Mr. 201: Patriots’ Brady humbled by milestone victory

A week after they allowed 49 points and 555 yards (third-most in team history) to New Orleans, the Rams allowed 402 yards to the Patriots.

The Patriots don’t think they did anything unusual against the Rams.

New England always lists a number of players on the injury report. The Rams chose to defer after winning the initial coin flip. That obviously won’t be the case in 2016 because of his Deflategate suspension, but Brady has still been a model of consistency ever since he took over under center for the Patriots since 2001. The Patriots have tons of versatility without the greatest tight end in the game.

Next up for the Rams is Atlanta, a division leader with a great offense. They built on that lead with three field goals from Stephen Gotkowski in the second half.

This could be a similar game to when Los Angeles defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road in a high scoring game and won on a defensive stop. They had multiple drops that killed their momentum and prematurely ended drives.

The Patriots may be without Gronk, but they are still the much better team, not to mention they are incredibly well coached.

Though Goff got beat up and was unable to thrust the Rams back into the game, his teammates still thought the quarterback made strides with his mobility, toughness and leadership.

FORCING TURNOVERS: After not forcing a turnover for 44 straight possessions, with interceptions by cornerback Malcolm Butler in the first quarter and linebacker Kyle Van Noy in the third marked four takeaways for the Patriots’ defense over the past two games.

Chris Hogan added another in the second quarter, but that would be the last time the Patriots found the end zone.

Steelers 24, Giants 14: In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns, Le’Veon Bell rolled up 182 yards of total offense, and the Steelers’ defense harassed Eli Manning into a flurry of mistakes.

The bruising 250-pound Blount led the way again with 18 carries for 88 yards, taking him within 43 of notching 1,000 for the season.

New England didn’t play particularly well in this game but capitalized on opportunities given to them. That’s hardly a guarantee, of course, considering the struggles Los Angeles has faced all season.

In his first game against the team that drafted and developed him, Long didn’t record any other tackles but hit Goff two other times and often was a disruptive force as an edge rusher.

The Rams did not score their first touchdown until there was a minute left in the game.

More than anything, Belichick didn’t believe the game was in hand at that point.

Brady, who was 33 of 46, had tied Peyton Manning last week in a win over the New York Jets. And his 66-yard pass completion to Kenny Britt, which set up a short touchdown pass to Britt, was a good sign Goff wasn’t about to quit.

The week before that, the Rams finished behind Washington against the Packers as well as Cowboys-Ravens in the local market.