The Patriots’ sight-seeing may have been somewhat limited, but they return home with fond memories of their frequent visits to the Wembley Stadium end zones yesterday and their first road win of the season.
“Yeah, come to London to get a road win. We couldn’t get it in the US, so we had to come to London to get it,’’ said linebacker Adalius Thomas. “It’s always good to get a win, and going into the bye makes it a lot sweeter when you’re 5-2 vs. 4-3.’’
The Patriots are idle next week, but it seemed like the winless and wayward Buccaneers were idle yesterday. The Patriots scored the first 21 points, led, 21-7, at the half, and 28-7 with 9:13 left in the third quarter.
Quarterback Tom Brady didn’t disappoint his foreign fans, passing for more than 300 yards for the second straight week. Brady was 23 of 32 for 308 yards with three touchdown passes and two interceptions - both in a four-pass span, snapping his franchise-record streak of 183 passes without a pick.
The record had belonged to Drew Bledsoe (179), and Brady tied another of Bledsoe’s records with the 26th 300-yard game of his career.
“I think it’s a privilege for the players to come over here and get to enjoy this type of experience,’’ said Brady, who was replaced by Brian Hoyer with 6:34 to go. “It will probably never happen for us again, so we’ll retire 1-0 internationally.’’
By early in the third quarter with the Patriots holding a 28-7 lead, the American sensation that the 84,254 that packed Wembley Stadium were interested in wasn’t American football, but the ritual of synchronized standing and sitting known as the wave.
“The wave went on for about 10 minutes, which you don’t see in the States too often,’’ said Brady.
The Buccaneers (0-7) waved goodbye to any chance they had at their first victory moments earlier when Brady opened the second half by leading the Patriots on a 10-play, 73-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Benjamin Watson. Brady was 8 of 10 on the drive.
