Postgame: New England 49, Miami 28

Lucky 7
Patriots Remain Undefeated

Look at all the pretty 7s. New England is 7-0. Miami is 0-7. The Patriots scored 49 points (7 touchdowns) and 49 is 7 squared (obviously). Tom Brady hit 7 different receivers. Willie Andrews returned a kickoff 77 yards (ultimately for 7 points). OK, starting to stretch this theme too thin.

If Brady was great today, Moss was mesmerizing. And that's besides the two phenomenal touchdown receptions, both in double coverage, both just standing there like he was in the eye of the storm. No, what was mesmerizing about Moss was the coverage he attracted, like he had his own gravitational field.

Defensive backs were drawn to him, making Brady's job easy. The league's best quarterback found receivers all over the field, so wide open they looked like they were filming remakes of The Sound of Music.

If anyone had an easier game, it was place kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Seven kickoffs ("Frankly, sir, I'm exhausted" -- 7 points if you know that one), seven extra points, no field goal attempts. By the way, 3 of the kickoffs were touchbacks.

The defense gave up one long drive in the first half, when it mattered. The final stats won't show it, because they allowed Miami to move the ball in the second half, just to kill the clock. Tedy Bruschi looked 5 years younger. He was all over the field, netting 10 solo tackles and 2 assists. Rodney Harrison, sans HGH, also looked good in his third game of the season, racking up 7 solo tackles, an assist, and a sack. Even Adalius Thomas, listed as questionable Friday, notched 7 solo tackles.

But what the rest of the world will be talking about is the offense.

New England scored at will in the first half. The Patriots scored on their first four possessions (not including a 0-play kickoff return for touchdown) before going 3-and-out with barely 5 minutes left in the half. In all, they scored on 5 of 6 first-half possessions.

Because the Patriots allowed Miami to "control the clock" in the second half, New England had just four possessions. The first was a mere attempt to move the ball and kill time. It ended with a punt. The second ended with Matt Cassel's interception, returned 36 yards for a touchdown by Jason Taylor. With the score "closing," Brady went back in. Bill Belichick wanted a score. Brady and company delivered -- with virtually no effort at all. Matt Gutierrez closed it out, but there was no controlled attempt to score.

Brady's 1st 'Perfect Game'

The records continued to fall. Brady extended his record of games to start a season with 3 or more touchdown passes to 7 (there it is again). He also broke his career best with 6 touchdown passes in a single game (previously, 5, last week). That is also a Patriots franchise record. The NFL record is 7 (most recently by Joe Kapp for the 1969 Vikings). It was his first career game with a perfect passer rating: 158.3

Moss, who now has 10 touchdowns, is the first Patriot with 10 or more touchdowns in a single season since Stanley Morgan did it in 1986.

New England's 42 points in the first half is a franchise record for points in a single half (either first or second).

I'm sure we'll hear of more once the statisticians run the numbers.

Patriots scored 48 last week. They scored one more this week. The Patriots allowed 27 points next week. They allowed one more this week. Not a record, just interesting.

I leave you with this question:

How many teams nonchalantly allow 21 points in the fourth quarter and still win by 21?