Tom Brady led touchdown drives on the Patriots’ first five drives Sunday and New England (5-3) ran over the St. Louis Rams 45-7 in the NFL’s annual regular-season game at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Brady led four straight touchdown drives to give New England a commanding 28-7 lead by halftime, and then hit Brandon Lloyd for a 9-yard score to start the third quarter.
Brady passed for 304 yards with four touchdowns and tight end Rob Gronkowski caught eight passes for 146 yards and two scores. Lloyd also had two touchdown catches, while Stevan Ridley ran for 127 yards and a score as the Patriots put themselves atop the AFC East heading into their off week.
The Rams (3-5), who also will be off, are now last in the NFC West after losing two in a row.
After the Rams took the lead, Brady led a 78-yard drive to tie the scores with a 19-yard pass to Brandon Lloyd. On their next drive, coach Bill Belichick opted to go for it on fourth down at the one-yard line, and Shane Vereen broke into the end zone for the score.
It was the only fourth down the Rams forced until the middle of the third quarter, when the Patriots had to settle for a 26-yard field goal to make it 38-7.
In between, Brady hit Gronkowski on a 7-yard touchdown pass and Ridley had another one-yard run into the end zone for the Patriots 10 seconds before halftime.
St. Louis only had one other scoring opportunity in the first half, but botched the snap on a 52-yard field goal attempt right after the two-minute warning and holder Johnny Hekker was tackled for a 9-yard loss.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.