Super looking Patriots dominate helpless Buccaneers 31-14

A week ago the New England Patriots sent the scrubs out to face Jacksonville, and the scrubs mopped the floor with the pathetic Jaguars. While the Patriots looked good, it was hard to read anything into a game where the Patriots backups beat up on the Jaguars backups.

On Thursday, the starters got their first chance to play, and they didn’t disappoint.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a pretty good football team, and the Patriots made them look like the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Patriots cake-walked their way to a 28-0 half time lead behind an on-target Tom Brady and a dominant defense.

Brady played the entire first half, finishing 11-of-19 for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Chad Ochocinco. He led the Patriots to touchdowns on their first three offensive possessions.

Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis both looked good thanks to a dominating performance by the first string offensive line. Nate Solder continues to look good filling in for Matt Light, and has proven to be a dominant run blocker.

But the story of the game was the defensive pressure.

The Patriots were in the face of the Tampa Bay quarterbacks all game long. Josh Freeman completed 5 of 10 passes for only 33 yards and was constantly harassed by Andre Carter, Jerod Mayo (2 sacks) and an extremely aggressive Patriots front seven.

You don’t want to overreact to anything you see in the preseason, but the Patriots are definitely looking Super. Bowl. Super Bowl. They’re going to the Super Bowl. Seriously, did you see the game?

Super Bowl.

The Patriots are now winning the preseason 77-26.

Super Bowl.