Penalty free Patriots persevere, reclaim division lead

The Patriots were very fortunate yesterday, playing the suddenly resurgent Rams they literally made just enough plays to win the game. With the Rams primary offensive weapon Steven Jackson out of the game the Patriots seemed to have caught a break, but in absence of Jackson, Marc Bulger did what Jay Cutler couldn’t, exploit the Patriots secondary. Rookie Donnie Avery became Bulger’s go to target, hitting him for several deep balls including a 69-yard touchdown reception that put the Rams in front 10-7 early in the second quarter.

The Patriots much maligned offense seemed to feed off their momentum from last week and drove the ball at will against the Rams defense. But in two drives deep into Rams territory, one shortened by the end of the half, the Pats had to settle for Gostkowksi field goals to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room. In the second half, particularly the third quarter the Patriots seemed to do their best to hand the Rams their third straight win. On the Patriots first drive of the half, Cassel looked deep for Moss, and the ball bounced off his hands and turned into Oshiomogho Atogwe who picked the pass off, his eleventh interception in the last 15 games. The Rams took advantage of the shortened field and Josh Brown kicked a 44-yard game tying field goal.

The Patriots next two drives weren’t much to write home about either. Once again Cassel looked deep down the field for his receiving corps, this time Wes Welker slipped on the play and could only watch in disgust as the Rams picked off their second Cassel pass in as many drives. After a very nice three and out from the Patriots defense Cassel and co. wound up with a 3rd and 1 from the Rams 36. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was stopped at the line on third down, and was tripped up two yards behind the line on fourth down. Three straight promising drives from New England had come up short and left the Rams abound with confidence.

The Rams once again sliced through the Pats secondary and on the play after the fourth down stop Bulger found Avery streaking down the field to the Patriots 20-yard line. The Patriots defense was able to bend (quite a lot) but not break again holding the Rams to just a field goal. Still with just over tweleve minutes to go in the fourth quarter the Patriots were in need of a solid drive from their offense. To kick start their effort Ellis Hobbs took the ensuing kickoff to the 50-yard line on a huge return. Hobbs was caught and tackled by the kicker on the play. After seeing the Patriots three and out Hobbs was likely more than a little annoyed he was caught by the kicker. On the first two plays of the drive Cassel had Wes Welker and then Kevin Faulk wide open in the flat, both of them without any pressure, dropped well delivered passes. On third down Cassel was sacked by rookie Jake Long forcing the Patriots to punt.

Despite giving up several deep balls in this game the Patriots defense deserves a lot of credit for holding New England in this game while the offense repeatedly shot itself in the foot in the second half. After the Patriots punt they shut the Rams down forcing a three and out once again. The Patriots finally caught a much needed break as Rams punter Donnie Jones shanked the kick out of bounds around midfield. With the Patriots again having control of the ball and 10:35 left on the clock the Cassel/Moss/Faulk show began. After a 14-yard run from Faulk. Cassel hit Moss for a 12-yard gain which put the Patriots within in field goal range. Gostkowski nailed a 41-yard field goal and the Patriots tied the game at 16 with 8:22 left in the game.

The Patriots defense once again held the Rams to a three and out as a sack and a costly false start penalty backed the Rams into an very difficult 3rd and 20 situation. The Rams penalty put into focus a rather remarkable accomplishment by the entire Patriots team, they were not flagged for a penalty all game long. The Patriots penalty-free performance marked only the 50th time thats occured since the AFL-NFL merger. With the ball back the CMF Show went right back on attack. Cassel found Moss on consecutive throws for 26-yards, then Faulk rushed for seven more yards down to the Rams 28. Cassel then found Moss for eight yards, followed by another Faulk run for five more yards and a first down on the Rams 15. On first down Cassel hit Faulk in stride with a beautiful fade to endzone, touchdown Patriots for a 23-16 lead. Deltha O’Neal picked Bulger off at the Patriots 16 to seal the deal and ensure Matt Cassel’s first fourth quarter comeback would hold up. As Wes Welker put it after the game Cassel, “played really well today. He made all the right reads and was seeing the defense really well.”

To top it all of the Patriots who now sit at 5-2 learned shortly after their win that the Buffalo/Toronto Bills had lost to Miami, which meant the Patriots were tied for the division lead. For a club without the league’s 2007 MVP that’s not too shabby.

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