Pats' quick draw stops Texans in their tracks

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12/20/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Finally, for the first time in a month, New England played the elusive near-flawless game. The 40-7 blowout may have come against the four-win Texans, but the NFL will allow Bill Belichick's team to list the game in the left column nonetheless.

The last time the Pats won a game like this was when they pasted Green Bay, 35-0, on November 19, and let's face it, the Packers aren't the cream of the NFL crop either.

The opponent may not have been impressive, but the fact that New England thoroughly dominated an NFL team minus its most explosive running back Laurence Maroney (back), its leading pass-catcher, Benjamin Watson (knee), and the center spot of its vaunted defensive line, Vince Wilfork (ankle), was something about which to marvel.

Houston was never in the game, as the Patriots won the turnover battle, picking off David Carr four times, highlighted by Asante Samuel's eighth interception of the season in the fourth quarter, tying him with Denver's Champ Bailey for the league lead.

New England, which didn't turn the ball over after coughing it up 11 times in the three previous games, scored 16 points off Texans turnovers. The Pats were only penalized two times for 10 yards, which was the fewest amount of penalties since the Week 1 Buffalo win, when they were flagged only once for five yards.

"That was a real good, solid team victory for us today," said Belichick. "We're real happy to win. Happy at the way we played. I thought, field position wise, it was kind of the reversal of what we saw last week where [today] we had the ball pretty much of their side of the 50 the whole first half. That was a lot different from what we saw down there in Miami."

Tom Brady completed 16-of-23 passes for 109 yards with a pair of touchdowns, while Kevin Faulk made two trips to the end zone, including a screen pass that went 43 yards for a 17-0 margin. Ellis Hobbs also returned a kickoff 93 yards for a TD, and picked off a pass.

"He was constantly in practice putting pressure on us to prepare well, to ask questions in front of the entire team and make sure we know the opponent we are playing," said Brady referring to Belichick's approach after getting shut out by Miami. "We haven't played these guys in a while. The execution in practice has to continue to pick up. He is very tough on us, especially after a loss. This team responded to it and we will see where we go from here."

After giving up only seven points to the Texans, New England foes are averaging just 13.79 points per game. The Patriots are making a run at eclipsing the franchise single-season record set in 2003, when they allowed 14.88 points per outing.

New England put 17 quick points in the board in the opening frame, which tied its highest single-quarter total of the season. The Pats scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of a 38-13 win against Cincinnati on October 1.

"We started off fast and we kind of finished strong," continued Brady. "We played for 60 minutes. That was really what we needed. That is a pressure defense and I think our offensive line really handled it and ran the ball well. I wish we had had a few more plays in the passing game, but when you are up by however many points it was, I think everyone enjoyed it."

The Patriots' 27 first-half points were their most since scoring 28 points in the first half of a 35-28 victory over the Bengals on December 12, 2004. They also put together their fourth first-half shutout of the season, and recorded their seventh half of scoreless football.

"We definitely needed a win," said linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, who had two of the four New England sacks. "It's a confidence thing but we're not satisfied yet. We're still not where we want to be. We're going to keep working."

They reached the 40-point plateau for the first time since besting Pittsburgh, 41-27, in the 2004 AFC Championship on January 23, 2005. The last time they scored at least 40 in the regular season was against Cleveland in a 42-15 victory on December 5, 2004. This was only the second time New England put 40 points on the board at Gillette Stadium, after tallying 41 points in a 41-38 overtime victory over Kansas City Chiefs on September 22, 2002.

Bottom line is that the Pats reversed a growing trend of making mistakes, but they still need to do it against a respectable team. They'll get that chance when they play Jacksonville on Sunday.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

The Pats have a two-game lead over the New York Jets for the AFC East top spot, and still hold the No. 4 seed in the AFC with two games to play. They can clinch their fourth straight division title with a win against Jacksonville. The Patriots would have to win out and Indianapolis and Baltimore would both have to lose their final two games to reverse positions. Indy plays at Houston and versus Miami, while the Ravens finished the campaign at Pittsburgh and home for Buffalo. The Colts hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, and if Baltimore and New England are tied, the team with the best conference record gets the high seeding (currently 8-2 for the Ravens compared to 6-4 for the Pats).

PATS TIDBITS

-The victory was the 16th in Patriots history by at least 33 points, and was the largest in the brief history of Gillette Stadium (2002).

-The Patriots are 4-1 when wearing their silver jerseys.

-Stephen Gostkowski was 4-for-4 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra points, becoming the first Patriots kicker to make eight combined kicks in a game since Adam Vinatieri accomplished the feat on November 7, 2004.

-In the Bill Belichick era, the Pats are 21-6 in December, including victories in 14 of the last 16 contests. Brady is 19-4 in the final month of the year.

-The last time the Patriots had scored 17 points in the first quarter of a game was on Dec. 8, 2002, in a 27-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.

-New England has won 10 or more games in four straight, five of the last six and eight of the last 13 seasons since Robert Kraft bought the franchise in 1994. The Patriots are the only team in the NFL to win nine or more regular- season games in each season since 2001.

NEXT UP: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

The Patriots close out the regular-season with a pair of road games, and that stretch begins in Jacksonville (8-6), where the Jaguars are fighting for a playoff berth. New England will return to the site where they won Super Bowl XXXIX, 24-21, against Philadelphia.

These two teams meet for the first time since a 28-3 blowout win in last season's AFC Wild Card game. New England leads the all-time series, 5-1, with the Jaguars' lone win coming in the 1998 AFC Wild Card game (25-10).

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