Airing it out was group effort

MINNEAPOLIS -- Forty minutes before kickoff Jay-Z's new single, "Show Me What You Got," blared over the sound system at the Metrodome.

The Patriots' wide receivers and tight end Benjamin Watson took the message literally. Less than four minutes into the game they had shown Minnesota that it had no chance of stopping them.

Watson and the wideouts combined to catch six balls for 94 yards on New England's opening scoring drive, setting the tone for the pass-happy Patriots' 31-7 win over the Vikings last night.

New England threw the ball 43 times and Watson, who had a career-high 95 yards on seven catches, and receivers Reche Caldwell, Doug Gabriel, Troy Brown, Chad Jackson, and Jabar Gaffney combined for 23 catches for 288 yards, quieting criticism about the group's ability to provide quarterback Tom Brady with targets.

"Internally, in this group we knew what we had in here," said Watson. "We knew it from the beginning. We know we're going to have ups and downs each week. We know that every week is not going to be a great passing week, but we know that with the guys in this room we work hard and we try to correct our mistakes."

The Patriots' receiving corps had been blamed for a lack of big plays in the passing game. Before last night, New England didn't have a pass play longer than 35 yards. Gabriel (five catches for 83 yards) took care of that on New England's first drive, when he took a third-and-10 pass from Brady around the Minnesota 30 and turned it into a 45-yard gain.

Four plays later, Caldwell (seven catches for 84 yards) capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown reception, his first in a New England uniform. Caldwell was the first of four pass-catchers to haul in a touchdown from Brady. Watson, Brown, and Jackson also got into the act.

At one point Vikings fans took matters into their own hands to try to stop the group, throwing a bottle at Watson after he hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Brady 25 seconds before halftime that gave New England a 17-0 lead.

"I'm glad it didn't hit me," said Watson.

The touchdowns were a welcome reward, but the most encouraging sign from the much-maligned group was the big plays, all of which were the result of running with the ball after the catch. In all, it produced three plays of 34 yards of more, all of which led to scores.

Watson had a 40-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter on a drive that resulted in a Stephen Gostkowski 23-yard field goal, and Caldwell went 34 yards on a wide receiver screen to pick up a key first down on the drive that ended in Watson's TD catch.

"It felt good to make plays," said Watson. "We've worked really hard on offense. We've worked really hard in the passing game and some stuff came together for us today. We executed, so it's always good to execute."

Even Gaffney got into the act. He didn't have a big play, but he did record his first catch as a Patriot, a 4-yard pass from Brady in the second quarter.

The only miscue by the receiving corps was Caldwell's third-quarter fumble after a completion on first and goal from the 7.

By the time Jackson took a pass from Brady, shook free from safety Dwight Smith, and burrowed into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown reception with five seconds left in the third, giving New England a 31-7 lead, the Vikings were probably air sick. Up to that point, New England had passed the ball 38 times and run it just nine.

Fullback Health Evans said that was part of the game plan -- to play away from Minnesota's strength, which was its second-ranked run defense.

Evans said nobody should be surprised that the Patriots' pass-catchers were a big hit in prime time.

"Those guys are super talented and they're getting more comfortable and Tommy's getting more comfortable with them," said Evans. "You have some good veteran players out there. It's not like these guys are all rookies."

Watson echoed Evans.

"We have good players all around. It just took time for those guys to get used to our offense," he said. "It's taken a few games, but I think that now stuff is starting to happen for us. I think the biggest thing is to keep the pedal down and keep it down through the rest of the season."