Tied at the top

The Patriots will enter the month of November tied for the lead in the AFC East after their victory today over the Rams and the Bills’ loss to Miami. Both NE and BUF are 5-2.

Several Patriots players acknowledged that picking up this win, after a short week and against a hot team, was significant, though they made it clear that it’s still midseason and there is much work to be done. After all, their upcoming stretch is a game at Indianapolis, and then three straight divisional battles.

The big storylines after the game were Kevin Faulk’s performance, the up-and-down outing for the depleted secondary, and the ability to close out a tight game. All of those storylines and more will be covered in Monday’s edition of Patriots Today, and we hope you check it out on Patriots.com.

Thanks as always for visiting the blog today. We’ll check in during the week and then we’ll be on-site in Indianapolis next Sunday night.

Deltha seals it

From a head injury…to a game-sealing INT. Deltha O’Neal had been off the field since the first series of the game, but he returned in time to make an interception and all but seal the win for the Pats.

I’m headed to the locker room, and I’ll be back with some thoughts a little later.

Faulk TD

Continuing an impressive all-around game, Kevin Faulk just made one of his best and most important TD receptions, a 15-yarder from Matt Cassel in crunch time. It’s hbis first receiving TD of the season.

NE 23, STL 16 (3:13 left in 4th Q)

Hobbs down

Ellis Hobbs just defended a deep pass from Marc Bulger to Donnie Avery, but he stayed on the ground and is being looked at by trainers near midfield. The Rams are facing 3rd and 15 deep in their own territory.

Tie ballgame

Stephen Gostkowski’s 3rd FG of the game – a 41-yarder – ties the game at 16-16. The Patriots kicker is now 16-17 on the season.

NE 16, STL 16 (8:22 left in 4th Q)

Faulk steps up

This had the makings of being a Kevin Faulk game, and so far he’s shown how versatile and valuable he can be: 11 carries for 48 yards, including a 14-yard run on the first play of the current drive, plus 3 catches for 32 yards.

Rough drive for the Pats

Trailing by 3, the Patriots just had a quick and ugly drive, with drops by Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk, followed by a Chris Long sack of Matt Cassel, putting the ball back in the Rams’ hands with 11:30 remaining.

Big stop for the Pats

The Rams have had the second half momentum, but they still only have six points to show for it. The Pats just held the Rams offense to a field goal after facing 1st down from the 10, but the home team now trails.

The Patriots three possessions in the second half have gone INT-INT-punt. The Rams have gone punt-FG-punt-FG.

STL 16, NE 13 (12:25 left in 4th Q)

Hobbs picked on again

What an afternoon for the Marc Bulger-Donnie Avery connection. After taking over following a failed 4th-and-1 by the Pats. Bulger went deep down the left sideline for the rookie Avery, defended by Ellis Hobbs and the result was a 44-yard gain. That’s 163 yards for Avery, and the Rams are in the red zone as the 4th quarter begins.

Welker’s 6th catch

Wes Welker became the 4th player in NFL history to record 6 or more catches in each of his team’s first 7 games of a season. He has 6 catches for 68 yards.

But on the play after his 6th catch, a Matt Cassel pass intended for Welker was picked off by Fakhir Brown, who is having an impressive day. He knocked away a pass that Randy Moss nearly caught in the end zone earlier, he helped defend the pass that O.J. Atogwe intercepted, and now he has an INT of his own.