Records could fall Sunday in Foxboro

The New England Patriots host the no longer winless Miami Dolphins this Sunday in what could be a historic game, as MVN’s own Jamie will be in attendance for his first regular season game. Seriously though, Sunday’s game could be historic†because there are several potential records that†could be broken by the Patriots. Even the Fins could see a record of their own broken if Jason Taylor is able to play. If Taylor starts, he will break the Dolphins record for consecutive game starts set by Jim Langer. He tied Langer’s mark last week by making his 128th straight start. For the Patriots, there are two team records and four individual records that could fall.

As far as the team goes, they simply (or not so simply) have to win Sunday to become the first team to win 15 straight regular season games for a single season. They currently hold the record for 18 straight regular season season games, spread over the 2003 and 2004 regular seasons. The AP’s Male Athlete of the Year, Tom Brady, could potentially break two records Sunday. The first that could fall is the Patriots’ single season passing yards mark, currently held by Drew Bledsoe. Brady needs 321 passing yards to break Bledsoe’s mark, which is 4,555 passing yards set in 1994. Brady also needs 5 TD passes to break Peyton Manning’s single season passing TD record, which is 49 set in 2004. Randy Moss has his sights set on Jerry Rices’s single season TD receptions record of 22, set in 1987. Moss needs 4 TDs to break the record. Finally, everyone’s favorite mighty mite, Wes Welker, could break the Patriots’ single season receptions record of 101, set by the venerable Troy Brown in 2001. Welker needs†6 receptions to break Brown’s record.
As far as the game†itself goes, weather shouldn’t be much of a factor this week. Temperatures will be up near 50 (that’s Fahrenheit, or 10 degrees Celsius for our friends across the pond) and there’s a 40% chance of rain by game-time, according to weather.com. The major factor as far as the passing game goes, the wind, shouldn’t be much of a factor this week as it was last week. That will help the Brady, Moss, and Welker as they shoot for their individual marks in the record books. It will also help get the Patriots back to their usual offensive dominance, as they (and the Dolphins)†know now that they can not only pass, but run hard with Laurence Maroney. The Dolphins are allowing a league-worst 155.9 rushing yards per game, so look for a decent dose of Maroney. I’m not going to go as far as say a heavy dose, because if the passing game is firing on all cylinders, expect the Pats to be pass heavy and try and rap up any record business before next week in New York.
The Aquatic Mammals themselves have plenty of motivation to win Sunday. They are coming off of their first win of the season last week and want to carry some momentum into next season. They also want to preserve the unbeaten season record currently held by their 1972 team, and this is their last chance to do so themselves. Finally, the have a Tuna-sized shadow looming over them, as Bill Parcells, the new VP of Football Operations, will be watching the team and individual players’ efforts as the season is winding down. Unfortunately, those factors will not make up for what the Fins really need to win this game: talent.
The Patriots will not take this game lightly. Belichick has emphasized all week that the Dolphins have usually won the second game of the season series, including a win last season 21-0, which also coincidentally is the Patriots last regular season loss. The Patriots also have Don Shula’s comments from earlier this season, where he stated that if the Pats go undefeated, they should have an asterisk attached to their record due to Spygate, to use for any additional motivation.†
Getting back to the records, I don’t feel that all of the records I mentioned will be broken. I do think that Jason Taylor will start, but will be severely limited due to his injured left foot. The Patriots will become the first team to reach 15-0 in one season, but I’m uncertain as to whether they’ll set the points mark this week. If the defense can muster some turnovers and/or score some points themselves, then they stand a much better chance at setting the most-points-in-a-season mark. Wes Welker will break the Patriots single-season receptions mark against his former team this week, and Brady stands a better-than-average chance at setting the franchise record for most passing yards in a single season. However, I feel that he and Moss will have to wait another week before setting the TD passes/TD receptions record respectively. Of course, I hope that I’m wrong, but I think 5 TD passes and 4 TD receptions is too much for one game this late in the season, especially in the rain.
Get ready for a wild game Pats fans! Go Pats!