The Patriots rolled up their highest point total in 28 years. Tom Brady threw his career-high 30th touchdown pass. New England's amazing year kept getting better Sunday with a 52-7 rout of Washington. The Redskins entered with the fifth-ranked defense in the NFL and left with the franchise's worst loss since 1961. "I don't know of a weakness that they have," Washington coach Joe Gibbs said.

n a classic case of the rich getting richer, five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who this week joined practices for the first time all season, has been activated by the New England Patriots from the physically unable to perform list. Seymour is expected to play Sunday against the Washington Redskins. It is not yet known how much Seymour will play, but he probably will see at least 10-15 snaps. But by activating him for Sunday's home contest, the Patriots will afford Seymour the opportunity to get in some live game action before next week's much-anticipated matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.

New England Patriots' running back Sammy Morris is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Redskins after not participating in practice all week. Morris suffered a chest injury during the Patriots' 48-27 victory over Dallas on October 14. Tight end Benjamin Watson is also questionable with an ankle injury that caused him to miss last week's 49-28 win over the Dolphins. For the season, he has 18 receptions for 222 yards with five touchdowns.

Junior Seau has more to worry about right now than Clinton Portis and the rest of the Washington Redskins' offense. The New England Patriots' linebacker is also thinking about his hometown of San Diego which has been ravaged by wildfires. Nearly 460,000 acres have burned in California this week, and losses in San Diego County alone total at least $1 billion. Seau said Thursday that at least one of his homes was damaged, and a restaurant he owns is being used as a shelter. "It's definitely not a normal week," said Seau, whose family, including his three children, live in San Diego. The 18-year veteran spent his first 13 seasons with the Chargers, earning 12 straight Pro Bowl selections. Seau has several houses in the San Diego area.

One of the NFL's best teams could soon be getting even better. Five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who has been on the physically unable to perform list following offseason knee surgery, practiced with the New England Patriots for the first time this season on Wednesday afternoon, signaling that his return to the lineup is likely getting closer. By league rule, the Patriots now have a three-week window in which to evaluate Seymour's progress and conditioning. By the end of the three weeks, the team must either move Seymour to the active, 53-player roster or keep him on the PUP list for the rest of the season. New England can activate Seymour, if that is the team's decision, at any time during the three-week period.

Clinton Portis is having the worst stretch of his career. Santana Moss has a total of 8 yards receiving in his last two games. Jason Campbell put up the kind of numbers Sunday that had fans screaming for Mark Brunell's benching three years ago. The Redskins had barely enough offense to beat the Cardinals. That kind of output won't do next week against the juggernaut otherwise known as the Patriots. "We'll probably be the biggest underdog in the history of sports," coach Joe Gibbs said Monday.

On Monday night at Prime 112 in Miami, Bill Clinton was dining in the private room with a party of 20. At the same time, Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen walked in. Brady was taken to meet Clinton, but Gisele remained at her table. Clinton introduced Brady to his group as "the best quarterback in the world."

Tom Brady was flawless at the start and off the bench, too. With his team winning easily, Brady came out of the game early in the fourth quarter Sunday, then re-entered to throw a team-record sixth touchdown pass, capping unbeaten New England's 49-28 rout of the winless Miami Dolphins.

For the second time this season, New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork has been sanctioned for a late or illegal hit, with the NFL levying a $5,000 fine against the fourth-year veteran for a play in last Sunday's victory at Dallas. The fine, first reported by The Boston Globe, was confirmed by league officials. The play in question occurred early in the second quarter, on a 3-yard run by Cowboys' tailback Marion Barber off left guard. During a skirmish at the end of the run, New England defensive end Ty Warren was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, moving the ball to the Patriots' 39-yard line. On the play, Wilfork was engaged with Dallas tight end Jason Witten but was not penalized. In reviewing the play, however, the league's officiating department apparently determined that Wilfork was excessively aggressive and exercised unnecessary roughness.

Even though the New England Patriots are running short of running backs, Laurence Maroney says he won't jeopardize his health to return to the lineup. Maroney has missed three straight games with a groin injury. Backup Sammy Morris filled in with a pair of 100-yard games before hurting his chest in last Sunday's win over the Cowboys. "You've still got to know your body and know your injury," Maroney said. "Just because another person went down doesn't mean that you have to speed your [rehab] up and then hurt yourself more. Now the two of you are out for even longer instead of being patient. "I'm still going to be patient and whatever [coach Bill] Belichick and the trainers have for me this week is what they have."