5 Things You Need to Know About Sunday's Patriots Game in London vs. Rams

Note: Information courtesy of The New England Patriots Media Relations Department

The NFL’s International Series of regular season games returns to the United Kingdom Sunday when the St. Louis Rams “host” the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Patriots-Rams game will be the 11th regular season game played outside of the U.S. The first regular season game played outside of the U.S was in Mexico City in 2005 when the Cardinals hosted the 49ers.

This week’s game will be the sixth regular season game played in London. The game will be New England’s second time playing in London.

The Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 25, 2009.

The NFL played games in London in 2007 (Giants-Dolphins), 2008 (Chargers-Saints), 2009 (Patriots-Buccaneers), 2010 (49ers-Broncos) and 2011 (Bears-Buccaneers).

Buffalo has hosted games in Toronto in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. There have been nine NFL preseason games played in London.

The first preseason game ever played in London was a 1983 game between Minnesota and the St. Louis Cardinals.

There have been eight games played in London as part of the NFL’s American Bowl preseason contests, which began in 1986.

The Patriots have traveled internationally for four preseason games in addition to their 2009 regular season game in London.

Those games are:

• Patriots lost to Detroit, 22-9, in Montreal in 1969 (Attend. - 8,212)
• Patriots lost to Pittsburgh, 30-14, in Montreal in 1990 (Attend. – 26,869)
• Patriots lost to Cleveland, 12-9, in Toronto in 1993 (Attend. – 33,021)
• Patriots defeated Dallas, 21-3, in Mexico City in 1998 (Attend. – 106,424)
• Patriots defeated Tampa Bay, 35-7 in London in 2009 (Attend. – 84,254)

Sunday’s game against the Rams marks the 12th time these two teams have met in franchise history, with the Pats holding a 6-5 series lead. Many fans will remember the Patriots stunning victory over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI as the ultimate highlight to this series. That victory followed a tight game in the 2001 regular season that ended in a 24-17 St. Louis victory at Foxboro Stadium.

The last time the two teams played in the regular season was in 2008 when the Pats defeated the Rams, 23-16 at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 26.

The Patriots are 3-2 against the Rams in road games, including 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium when the team was located in Los Angeles and 1-1 in games played in St. Louis.

The series dates back to 1974, when the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams by a 20-14 score at what was then Schaefer Stadium.

Here’s five things you need to know about today’s game.

1. Today's Broadcast (TV and Radio)

TV: This week’s game will be televised on CBS at 1 p.m. Jim Nantz will provide play-by-play while Phil Simms will serve as the broadcast analyst.

RADIO: Legendary play-by-play man Gil Santos will be joined by former Patriots quarterback and current 98.5 The Sports Hub personality, Scott Zolak. Tune in to 98.5 The Sports Hub to listen to Sunday's game.

2. Patriots-Rams Series at a Glance

The Patriots and Rams have played 10 regular season games with each team winning five times.

Regular Season

(Patriots 5, Rams 5)

Date Result Score H/A Stadium

• 09/29/74 W 20-14 H Schaefer Stadium
• 11/16/80 L 14-17 H Schaefer Stadium
• 12/11/83 W 21-7 A Anaheim Stadium
• 11/16/86 W 30-28 A Anaheim Stadium
• 12/24/89 L 20-24 H Sullivan Stadium
• 09/13/92 L 0-14 A Anaheim Stadium
• 12/13/98 L 18-32 A Trans World Dome
• 11/18/01 L 17-24 H Foxboro Stadium
• 11/07/04 W 40-22 A Edward Jones Dome
• 10/26/08 W 23-16 H Gillette Stadium

Playoffs

Patriots 1, Rams 0

Date Result Score H/A Stadium

• 02/03/02 W 20-17 N Louisiana Superdome

SERIES BREAKDOWN

(Includes Postseason)

Overall Record (Patriots) ............................................................. 6-5

Home Record (Patriots) ............................................................... 2-3

Gillette Stadium ........................................................... 1-0

Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium............................... 1-3

Away Record ................................................................ 3-2

Anaheim Stadium ........................................................ 2-1

Trans World/Edward Jones Dome ................................. 1-1

Neutral Site Record (at Louisiana Superdome) ........... 1-0

Total Points ........................................... Patriots 223, Rams 215

Longest winning streak................. 3 games (including SB XXXVI)

Longest losing streak ................ 4 games (12/24/89 – 11/18/01)

Bill Belichick vs. St. Louis/LA. ........... 3-2 (3-1 with New England)

3. What to Watch For Sunday

TOM BRADY

With one touchdown pass against the Rams, Tom Brady will extend his streak to 40 straight games with at least one touchdown pass and continue his third longest streak all time, behind Drew Brees (49-current) and Johnny Unitas (47).

Brady has 49 career 300-yard games in the regular season and needs one more to break a tie with Warren Moon (49) for 7th place all time.

Brady has two rushing touchdowns in 2012 and needs one more to tie his single-season career high of three set in 2011.

STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI

Stephen Gostkowski (7-of-10) needs one more 50-yard field goal to tie Adam Vinatieri (8-of-17) for most 50-yard field goals in Patriots history.

Gostkowski has two 50-yarders so far in 2012 and can become the first Patriots player with three 50-yard field goals in a single season.

ROB NINKOVICH

Rob Ninkovich has a team-leading four forced fumbles, including four forced fumbles in the last four games. If he has one more forced fumble it will be tied with Mike Vrabel (five in 2007) for the most forced fumbles for a Patriots player within the last 20 years.

WES WELKER

Wes Welker (16) needs one more 10-plus catch game to break a second place tie with Marvin Harrison (16) and tie Jerry Rice (17) for the most 10-catch games in NFL history.

Welker needs one reception to extend his streak to 85 straight regular-season games with at least one reception as a member of the Patriots to extend his franchise record. Welker has an overall streak of 101 straight regular-season games with at least one reception, including his time with the Miami Dolphins.

Welker (8,184) needs 78 yards to move past Irving Fryar (8,184) for fourth place on the Patriots all-time all-purpose yards list, behind Kevin Faulk (12,349), Stanley Morgan (11,468) and Troy Brown (11,053).

TEAM

The Patriots have gained at least 350 total yards in 16 consecutive games and need to accomplish the feat against the Rams to break out of a tie with the 1999-2000 St. Louis Rams (16) for the longest streak in NFL history.

4. Did You Know …

The Patriots’ round trip to London (6,500) will be more travel miles than Green Bay (5,774) will have all season. Washington has the second-lowest travel with 7,144 total miles. In fact, the Patriots will travel a total of 11,480 miles round trip, between the Seattle and London road trips. That mileage is more than 11 teams total travel for the entire 2012 season. The Patriots round trip to Seattle was 4,980 miles and the road trip to London will be 6,500 miles.

5. Patriots-Rams Connections

Former Patriots

• Rams Offensive Line Coach Paul Boudreau held the same position with the Patriots from 1997-98.
• Rams Assistant Offensive Line Coach Andy Dickerson was an Operations Intern/Assistant with the Patriots from 2004-05.
• Rams G Quinn Ojinnaka appeared in eight games for the Patriots in 2010 after joining the team in a trade with Atlanta.

Former Rams

• Patriots Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Josh McDaniels held the same position with the St. Louis Rams in 2011.
• The Denver Broncos traded Patriots WR Brandon Lloyd to the Rams on Oct. 17, 2011 in exchanged for a sixth round draft choice in 2012. Lloyd played in St. Louis for the remainder of the 2011 season and caught 51 passes for 683 yards and five touchdowns.
• Patriots TE Daniel Fells played for the Rams from 2008-10. During his time in St. Louis, Fells played in 42 games and made 11 starts.