Patriots Introduce London To Blowout Football

NFL News - October 25th, 2009 - Written by John

So maybe this Tom Brady is the one that's here to stay.

A week after setting an NFL record with five touchdown passes in one quarter, and throwing six overall in a woodshed whipping of the Tennessee Titans, Brady again aired it out in a 35-7 blowout over Tampa Bay. The New England Patriots covered the week's biggest point-spread of 16.

In front of a crowd that easily doubled the capacity of any game in New England, Brady showed London the one of the finest examples of american football. He had 308 yards and three touchdowns. His main beneficiary was Wes Welker, who caught a variety of screens and deep balls 10 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. Laurence Maroney even got in the act for the second-straight week. He ran for 43 yards and a touchdown, his second in two weeks, after inheriting the bulk of the carries with Fred Taylor injured.

Meanwhile, quarterback problems are still plaguing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Josh Johnson was picked off in each of his first two series', one of them resulting in the game's first score. He ended up only 9-for-26 with three picks and a score.
Safety Brandon Meriweather got the scoring started right away when he read a quick slant route and stepped in front of a pass intended for Antonio Bryant. He then took it 36 yards to the house in front of a roaring Wembley Stadium crowd.

Meriweather was the culprit in Johnson's second pick on the next drive, catching a bobbled ball that bounced into a crowd in New England's second level. That set up the Patriots' first offensive touchdown on the day when Welker took a screen pass at the 14 and scrambled his way into the end zone.

The lead rose to 21 in the second quarter when Brady really started to get things going. On the third play of their fifth drive, Brady hit Sam Aiken with a 54-yard touchdown that turned the game into a laugher.

Tampa Bay did counter before halftime. Johnson made a read on one-on-one coverage down the right side of the field and hit Bryant with a perfect 33-yard pass to the corner of the end zone to make it 21-7.

But in the second half, Tampa Bay linebacker Geno Hayes was burnt by tight end Benjamin Watson for a 35-yard touchdown and Maroney added his one-yard scamper in the fourth.

The Bucs are now 0-7 for the first time since this decade and have lost their last 11 games.

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