-high five touchdowns to lead the Patriots in Irving, Texas.
Brady also set a league mark by becoming the first quarterback to throw at least three TD passes in the first six games of the season. The Patriots scored at least 34 points in each of their first six games, tying an NFL record set by the St. Louis Rams in 2000.
Donte’ Stallworth hauled in seven passes for 136 yards, including a clinching 69-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter that gave New England a 38-24 advantage. Wes Welker added career highs with 11 receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Moss had six catches for 59 yards and a TD as the Patriots overcame a 24-21 deficit early in the third quarter by scoring the final 27 points.
WEEK SEVEN
NEW ENGLAND 49, MIAMI 28: Brady connected on his first 11 passes - four that went for touchdowns - as the Patriots remained undefeated by routing the hapless Dolphins in Miami.
Brady set a career high with six touchdowns, bringing his season total to 27 through just seven games. He established a franchise single-game record with his six TDs, becoming the first player to achieve the feat since Colts quarterback Peyton Manning did so on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions on November 25, 2004.
Moss and former Dolphin Welker were each on the receiving end of a pair of Brady’s scores. Brady finished 21-of-25 for 354 yards as New England scored at least 34 points in each of their last eight games (including the 2006 season finale) to tie the 2000 Rams for the NFL record.
WEEK EIGHT
NEW ENGLAND 52, WASHINGTON 7: Brady threw for three touchdown passes and ran for two more in a 52-7 home rout of the Redskins.
Only halfway through the season, Brady reached a career high for touchdowns in a season (30) while completing 29-of-38 passes for 306 yards. Brady has thrown for at least three touchdowns in all eight games.
Brady had his first rushing scores since December 11, 2005 vs. Buffalo. He added a 2-yard keeper for a score in the third quarter and threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to Mike Vrabel and 7 yards to Moss in the second quarter to help New England take a 24-0 halftime lead.
WEEK NINE
NEW ENGLAND 24, INDIANAPOLIS 20: Brady threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final eight minutes as the visiting Patriots rallied from a 10-point deficit to knock off the defending Super Bowl champions.
With its high-powered offense flustered for the first three quarters, the Patriots used a pair of quick-strike touchdowns to remain undefeated and hand the Colts (7-1) their first loss of the season in one of the most anticipated regular-season games in NFL history.
New England ended a 12-game winning streak by Indianapolis while avenging a 38-34 loss in last season’s AFC Championship game.
Brady connected with Moss and Stallworth on a pair of long passes to set up his last two touchdowns - a 3-yard pass to Welker and and a 13-yard scoring strike to Kevin Faulk for the go-ahead score with 3:15 to play.
Brady finished 21-of-32 for 255 yards with the three TDs and two interceptions. Moss hauled in nine catches for 145 yards and a touchdown - his league-leading 12th of the season.
WEEK 10 (bye)
WEEK 11
NEW ENGLAND 56, BUFFALO 10: Coming off a bye week and on the road, New England continued its dominance of the Bills.
The Patriots have won nine straight in the series, but none of those previous victories were as impressive as this one.
New England scored on its first six possessions, four of those scores being touchdown passes from Brady to Moss.
Moss had scoring catches of 43, 16, 6 and 17 yards as the Patriots built a 35-7 halftime advantage.
WEEK 12
NEW ENGLAND 31, PHILADELPHIA 28: Samuel ran back one interception for a touchdown and killed a potential go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter with a pick in the end zone as the Patriots held off the visiting Eagles.
New England already had clinched its fifth straight AFC East title earlier in the day when Buffalo lost at Jacksonville.
Brady threw for 380 yards but was held to just one touchdown pass. New England did not go ahead for good until Laurence Maroney capped the scoring with a 4-yard run with 7:20 to play.
It was only the second time the Patriots trailed in the final quarter this season.
WEEK 13
NEW ENGLAND 27, BALTIMORE 24: Brady threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds to play as the Patriots kept their undefeated season alive with a pulsating road victory on Monday Night Football.
The dramatic finish allowed the Patriots to become only the sixth team in history to start a season with a 12-0 record. The last team to do it was the Indianapolis Colts in 2005.
Taking over at their own 27-yard line with 3:30 to play, the Patriots drove 73 yards for the winning touchdown, twice converting a pair of bizarre fourth-down plays.
It was the 21st game-winning drive led by Brady since 2001 and came on a night when the two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player became just the fourth quarterback in league history to throw 40 touchdowns in a season.
A defensive holding call in the end zone on 4th-and-6 kept the Patriots’ final drive alive, and Brady hit Gaffney with the go-ahead TD on the next play.
WEEK 14
NEW ENGLAND 34, PITTSBURGH 13: Brady threw four touchdown passes as the Patriots remained undefeated by hammering the visiting Steelers.
Moss had seven catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns as New England clinched a first-round bye for the playoffs and drew within three games of the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history.
Perhaps motivated by the guarantee of a win by Steelers safety Anthony Smith, Brady torched the Pittsburgh secondary by completing 32-of-46 attempts for 399 yards on the afternoon.
Moss caught a pair of scoring passes in a span of 1:59 and now has 19 touchdowns - a franchise record and second only to Jerry Rice’s career NFL record of 22 for receivers set in 1987.
WEEK 15
NEW ENGLAND 20, NY JETS 10: In the much eagerly anticipated rematch of “Spygate,” Eugene Wilson returned a first-quarter interception for a touchdown and recovered a key second half fumble as the Patriots overcame a winter storm in Foxboro and held off the Jets.
Maroney rushed for a season-high 104 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries as the Patriots became the first NFL team to go 14-0 since the Miami Dolphins in 1972 and in the process clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
New England won despite a season-worst performance by Brady, who failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time since December 10, 2006. Brady finished 14-of-27 for 140 yards and an interception.
Wilson became the 21st Patriots player to score a touchdown this season, tying an NFL record held by the 2000 Denver Broncos and the 1987 Los Angeles Rams.
WEEK 16
NEW ENGLAND 28, MIAMI 7: Brady threw two of his three first-half touchdown passes to Moss, and Maroney rushed for a career-high 156 yards as the Patriots coasted past the visiting Dolphins.
In the process, the Patriots became the first 15-0 team in NFL history and now stand one win away from the first perfect regular-season mark since the 1972 Dolphins. It is the most wins by the franchise in history.
New England also matched its own NFL record by winning its 18th consecutive regular-season contest, tying the record it set in the 2003-04 seasons. The Patriots can shatter that mark and complete a perfect season when they visit the New York Giants on Saturday night.
Maroney needed just 14 carries to register his second straight 100-yard performance and third of the season, highlighted by a pair of runs over 50 yards.
WEEK 17
NEW ENGLAND 38, N.Y. GIANTS 35: The final - and toughest - obstacle to the perfect regular season.
The Patriots faced their largest deficit of the season, trailing 28-16 with just over nine minutes to play in the third quarter.
But Maroney sandwiched a pair of scoring runs around a 65-yard scoring pass from Brady to Moss as New England scored 22 unanswered points to take a 10-point lead.
The Patriots left a trail of broken records, shattering the single-season scoring record with 589 points while Brady set a league mark with his 50th TD pass and Moss caught his 23rd scoring pass to surpass Jerry Rice’s all-time record.
No wonder our young people don’t vote
December 20, 2007 — RickThis is a guest commentary from educator Tom Hanson, the editor of openeducation.net. I think it is well thought out and insightful. It highlights to me why people like me (and I presume some of the folks reading this) should care about the ruination of our country… our children have to live with the mess, and the lessons they are learning right now are not good ones. Imagine being a child right now and trying to make sense of the corruption, the war, the torture, and the stripping of civil liberties. The Chancellor and Vice Chancellor lied throughout their campaigning for the presidency and have continued to lie to us for seven years. And Americans have sat back and accepted it. In an environment where adults act like helpless sheep, I am not sure how children are supposed to learn a better lesson.