Patriots Have A Jolly Old Time

The Patriots took care of business in Wembley Stadium yesterday, routing the toothless Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7.

Chris Warner has a few observations from New England’s second straight stress-free victory.

Christopher L. Gasper has the Patriots finding the end zone just as easy to get to on that side of the Atlantic. Ian R. Rapoport has the Patriots showing the British what they’ve been showing Americans for years. The ProJo has Brandon Meriweather and the Patriots defense leading the wayin this one. (Anyone else having trouble opening more than one Projo article? Even though I’m registered, I can only open one article on their site and the rest come up blank. I’ve tried both IE and Firefox)

You’ll be hard pressed to find mentions of yesterday’s game on the Times of London sport page. I had to look a few times before I saw the box NFL game preaches to converted, where the writer says that “Wembley Stadium was about the worst place in Britain in which to judge the success or otherwise of the project.” The project being whether the NFL would be viable in Europe. Nick Szczepanik says that Brady wasn’t at his best yesterday, but the Buccaneers played their role as fall guys. Yesterday, John Harlow had a profile of Brady in the Times.

Christopher Price has 10 Things We Learned Yesterday, and Mike Reiss has 10 quick hits from yesterday. Tedy Bruschi has five observations from the game as well.

Ron Borges has the Patriots the last two weeks doing “what Super Bowl-contending teams should do: Destroy two sorry teams.” Dan Shaughnessy calls yesterday’s game a “ghastly unfolding of the obvious.” Bill Burt says that the 2009 Patriots officially have an identity now – tough and talented. Jim Donaldson says that no matter where they play, the Patriots are still the Patriots, and the Bucs are the Bucs.

Breer has Brandon Meriweather once again the key on defense with a pair of interceptions, including one that he returned for a touchdown. Karen Guregian has Meriweather delivering with big plays, and showing promise that he could be the key playmaker on defense that the Patriots need on that unit. Brian MacPherson says that the Patriots defense is finally starting to look like a Bill Belichick defense once again. Reiss has more on the strong play of Meriweather.

Albert R. Breer in the Globe has Tom Brady taking another step forward in his return to form yesterday. Borges has Brady once again good enough to get the job done. The Projo has London fans seeing a good Tom Brady, but not a flawless one yesterday.

Shaughnessy has Sam Aiken and Brandon Tate each getting a shot at being the third wide receiver. Guregian has Adalius Thomas back on the field, but once again submitting a quiet performance. Reiss says that this game was a bonding experience for the Patriots. The Projo has the Patriots feeling that the trip brought them closer as a team.

Hector Longo has his two-minute drill, with Jerod Mayo one of his “now shows” for yesterday. He says Mayo ” still can’t cover anyone.” Guregian says that the Meriweather pick 6 was a good way to start the day for New England. The Metro tells us  What went right and wrong yesterday.

Rapoport says that the carnival-like atmosphere made for a good time. Mark Woods says that the NFL accomplished their goal despite the blowout.

Gasper’s notebook has Wes Welker putting in another strong game. Rapoport’s notebook has more on Welker, and also has Ty Warren believing he’ll be good to go after the bye week after he suffered an ankle injury yesterday.