ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Randy Moss said he's not a fan of records, but he and his teammates keep collecting them.
The Buffalo Bills were the latest victim in the Patriots Pointapalooza tour. New England scored on its first seven possessions and tied a franchise scoring record in a 56-10 blowout last night in front of 71,338 at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the latest clinic in its 10-0 start. The Patriots first set the record Sept. 9, 1979 in a 56-3 win over the New York Jets.
That mark figures to be challenged when the Patriots meet the Jets and a certain coach Dec. 16. It was the second time in three games the Patriots hung half-a-hundred on a bewildered opponent. They routed the Washington Redskins, 52-7, Oct. 28.
Three individual records fell last night along with the Bills. Moss had 10 catches for 128 yards and four touchdowns - all in the first half - to establish the franchise mark for one game, and he increased his season total to 16 TD catches, breaking a tie with Stanley Morgan for most in a Patriots season (Morgan had 12 in 1979).
Tom Brady (31 of 39 for 373 yards) tossed five touchdown passes as he became the franchise's all-time leader in that category, bumping his career total to 185 and his season total to 38, just 11 shy of Peyton Manning's NFL record set in 2004. Brady orchestrated a Patriots offense that rolled up a season-high 510 yards, the fourth-most in team history.
"I've never been a fan of records," said Moss. "I learned at a young age that records are meant to be broken. I've never lived on records or my name in the record book or anything like that. We have a goal and the goal is to be still playing in January. It starts with the Eagles [next Sunday night] and after that we can look down the road, but we can't do that until we play Philadelphia."
Let the record show coach Bill Belichick did show the Bills some mercy. He sent Chris Hanson out to punt on fourth and 1 from the Buffalo 31 with 3:57 remaining. Even after a false start penalty and a chance to reconsider, the Patriots still booted the ball away, sending it into the ether like the Bills' four-game winning streak.
Coming off their bye, the Patriots were playing the first of three straight prime-time games as their pursuit of a perfect season has become a fascination for fans across the country and a mini-referendum on whether New England is deserving of the accomplishment.
The Bills fans didn't take to kindly to seeing their team embarrassed, especially when Belichick went for it on fourth and 1 from the Buffalo 10 with a 42-10 lead late in the third quarter. Brady competed a pass to Moss for the first down and a chorus of profanity rained down on the Patriots.
It doesn't matter whether they're liked or not. Nobody can stop them.