This fake was a piece of cake

ST. LOUIS -- The play had been put in for weeks. But it was meant for one of those "only when the moment is right" situations that only coach Bill Belichick could define.

Yesterday, before a restless crowd of 66,107 at the Edward Jones Dome, the moment felt right. It was the middle of the third quarter with the Patriots holding a tenuous 19-14 lead over the Rams.

On fourth and goal from the St. Louis 4-yard line, it seemed time for Adam Vinatieri to do what he always has done against the Rams. In Vinatieri's career, he has never missed against St. Louis, with none of the kicks more important than the winning field goal in the Patriots' 20-17 Super Bowl victory in 2002.

Vinatieri already had kicked four field goals and one extra point. Now he trotted out for what looked like a 21-yard chip shot.

But as Vinatieri took the field, he knew things would be different. The fake field goal play in which Vinatieri would take the snap and (hopefully) throw the ball to wide receiver Troy Brown had been called.

"Simple," Vinatieri said with a smile. "If it's open, we would do it; if it wasn't, we would regroup."

It was the Rams who had to regroup after Vinatieri calmly tossed the ball to a wide-open Brown at the 1-yard line, and Brown stepped into the end zone. Just like that, it was 26-14, and the Patriots were on the way to a 40-22 victory.

"It was just a play that we thought had a chance to work," said Belichick.

"The idea was to see how they [the Rams] lined up," said Brown, who casually stood by the sideline before making a move toward the end zone and catching Vinatieri's soft toss.

"I tried to do it as quick as possible," said Vinatieri. "If they came up, I would have called a timeout."

No one came up or caught on, and Vinatieri had his moment as an NFL quarterback.