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The Patriots take on the Rams in London

Oct 27, 2012, 1:13 PM EDT

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PATRIOTS (4-3) AT RAMS (3-4) IN LONDON

By Football Night in America’s Eliott Kalb

  • This is the sixth NFL regular season game played internationally.
  • “There’s probably an advantage to doing that,” Belichick said when asked about the Rams decision to arrive London early to get acclimated to the time change. “The drawback is moving all your stuff out there. We felt like we had a good week here of all our film, all our treatment, all the familiarity we have with what we’re doing.
  • “We felt like we could have a good week of preparation at this end and then make the travel adjustment on Friday and have the normal Saturday and Sunday out there,” said Belichick.
  • The Patriots are leading the NFL with 31 points per game.
  • Tom Brady has thrown a touchdown pass in 39 consecutive games—trailing just Drew Brees and Johnny Unitas.
  • Remember, last week, the Rams defense had to deal with Aaron Rodgers.  Now, they have Brady.
  • The Rams are tied for 28th in the league in red zone efficiency, converting only 41.2 percent of their possessions inside the 20-yard line into touchdowns. They’d rank 30th if their special teams unit hadn’t produced a red zone TD on a fake field goal against Seattle.
  • The New England secondary has been especially vulnerable, giving up 16 TD passes, which ties for the highest total in the league.
  • But the Patriots have forced a lot of turnovers, with takeaways being a big part of all four of their victories.
  • In Rob Ninkovich’s last four games he’s been a terror for opposing offenses. Against the Seahawks he recovered a fumble, against Denver he forced two fumbles to go with a sack and against Buffalo he also forced a fumble to go along with a sack.
  • This week the Rams’ Chris Long faces Sebastian Vollmer, who has allowed just one sack on Brady this season. Long has gotten the better of the game’s best right tackles before, so the odds are that last week was just an off day. Last Sunday, Long had his problems with Bryan Bulaga of Green Bay.
  • Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo (elbow) was limited in his return to practice on Thursday, the team announced on its injury report.
  • Wes Welker told reporters he can’t recall facing cornerback Cortland Finnegan much in the past, but that he expects to see quite a bit of the Rams’ top cover guy on Sunday at Wembley Stadium. “Yeah, he’s their nickel guy. Usually he comes into the slot, which is where I play, so yeah. Obviously he’s a great player, and he does a really great job in the slot. I’ll definitely have my hands full.”
  • Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has always been vocal about his support for the San Francisco Giants.  He predicted a Giants in six World Series before the series started.
  • Stephen Jackson has not rushed for as many as 77 yards in a game this season.  In the last two games—both losses (at Miami, Green Bay) Jackson has 52 and 57 rush yards.  Jackson has one rushing touchdown all season.
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