ShareThisThe 2010 New England Patriots have already broken numerous NFL and franchise records -- both individual and team -- and they're poised to break more in their final game of the season Sunday against Miami:
-- Not only did Tom Brady break Bernie Kosar's NFL record of 308 consecutive passes without an interception (he's thrown 319 passes without a pick) in Sunday's victory over Buffalo, he extended his NFL record for throwing at least two touchdowns and no interceptions to eight consecutive games.
"As much as everyone points to me for that, so much of that goes into what we're doing offensively," Brady said in a radio interview Monday. "With the protection that I get from the offensive line, I'm really never forced into rushing throws. Also, we've been ahead a lot of these games, so you really don't need to jam the ball into those tight areas that you would if you were really desperate in the second half, trying to get back. The receivers have done a great job of securing the catches. There's a lot that goes into it."
-- Brady's thrown at least one touchdown in all 15 games this season for the first time in his career. Since the NFL went to a 16-game season in 1978, only five quarterbacks have thrown for at least one touchdown in each game.
-- Brady has led the Patriots to an NFL-record seven consecutive games of scoring 30-plus points without a turnover. No other team has done that more than three times in a row. In addition, no other team in NFL history has gone more than four consecutive games without a turnover.
-- Brady's NFL-record streak of consecutive regular-season home victories now stands at 26. He broke Brett Favre's old record during the Patriots' last home victory, over Green Bay.
-- The Patriots have only turned the ball over nine times this season. The NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season is 13 (Miami and New York Giants in 2008), which the Patriots should break.
-- The Patriots forced seven turnovers against the Bills to increase their NFL-best turnover differential to plus-27. The Patriots' team record for differential in a season is +17, which was set in 2003. They're poised to shatter that mark. The Patriots are 12-0 this season when they have won the turnover battle, and 82-3 since the 2001 season.
-- In an early-season game against Miami, the Patriots set a new NFL record by scoring in six different ways: rushing touchdown, passing touchdown, interception returned for a touchdown, blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, blocked punt returned for a touchdown and kickoff returned for a touchdown.
-- Perhaps most unlikely of all, Dan Connolly entered the record books by returning a kickoff 71 yards against Green Bay, the longest kick return ever by an offensive lineman.
These record-breakers have locked up the AFC East title and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with the best record in the NFL at 13-2.
With all of the new faces in the locker room, young players on the squad and injuries that piled up before the season even began, not to mention those that occurred during the season, few outside of the Patriots' locker room believed that they would be this good at this point of the season when it all began on Sept. 12.
"That means a lot to us. To be able to come out and just silence the critics," Patriots defensive captain Vince Wilfork said. "A lot of people doubted us, some people still might. At the same time, all year we knew what we had in this locker room ...
"I think guys really buckled down and just trusted one another that we can be a really good football team if we just stay focused and outwork our opponents..."
The many rookies who had key roles to perform never became a liability this season. The veterans wouldn't let them.
"There are a lot of younger guys, and the expectation is for the position, not for the player," said Brady. "If you're an outside linebacker on this team, you're expected to play like Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel. If you're a running back, you're expected to play like Corey Dillon, Antowain Smith and Kevin Faulk. It's just the way it is. I think (Bill Belichick) rides us all day and all night to get the job done in that sense. Like I said, the guys need to be able to respond to those things, and we've shown enough mental toughness throughout the year to respond."
The rookies not only contributed, a lot of them had breakout seasons.
Devin McCourty developed into New England's best cornerback. Tight end Rob Gronkowski developed into Brady's best red-zone weapon, catching 36 passes for a franchise rookie record nine touchdown receptions (second most in NFL history for a rookie tight end), while Aaron Hernandez became a playmaker in the open field, catching 45 balls with six touchdowns.
Linebackers Brandon Spikes (61 tackles, 1 interception) and Jermaine Cunningham (34 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles) developed into starters, while Dane Fletcher and Sergio Brown have both played key roles on defense and special teams. The list goes on and on.
"Like I said, all year we knew what we had with the bunch that we have on defense," said Wilfork. "Some guys don't get credit, you're so used to hearing the bigger names like myself and Jerod (Mayo), but it's everybody who steps on that field defensively. They come in and they play their role.
"You see (Jarrad) Page, (Patrick) Chung making plays, you see Dane Fletcher, Eric Moore, the list goes on. I think sometimes with those guys you kind of miss them with the other names, the New England Patriots and what Tom (Brady) is to this organization. It's a bunch of guys that go out and play ball and always give us the best chance to win."
(Contact Robert Lee at roblee(at)projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The Providence Journal
