Offense holds its ground

Morris, Jordan run wild against Raiders

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Patriots found the cure for their inconsistent running attack yesterday - the Raiders.

The cure is also tied to the health of running back Sammy Morris, who led New England's 277-yard ground attack with 117 yards on 14 carries, highlighted by a 29-yard touchdown run that gave his club a 21-0 lead in the first quarter en route to a 49-26 romp.

"It was a great job up front," Morris said. "I think [it] was a perfect example of a team game. The first couple of drives we had a short field to work with. We had short fields to work with as a result of special teams and defense. Once you get short fields you get a little more things that you do as far as putting things in you can hit them with. We were able to pass the ball effectively, especially with the weather, and run the ball as well."

The last time the Patriots ran for more than 200 yards in a game was Week 6 when they piled up 257 yards in a win over the Broncos. Morris ran for a season-high 138 yards that night, but injured his knee in the second quarter.

Morris missed the next two games. Since his return against the Bills Nov. 9, the Patriots have eased him back into the lineup.

Before yesterday Morris had 39 carries in the last five games, but his load gradually increased over the last two games.

Yesterday, he got his most extensive work since the injury but was noncommittal on being 100 percent healthy.

"That is a relative term to me right now," said Morris, who scored his career-high seventh touchdown of the season on his second-quarter jaunt. "I'm doing what I got to do."

LaMont Jordan added a season-high 97 yards on 12 carries, including a 49-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter against his former team.

It was Morris who set up Jordan's long touchdown run with two power runs for 8 yards.

Entering the game, the Raiders had the second-worst run defense in the NFL, giving up 158.7 yards per game.

"When you find something that's working for you, just keep doing it," said running back Kevin Faulk, who had 111 yards from scrimmage, including 45 on six carries. "We just got to be consistent and got to do it for the next two weeks."

Morris did the most damage on the team's third possession, where he carried the ball four times for 47 yards, capping it with a 29-yard TD run up the middle.

"It was a counter and the linemen were pulling, so the rest is on us," Morris said.

New England's rushing total was its highest since Dec. 22, 1985, when the Patriots posted 281 yards on 46 carries against the Bengals. New England's rushing total against Oakland was the eighth-best in franchise history. The franchise record is 332 yards, achieved Nov. 28, 1976 against the Broncos.

Unlike last week against the Seahawks, when the Patriots could not consistently expose the league's worst pass defense, the team's running game was able to gash the Raiders' porous defense.

"We tried to do that last week but for whatever reason, things didn't work," Morris said. "It's two different teams. We came out with the same mentality in both games. This one turned a little more lopsided."

Gregory Lee Jr. can be reached at glee@globe.com