Five crazy facts to know about LeGarrette Blount's crazy day




LeGarrette Blount went off today to the tune of 334 total yards, with 189 rushing and 145 on kick returns. He also added 2 touchdowns.

It was by far the best game of his career, and the best game by a Patriots runner on the season. Often it's said that balance wins championships and the Pats certainly showed that today. In years past a day where Tom Brady throws for just 122 yards would've automatically been assumed to be a loss.

Instead, the Pats put up over 30 points on a day like that, and it was all due to the legs of Blount. The Patriots only threw the ball seven times in the second half and the 43 carries for running backs were a season high.

"He carried the team on his back most of the day," said Bill Belichick (via Boston.com). "He had [334] yards, I don't know how much more we had besides that. But I'd say he did the bulk of it, no question. He had some help, but he did a great job; tremendous."

The running back, acquired just before the season in a trade away of Jeff Demps, had two big kick returns in the game that really helped turn momentum after Buffalo scores. One was 62 yards and another was 83. He also had two long touchdown runs of 35 and 36 yards each.

Of course, the ever humble Blount gave all the credit to the offensive line.

"All we had to do was find the holes," he said. "They blocked tremendous. They had an amazing game. It was one of our best games yet by our offensive line. And they've played amazing throughout the whole season and they definitely came through for us big time today. You can't say enough about those guys, they're tough."

So, just how huge was LeGarrette Blount's day? Let's take a look from a historical perspective.

1. Blount's 83 yard kick return was the second longest non-TD return in Patriots team history. The longest was set by Kevin Faulk's 95 yard return in 1999. (via @Patriots)

2. According to the Patriots official twitter account, Blount's big day set the franchise record for all-purpose yards in a game. So, Blount now finds himself in the Patriots team history books. How does it rank among the NFL's history though?

3. Chase Stuart, the owner of pro-football-reference.com, points out that Blount joins elite company with his big day. The only players in NFL history with at least 180 rushing yards and over 100 return yards in a game are Gale Sayers, Adrian Peterson, and now, LeGarrette Blount.

4. Blount's 189 yards on the ground is the fourth best game by a Patriots running back in franchise history and the most by a Patriots runner since 1998. He sits behind Tony Collins' 212 yards against the Jets in 1982, Curtis Martin's 199 yards against the Jets in 1997 and Robert Edwards' 196 yards against the Rams in 1998.

5. Blount is also the first Patriots runner to go over 100 yards since a week 9 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Stevan Ridley ran for 115 yards. It is only the third time a Patriots running back ran for over 100 this season, after it happened five times last season.

Photo by: Boston Globe's Matthew J. Lee

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