Patriots vs. Rams: Full Report Card Grades for New England

Allow him to reintroduce himself; his name is Tom Brady: The winningest quarterback in NFL history. 

Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Rams marked a career milestone no quarterback has reached before, not even Peyton Manning. Brady surpassed Manning with his 201st career win, and he did it in style as the New England Patriots coasted to an easy victory. 

There's nothing Bill Belichick loves more than facing a Jeff Fisher-coached team as his teams have outscored Fisher 59-0, 45-7 and 26-10 in the past three games. 

The Patriots took advantage of facing a rookie quarterback at home and exploited the matchups the Rams have struggled with on defense. 

This football game was over by the end of the first half as the Patriots had 12 times as many first downs as the Rams and 10 times as many yards. This was the definition of a beatdown. 

The Rams scored in total garbage time, but the Patriots were dominant as they finished their three-game stretch against struggling teams. The whole team gained much-needed confidence heading into the homestretch of the regular season. 

Read on for the full grades from the New England Patriots' 26-10 win over the Los Angeles Rams to push their record to 10-2. 

Quarterback

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Winning a game in the NFL isn't easy, unless your name is Tom Brady. 

Brady moved into the record books with his 201st career win and while he wasn't flashy, he played his signature style and dominated the Rams defense. 

Brady threw a perfect outside, back-shoulder pass to Chris Hogan for a precision touchdown that was a play of beauty. The play was reminiscent of vintage Aaron Rodgers-Jordy Nelson back-shoulder passes. It brought tears to my eyes to see such a terrifically executed play call. 

Brady finished the game 33-for-46 throwing for 269 yards and a touchdown. He didn't exactly push the ball down the field, other than escaping some pressure and chucking the ball up for Edelman on a 32-yard jump ball. 

Brady was great. He has a lot of trust in his wide receivers. 

Congrats on win No. 201, Mr. Brady. 

Grade: A-

Running Back

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

With Rob Gronkowski going down with back surgery that will shut him down for the season, the Patriots need to find other players to get involved in the offense. The Patriots have tons of versatility without the greatest tight end in the game. 

LeGarrette Blount continued his career season with great effectiveness on the ground, especially on fourth down. He took a 4th-and-1 carry on the Patriots' opening drive and bounced to the outside where he found open field, shook the safety and scampered into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown run.

Blount followed up that play with another fourth-down conversion on the same play call shortly after his score. He is leading the NFL in rushing touchdowns and shows no signs of slowing down as he had 88 yards on the ground by bludgeoning the Rams. 

Dion Lewis is almost entirely back and at the right time. He didn't gain a lot of yardage, but his shiftiness is at its peak, and he is about to be unleashed in the offense. 

Each week, I say to not forget about James White. White pitched in a few yards on the ground in addition to the receiving game. He is a key component who adds another dimension to the offense, and it was evident today. 

Grade: A

Wide Receiver

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Malcolm Mitchell is the real deal and then some. Mitchell extended his hot streak to three games with an eight-catch, 82-yard performance. He didn't haul in a touchdown, but he has Brady's full confidence and looks like a more explosive, early career Troy Brown. 

Mitchell was crisp on his routes and catches the ball effectively with his strong hands. He sees the ball through the whole catch. This kid is a gem and budding force in the offense. 

Julian Edelman had eight catches for 101 yards including the aforementioned 32-yard deep jump ball that was a brilliant display of athleticism. Edelman will be Brady's safety valve with Gronk out, and he passed with flying colors in his first test. 

Meanwhile, Chris Hogan had the great touchdown grab on his back-shoulder with a nice toe-touch. 

The only knock on the receivers was for a few missed blocks on screen passes, especially the ones to Martellus Bennett. 

Grade: A- 

Tight End

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Martellus Bennett is not Rob Gronkowski, and he never will be. But, Marty also is not healthy right now. He has a nagging ankle injury that could use some extra rest to bring him back up to full speed. 

Bennett could have busted a big screen play for nice yardage if Shaq Mason didn't miss a block. 

Bennett struggled in the blocking game where he is usually sound. Clearly the ankle is limiting him and he will be a bigger force once his ankle isn't slowing him down. 

Grade: C-

Offensive Line

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

The Rams have a pretty good defensive line that's led by Aaron Donald, who is the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL. The Patriots did a good job of neutralizing Donald with double and even triple teams. 

Outside of a few holding calls, one on Joe Thuney, the offensive line controls the line of scrimmage and created space for Blount, Lewis and White to work with. In pass-protection, Brady was not sacked, but he did take a couple of hits. 

In the spotlight of the week, Shaq Mason made Blount's TD run happen, but it was his impressive block on the play prior that set it up. Mason sprung James White free on a third-down screen pass that set up the 4th-and-1. Without that block, the Patriots were staring down third-and-long and likely a punt. 

Grade: A

Defensive Line

Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

Coming off the news that he won his appeal of a four-game suspension, Alan Branch came to play. Right at the start of the game, Branch was explosive and disruptive as he burst into the backfield to drop Todd Gurley for a loss.

The dialed-up pressure was coming for the edges and the interior as Chris Long and Rob Ninkovich both notched sacks on the stat sheet for the Patriots.

The aggressive style worked well against Jared Goff who could never get comfortable. The defensive line needed a performance like this to prove they can be an involved, disruptive unit.

Grade: A 

Linebacker

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Welcome to the party, Kyle Van Noy. 

In the continuing news of the Patriots stealing away under-utilized players from other teams, they may have hit another home run with the addition of Van Noy. 

Van Noy had a spectacular game as he made an athletic interception on a tipped ball and added five total tackles. He seemed to be all over the field and if he can be the combination pass-rusher, coverage hybrid linebacker  this team desperately needs, it is a major positive going forward. 

A familiar face finally had the game he needed. Jabaal Sheard, who was most recently in Bill Belichick's doghouse and was even a healthy scratch for game, stepped up with a big performance. Sheard got a hand on Goff's throwing arm that led to Van Noy's interception. He also swatted down a pass and had a QB hit.

Sheard put it all together and hopefully this showing wasn't an anomaly, but rather a return to what we all know Sheard is capable of. 

Grade: A+

Secondary

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Malcolm Butler was a total menace. He had three passes defensed and was in the right place at the right time for a slick interception off a dropped pass by Rams tight end Lance Kendricks. 

At safety, Devin McCourty lit up Kenny Britt twice, who proved he is a soft receiver. McCourty forced drops on two third-down throws to Britt. 

Logan Ryan was effective in a new role as a blitzing corner. He recorded a sack and made his way into the backfield another time. 

Outside of a garbage-time 66-yard catch by Kenny Britt, the secondary was as sound as can be. That play might have been a pity play for all we know, at least it felt that way. 

Grade: A

Special Teams

Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

Have no fear, Stephen Gostkowski is back!

After struggling with missed extra points and some missed field goals throughout the season, Gostkowski needed a game like this one. He sank four field goals with the longest coming from 48 yards out. Gostkowski also made two extra points. 

But, the best part of Gostkowski's kicking was that he made field goals from both hash marks. He has struggled from the right hash mark this season and appears to have rebounded to his true form. 

Cyrus Jones got the boot after muffing yet another punt. Danny Amendola replaced Jones but wound up getting injured because he surprisingly didn't signal for a fair catch with a player in his face. The punt returns were not ideal in this one. 

Grade: B+

Coaching

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Well, when you get to coach against Jeff Fisher, most of the time you can do no wrong. 

Belichick put Fisher in his place once again as the game plan to attack, attack, attack Jared Goff and the porous offensive line payed off. 

Let's also give some credit to Matt Patricia who finally got creative with some designed blitzes that involved corners and safeties as well as some linebackers. This made Goff uncomfortable from the start of the game, straight through to the final whistle. 

Josh McDaniels called another good game on offense. 

The Patriots clearly outcoached the Rams, but after all, that really isn't that difficult. 

Grade: A+