Brady threw six touchdown passes, and the Patriots set a franchise record for points in their 59-0 beat down of the Titans.
Patriots 59, Titans 0
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
Oct. 18, 2009
Headliner: The demise of Tom Brady's illustrious career had become a major story line through the first six weeks of the season, but on Sunday, Brady proved those talks to be a bit premature. Brady needed less than three quarters of action to complete 29 passes on 34 attempts for 380 yards and six touchdowns. One point shy of a perfect quarterback rating, Brady threw five of his six touchdowns in the second quarter as the Patriots took a record-setting 45-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Game Ball: Tennessee's Chris Johnson was able to run for 128 yards on the Patriots defense, but the winless Titans never found the end zone against the resurgent New England defense. The Patriots held Kerry Collins to -7 yards passing, as the veteran quarterback was 2-for-12 on the day with an interception, and had possibly the worst game in anyone's career. On the same day the Patriots were able to pick up 619 yards of offense, the Titans were only able to muster 186.
Better Luck Next Week: It's tough to choose just one person who played poorly in this game, so the entire Tennessee Titans' 53-man roster and coaching staff take the honors, though Collins could accept the award on behalf of the team. Last season the Titans were the No. 1 seed in the AFC before flopping in the first round of the playoffs. This season, the Titans have two fewer wins than the Raiders through six weeks. After what will go down as one of the ugliest games in the history of the league, the only direction the Titans can go from here is up.
Key moment: Kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a 39-yard field goal attempt in
the first quarter, and it looked like the Patriots would miss out on an opportunity to get on the board first and take an early lead at home. But
it turns out that all Gostkowski's missed field goal did was to prevent the
Patriots from breaking the 60-point barrier. After Gostkowski's miss, the offense
didn't let the possible three points change its game plan or mindset. Soon after,
the Patriots would march back down the field twice in the first quarter with
ease to score 10 points in the opening frame.
Scouting Report: Things will only get easier (if that's possible) for the Patriots next weekend, when they face the also-winless Buccaneers in London before their bye week.
Sitting at 4-2, the Patriots have a chance to head into the bye at 5-2 before the toughest stretch of their schedule begins. After facing the Bucs, the Patriots will play the Dolphins, Colts, Jets, Saints and Dolphins again over a five-week period that will go a long way toward deciding their playoff fate. A win next Sunday would get them off to a good start.
And given Sunday's performance in the snow, the Patriots would certainly have welcomed the warm weather of Tampa Bay. So how's the forecast looking over in jolly old England?
