Mike Wright recovered for New England at the Titans 31 and, two plays later, it was 24-0 when Brady rolled to his left and found Moss streaking across the back of the end zone for a 28-yard strike with 8:59 left.
Things continued to snowball for the Titans when Darius Butler intercepted a badly underthrown Collins pass intended for Nate Washington. Four plays later, it was 31-0 Patriots after Brady found Kevin Faulk with a screen pass that turned into a 38-yard touchdown.
Brady threw his fourth TD of the game on a 30-yard pass to a wide-open Welker for a 38-0 lead with 1:53 to go before intermission. But the Patriots were hardly done. After the Titans’ Reggie Hodges shanked a 21-yard punt to the Titans 49, the Patriots went into two-minute mode and expended all three of their timeouts on a 10-play drive that consumed 1:04 and resulted in Brady’s 5-yard TD toss to Welker and a 45-0 halftime lead. “I always love getting the ball with two minutes, especially with no time left on the clock for the defense,’’ Brady said. “So that’s always the goal - to score and not give the opponent time to come back.’’
Mission accomplished. Brady came out in the second half and led the Patriots to their eighth consecutive scoring drive when he connected with Moss for on a 9-yard TD that capped a nine-play, 65-yard march and made it 52-0 with 10:13 left in the third. Brady handed the baton to rookie backup Brian Hoyer, who directed the Patriots to their ninth straight scoring drive by capping a 12-play, 61-yard march with a 1-yard plunge. It was Hoyer’s first career touchdown and gave the Patriots a franchise record for points.
“Not every game are you going to win by this many points,’’ Brady said. “But you’re going to score touchdowns, you’re going to get the ball in the red area, you’re going to hit big plays, you’re going to change the field position with big plays.’’
And if it’s a snowy day in Foxborough then so much the better.
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.