The Patriots cruised into the bye week with what was nearly a complete domination against Jacksonville, taking advantage of the overmatched visitor to complete their most well-rounded victory of the young season.
The impressive win left plenty of talk of records and plenty of looking ahead at what might be on the horizon for Bill Belichick's team that's growing seemingly more dominant by the week.
The Boston Globe recaps the game saying that New England looks like “a familiar monster,” harkening back to 2007. The* Globe* also looks at how the Patriots were able to “empty their bench” in the second half of what almost felt like a preseason game against the Jaguars.
As only he can, *Globe *columnist Dan Shaughnessy declared that the Patriots “clinched another AFC East title Sunday.” The football from Tom Brady's 40**0th touchdown pass nearly ended up with a willing fan** thanks to Danny Amendola's generosity.
Brady wasn't the only one to notch a historic number, Stephen Gostkowski set an all-time record for consecutive PATs. Prior to the big win, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft had some interesting comments about the Baltimore Ravens in a pregame radio interview.
The Boston Herald says the Patriots are indeed “running on all cylinders” at this point. The paper looks at how Brady’s No. 400 highlighted the highlight-filled win over the Jags. The Herald notes that the Patriots ran away with the game thanks in part to the combo of LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis. Herald columnist Ron Borges makes the general observation that NFL rules have finally made the game boring. The paper also notes how the big win allowed the Patriots to get a lot of different players a lot of work.
ESPNBoston.com says that Devin McCourty’s interception “changed the complexion” of the Patriots rout. The site also looks at Brady's historic day among its handful of takeaways from the fun win. Gostkowski doesn’t sound like he was too caught up in his record day.
WEEI.com passes along Blount declaring Brady the best quarterback to ever play the game. The site itself made the same declaration. WEEI.com also has Rob Gronkowski looking at the bye week as a time to “let your muscles chill.” Well said, Gronk. WEEI.com also has Belichick stating the obvious in that he's “really fortunate” to coach Brady, while Brady didn’t seem all that focused on No. 400 or the ball that he set the record with.
CSNNE.com also takes its chance to state the obvious, saying the Patriots are at a whole different level than the Jaguars. The site's Phil Perry looks at the best and the worst from the blowout win. Perry also writes up the thunder-and-lightning duo of Blount and Lewis.
NFL.com says the Patriots are indeed the class of the AFC right now.
NESN.com has the Patriots noting they can be even better on offense despite the 51 points put up on the Jags.
