This comes from NFL.com’s Adam Shefter through Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch:

Based on the hard-line stance the league is taking on cheap shot and Vince Wilfork’s prior record of controversial hits, the New England defensive tackle is staring straight at the possibility of being suspended for next Sunday night’s game at Indianapolis for a hit he delivered Monday night vs. Denver. During the first quarter of Monday night’s win over the Broncos, Wilfork threw a blatant elbow at Jay Cutler after Patriots S Rodney Harrison knocked down the Denver quarterback. As Cutler attempted to get up, Wilfork drilled the quarterback in the head with an elbow that caught the attention of the Broncos and the NFL. Ironically, the only penalty called on the play came against Broncos OT Ryan Harris – who defended Cutler, knocked down Harrison and drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. ESPN cameras failed to capture Wilfork’s hit. But the coaches’ tape caught it and the league noticed it. Disciplinary action against Wilfork could come as early as this week for a player who has another controversial hit on his resume. Last September, the NFL fined Wilfork $12,500 for landing his right elbow on Bills QB J.P. Losman’s left knee. The elbow drew a penalty and knocked Losman out of the lineup, paving the way for Bills QB Trent Edwards to take over and the league to be monitoring Wilfork. This time Wilfork could be facing a fine and or a suspension.

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The Result

When watching this team is anyone thinking about how similar they are to the 2001 squad?  They lost their starting QB and the young guy, while no Tom Brady, is doing an adequate job keeping them in games and performing to the best of his abilities.  He seems to get better each week and makes better decisions.  The offense while it has way more weapons than the ’01 Pats is doing what it needs to win as they’re back to using more of the Charlie Weis bubble screens to the receivers.  And the defense has that bend but don’t break mentality and steps it up when the opposition gets deep in their own zone.

This whole retro look gave New England a hard fought, very evenly played 23-16 win over the St. Louis Rams. They improved to 5-2 on the year and coupled with a Buffalo loss Sunday afternoon in Miami have now moved into a tie for first in the AFC East.

Matt Cassel looked cool and calm and seemed to do a better job reading coverages as he was 21 of 33 for 267 yards a TD and 2 INTS.  More importantly they cut down on the sacks.  The Rams only had three sacks and one was credited when Cassel ran out of bounds for a loss.  He also got his first 4th quarter comeback win of his career, doing something Patriots fans are accustomed to seeing in the last 7 seasons but from a  different guy.

Wes Welker and Randy Moss each had 7 catches a piece and Kevin Faulk, who caught the game winning TD was a difference maker with over 100 all-pupose yards (60 yards rushing on 13 carries and 47 yards receiving on 4 catches).  Special teams kicked in as Ellis Hobbs had a 50 yard kick off return and Welker had a 26 yard punt return both giving New England good field position that they could do nothing with.

The defense with the exception of the long pass was pretty good today, Marc Bulger was constantly under pressure and they contained the run fairly well but that big pass play continues to haunt the secondary and it will as they get thinner in depth by the week.

The secondary best step it up a notch though next week against Peyton Manning because regardless of how Indianapolis is playing as a whole Manning will kill them deep if given the chance.

Scoring Plays

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1^st Quarter

• STL – Brown 20 yard FG
• NE – Green-Ellis 2 yard run – Gostkowski PAT

2^nd Quarter

• STL – Bulger 69 yard pass to Avery – Brown PAT
• NE – Gostkowski 30 yard FG
• NE – Gostkowski 27 yard FG

3^rd Quarter

• STL – Brown 44 yard FG

4^th Quarter

• STL – Brown 25 yard FG
• NE – Gostkowski 41 yard FG
• NE – Cassel 15 yard pass to Faulk – Gostkowski PAT

Offensive Player of the Game

A difficult choice but I’m going with Randy Moss as his 23 yard reception late in the game on 2nd and 18 set up the game winning TD.  Moss had 7 catches for 102 yards with a long of 30 in the first half that also set up a Stephen Gostkowski field goal.

Defensive Player of the Game

New England DE Richard Seymour was a beast today.  He had 7 tackles and a sack and everytime he got a chance he brutalized Bulger making the St. Louis QB gun shy.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Patriots defensive stand in the 4th quarter that forced St. Louis to punt leading to the drive that was capped by the Cassel TD pass to Faulk for the game winning score.

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There are some big names out in today’s St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots game.  The Pats will be without running backs Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan as well as OL Nick Kaczur.

Meanwhile, the Rams will be without their top play maker RB Steven Jackson who has a quad injury and DL Adam Carricker.

Here is the complete list of today’s inactives for the game:

• Inactives for the Rams: RB Steven Jackson (injured – quad), DL Adam Carricker (injured – ankle), WR Drew Bennett (injured – foot), S Todd Johnson (injury – kidney), CB Tye Hill (injured – knee), G Roy Schuening, T John Greco and QB Brock Berlin (3rd QB).
• Inactives for the Patriots: RB LaMont Jordan (injured – calf),  RB Sammy Morris (injured – knee), OLB Shawn Crable (injured – shin ), Lewis Sanders (injured – hamstring),  DL Jarvis Green (injured – ankle),  RT Nick Kaczur (injured – ankle), LB Eric Alexander (injured – hamstring), and WR Matthew Slater (injured – ankle).
• Note: The third quarterback can still enter the game at any time, but if he does so in the first, second or third quarters, the team can no longer use its top two quarterbacks the rest of the game.

There were plenty of celebrations on Monday night against Denver like this one between LeKevin Smith and Tedy Bruschi after Smith caused a fumble in the first quarter that started the ball rolling toward a dominating 41-7 win in front of a National TV audience and a dude dressed as a Viking**. 

After two primetime games and before yet another next week we finally get our team back on a Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when football is meant to be played. So as we sit just a short time before kick off let’s take a look at some of the tidbits for the game. 

In case you missed it don’t forget to check out the official Sox & Dawgs Rams-Patriots Week 8 game preview. It has all the game information you need including odds, rosters for both teams, series history and news and notes on the teams. It even has food ideas and drink recipes for whether you’re tailgating at the game or at home in the den.

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spoke to media this week and he was asked about Tom Brady’s progress. He also checked in with some notes on the offense.

The Brady saga continues but with the team telling ESPN to get the story right.

Albert Breer of Sporting News has Bill Belichick reiterating the teams support for Brady as he recovers.

Brady wasn’t the only high profile QB who suffered an infection after knee surgery.

A few minutes getting to know…Patriots WR and special teamer Kelley Washington.

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