Minnesota Massacre

The Patriots proved to a national audience Monday evening that this team is for real, and in all likelihood will be playing playoff games in January, and maybe one in February... (crossing fingers, dodging lightning bolts, knocking on wood)

New England utterly dominated the Minnesota Vikings (who were billed as the "Denver Broncos of the NFC", who handed the Pats their lone defeat of the season) 31-7 last night, a few miles from the Lake Minnetonka Scandal.

Tommy B and the boys took the opening kickoff 86 yards in just under 4 minutes to open the scoring 7-0 when Brady found Reche Caldwell in the back of the end zone on a nice come back curl for the opening score. On this drive, Brady was 6-6 for 94 yards (there was a penalty on the drive, giving Brady more than the 86 yards) including the TD Strike to Caldwell. But Brady wasn't close to done yet.

The Pats tacked on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal early in the second, and Brady found Tight End Ben Watson for a 9 yard TD reception, and the Pats led 17-0 at the half. This one wasn't much of a contest until Mewelde Moore returned a Josh Miller punt 71 yards early in the 3rd quarter to make the score 17-7. But, as usual so far in 2006, the Pats responded in resounding fashion. This time, rookie Laurence Maroney returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards to setup Brady's third of 4 touchdown passes on the day, this time to the ageless one, Troy Brown. The Pats capped their scoring with yet another Brady TD pass, this time to Chad Jackson on a 10 yard strike.

Brady, who in all likelihood will be the AFC and NFL offensive player of the week, finished with 29 completions on 43 attempts, 372 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception. In a word, astounding. The Pats came into this game a very strong running team, but from the jump used 4 and 5 wide receiver sets against a Minnesota team that was clearly not ready to defend such an attack.

New England did rush for 85 yards, but all the damage was done through the air on Monday night. Brady was crisp and on target all night long, and made it easy for his receivers to make plays. Ten players made a reception in the game, and as Bill Belichick stated after the game, Brady's favorite target is "the open receiver". Amen. Feels a lot like 2003 and 2004, doesn't it? Seems like, finally, the receivers are now confident and knowledgeable of the Patriots' notoriously complex defense, and it is starting to pay major dividends. Being able to run the ball like the Pats can, coupled with an incredibly effective passing game could spell trouble for the rest of the National Football League.

Next week, the Pats face long time rival the Indianapolis Colts... and Adam Vinatieri comes home. The Pats will take a crack at knocking off one of the only 2 undefeated teams left in the NFL (the other being Chicago, who also visits Foxboro in a few weeks). This one should be a game for the ages.

A sidenote on the game within the game... local football pundit I.M. Bettor faded the Patriots as his lone play this week, stating that the Pats were ripe for a defeat. Looks like I.M. swung and missed on that one.

The Pats keep up the good work here and we are in for a fruitful season. Let's hope it continues over the next stretch of games which includes home tilts with Indy, the Jets, and Chicago, and an away game with Green Bay. Bostonist will be watching.