Sam Bradford Impressive in First Rams Start, Patriots Look Troubled

Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Poised and precise, Sam Bradford made an impressive debut as a starting NFL quarterback. It may have earned him the No. 1 job in the regular-season opener.

The top pick in the NFL draft zipped passes between and over defenders, threw for two touchdowns then watched the second half from the sidelines as the St. Louis Rams beat the New England Patriots 36-35 on Josh Brown's 37-yard field goal on the last play Thursday night.

But will Bradford be back under center for the Rams first snap Sept. 12 against the Arizona Cardinals?

"We've got to look at the film," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "I want to see how he handled things when there was pressure."

He seemed to do just fine.

Bradford completed his first six passes, finished 15-of-22 for 189 yards and was sacked just once. He rarely got flustered and quickly located open receivers.

"It was a blast out there tonight," he said. "I had fun. I was used to doing what I was doing -- moving the offense up and own the field."

The 2008 Heisman Trophy winner missed most of last season at Oklahoma with a shoulder injury and made his first start since last October. When training camp began, Spagnuolo gave the starting job to A.J. Feeley, but he was sidelined with a sprained right thumb and Bradford got his chance after struggling for two games as a backup.

"He was putting the ball on the money," Rams running back Steven Jackson said. "You can tell he really knows the offense. I'm really impressed with how far he's come in a short time."

Other than Tom Brady, who completed 18 of 22 passes for 273 yards, and rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski, who caught two of Brady's three touchdown passes, there was very little impressive about the Patriots (2-1).

St. Louis (2-1) led in time of possession, 43:46 to 16:14, and in offensive yards, 462-288. The Patriots gained more than 10 yards on just four of 11 series while the Rams went nine for 11. And only one of the Patriots possessions lasted more than five plays; the Rams had nine.

"We didn't do well on anything," New England coach Bill Belichick said.

The Patriots offense didn't get a first down until 3:10 remained in the first half and finished with 12. Their defense gave up 30.

"They were able to move the ball at will," safety James Sanders said. "It was demoralizing."

New Rams owner Stan Kroenke had a much different feeling. One day after the NFL approved him, he went into his team's locker room before the game.

"That was terrific," Spagnuolo said. "He stayed for the entire game -- late into the night."

The Patriots had rallied from a 27-14 deficit to a 35-27 lead on Brady's touchdown passes of 65 yards to Randy Moss and 20 yards to Gronkowski and Brian Hoyer's 5-yarder to Sam Aiken with 11:14 left after an interception by Brandon McGowan.

Keith Toston scored on a 2-yard run but an incomplete pass for a conversion left the Rams behind 35-33.

They got the ball back after a punt and kept shredding the defense. Quarterback Keith Null directed a 41-yard drive to the Patriots 19 and Brown won the game with his third field goal.
Bradford led scoring drives on three of his first four series.

He went 4 for 4 for 48 yards and a 5-yard touchdown pass to Michael Hoomanawanui on his first series. On his third possession, Bradford was 3 for 4 for 48 yards, setting up a 25-yard field goal by Brown for a 10-7 lead.

And on his fourth series, he hooked up with Hoomanawanui again for a 12-yard score and a 17-7 lead. Brown added a 45-yard field goal after Gronkowski's 14-yard touchdown catch, putting St. Louis ahead 20-14 at halftime.

Bradford "made some good throws," Patriots cornerback Leigh Bodden said, "but we didn't make a lot of plays to make him look bad."

Another Rams rookie quarterback, free agent Thaddeus Lewis from Duke, led a 15-play, 76-yard march on the first series of the third quarter. It lasted 9 minutes, 19 seconds and ended with a 20-yard scoring pass to Brandon Gibson.

The Patriots had grabbed the lead just 12 seconds into the game on a 97-yard kickoff return by Brandon Tate.

Then Bradford took the field.

"Before I went out there, I took a deep breath and said, 'Do what you know how to do,' " he said.

And that's what he did.

Notes: Donnie Avery, who led Rams receivers with 47 catches last year, "probably has a significant knee injury," Spagnuolo said. Avery was hurt late in the first half when he jumped and landed after a long pass to him fell incomplete. ... The Patriots rushed for just 28 yards on 11 carries. Two Rams runners, Toston with 41 yards and Kenneth Darby with 35, outgained them. ... Wes Welker, playing for the second straight week after major knee surgery in February, had two catches for 41 yards for the Patriots.

Jets Rhodes and Ryan Talking Loud About Patriots: Good Idea?

Japan’s great Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto, is said to have made the statement, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve," immediately following their attack on Pearl Harbor.

This week the New York Jets have freely, and openly, sent a message to the Patriots through the media. Whether it turns out to be the same fate suffered by Yamamoto’s squad, has yet to be seen, but it sure is making the game seem much more interesting now.

“It’s to the point where enough is enough,” said New York Jets free-safety Kerry Rhodes.

“You go out from the first quarter on, from the first play on, and try to embarrass them,” Rhodes said. “Not just go out there and try to win, try to embarrass them. Try to make them feel bad when they leave here. We don’t want to just beat them. We want to send a message to them, ‘We’re not backing down from you and we expect to win this game, and it’s not going to be luck, it’s not going to be a mistake.’ ”

He also said that the Jets Defense would hit Tom Brady more than six times, the number of times that Brady was hit this past Monday night by the Buffalo Bills defense.

The Rhodes comments were made a day after new Head Coach Rex Ryan talked very positive in an emphatic manner that his Jets aren’t going to be bullied around anymore by the Patriots who have put a Beat-down on the Jets eight straight games at the Meadowlands.

“Talk is cheap,” Brady said Wednesday, referring to Ryan without even knowing what Rhodes said.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichik has shown Patriots the article and left it at that. None of the players had much to say regarding Rhodes comments.

You have to like the inspiration and motivation before games, but I don’t think it turns out too well for teams that call out the Patriots. It seems to make them stronger and more focused crusading with a common goal, yet not speaking about it and as a unit.

Remember Anthony Smith? He used to play the safety for Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2007 he guaranteed a victory against the Patriots in Foxboro. Brady responded with 399 yards and four Touchdowns in the Patriots 34-13 win.

The most memorable moment, or response to bold statements, was when Brady threw one of his bombs, or the final nail in the coffin.

He proceeded to run down field towards the end-zone, found Smith after he‘d been burned, and gave him some choice words not meant for reporters. Brady yelled the message out personally to Smith, as if to say, “this how I‘ll call you out, on the field!”

I haven‘t heard much from Smith of late, but I‘m sure he‘ll think twice before making a statement against anyone, let alone the Patriots.

Perhaps this is the best way to get a team riddled with losses to change their psyche, but no one wants to be that guy that gets punked in front of millions by Brady. I guess those are the sacrifices that must be made if you’re trying change an overall mind set. The other way sure wasn’t working.

Brady Connects in First Practice

By Ian R. Rapoport
Boston Herald

FOXBORO - A thick, black brace hugging his surgically repaired left knee, Tom Brady jogged toward the 15-yard line to take part in individual drills. And the crowd erupted.

The Patriots quarterback offered a quick wave, his subtle gesture acknowledging at 9:57 a.m. yesterday what the 4,024 in attendance at Gillette Stadium’s upper practice fields came to see.

Two years after his record-setting offensive show and a perfect regular season, and less than one year after tearing knee ligaments in the team’s opening game, Brady was back leading the Pats.

To teammates, nothing had changed besides the calendar.

“He looked just like Tom,” receiver Greg Lewis said.

With a few additions, perhaps.

A slight limp. A brace that was hidden by sweatpants during minicamp. A cautious gait, at times.

Still, there he was.

“It’s always good to see Tom out there,” coach Bill Belichick said.

Even with receivers Randy Moss and Joey Galloway resting during the morning session, Brady’s presence conjured up thoughts of his prolific 2007.

“That’s the plan,” receiver Wes Welker said. “That’s what we spend minicamp on, trying to get our timing down, working on new stuff, and trying to get better at old stuff.”

Even the team’s newcomers, like grizzled veteran running back Fred Taylor, couldn’t resist gushing.

“Playing these guys a few times in the playoffs, you look over and say, ‘Hey, we can go over and beat that team.’ What do they do that we don’t do?’ ” Taylor said. “But then when you get here, you see (Brady’s) passion, the way he studies, how demanding he is of his players, the leadership, it just jumps right out. You see why he’s a proven winner.”

Brady has three Super Bowl wins and one MVP to his name. But last season, while he battled the remnants of his injury, Matt Cassel filled in to lead the Pats to an 11-5 record but no playoff appearance.

“You’d be lying if you said there wasn’t a sour taste in your mouth,” running back Kevin Faulk said. “You just let that fuel you.”

Although Brady has appeared at minicamps and other organized activities this offseason, teammates saw him in full pads for the first time in just less than a year. If the Michigan product was trying to make a renewed impression, consider it done.

Late into the morning practice, as sun turned into a downpour, Brady never relented. It was not missed.

“Throughout the monsoon or rain storm, he was fired up,” Lewis said. “ ‘Let’s get up to the huddle, let’s break the huddle, let’s get out there and get this thing right or get this corrected.’ I like that. I want to be a part of that.”

With 14 days until the preseason opener against the Eagles, Belichick said there is no schedule for Brady and cautioned the QB may need an acclimation period. That may have been evident in the afternoon, when he underthrew several deep passes.

“The lag time between passing camp and training camp, it takes everyone a while to get to where they want to be,” Belichick said.

Don’t tell that to Brady or his teammates, though.

“I don’t think he expects that, I don’t think we expect that,” Welker said. “We don’t really look to have any setbacks or having Tom rusty or anything. We’re planning on pushing forward.”