The first three weeks of the season, the story for the New England Patriots was their gaudy passing numbers. Today, the running game is what’s keeping the Patriots on schedule for their third win of the young season.
Thanks to the first career touchdown run by Stevan Ridley, the Patriots have a 24-13 lead after three quarters.
Ridley’s 33 yard touchdown run gave him 69 yards on just five carries (an outrageous 13.8 ypc), and helped to compensate for an inaccurate day from quarterback Tom Brady. Brady is just 15/26 for 222 yards after being below 50% passing for much of the game.
For the Raiders, their only offense in the third quarter came via a 26 yard Sebastian Janikowski field goal late in the quarter. It was the third time the Raiders offense stalled in the red zone today, marking some improvement from the maligned Patriots defense.
Wes Welker continues his tremendous start to the season with nine catches for 158 yards and a first quarter touchdown.