FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots rolled up their highest point total in 28 years. Tom Brady threw his career-high 30th touchdown pass.

Pretty impressive, and there's still half a season to go.

New England's amazing year kept getting better yesterday 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.

Brady threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more. Linebacker Mike Vrabel caught a touchdown pass and forced three fumbles by quarterback Jason Campbell that led to 17 points.

The Patriots (8-0) have scored at least 34 points in each game and have won each by 17 points or more. They've outscored opponents by an average of 41.3 to 15.9.

At this rate, they'll score 662 points, shattering the NFL single-season record of 556 set by Minnesota in 1998. The 52 points were their most since they scored 56 against the New York Jets in 1979.

Still, they followed the line of coach Bill Belichick: dwell on the mistakes so they're not repeated.

"It's a long season," Brady said. "It's not even November yet and we've got a lot of room for improvement left."

Now the first half of the season is over. Bring on the Super Bowl champs, the Colts (7-0), whose winning margin is a mere 32 to 14.6.

The Patriots play next Sunday at Indianapolis, where they had their last loss, more than nine months ago in the AFC championship game.

Let the hype begin.

"You've got to block out the noise," Patriots defensive end Ty Warren said. "If you start reading too much into what's going on out there outside this locker room, I think the battle's already lost."

Washington (4-3) avoided a shutout when Campbell threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley with three minutes left.

COLTS 31, PANTHERS 7

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A slow start and a short week couldn't stop Peyton Manning and Indianapolis from another 7-0 start.

Manning threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns and broke Johnny Unitas' team record for career scoring passes as the Colts dominated the second half against Carolina (4-3).

Joseph Addai rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns and caught a TD pass from Manning, who was outplayed early by 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde. But when Testaverde was lost at halftime with an ankle injury, the defense shut down David Carr the rest of the way as the Colts became the first team since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers to win their first seven games three straight seasons.

Manning completed just 14 of 30 passes, but shook off early problems to eclipse another one of Unitas' records. His second TD, a perfectly thrown 59-yard pass to Reggie Wayne late in the third quarter was the 288th of his career, one more than Unitas.

CHARGERS 35, TEXANS 10

SAN DIEGO — Two days after the last evacuees left Qualcomm Stadium, the tailgaters and the NFL were back.

Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes — two to All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates as San Diego (4-3) beat Houston (3-5).

Antonio Cromartie recovered a fumble for a touchdown and had two interceptions, one of which he returned 70 yards for another TD for San Diego.

Houston lost its third straight and saw quarterback Matt Schaub knocked out of the game when he was hit after throwing his second interception.

STEELERS 24, BENGALS 13

CINCINNATI — Hines Ward caught a pair of touchdown passes, and Pittsburgh won for the seventh consecutive time in Cincinnati. The Steelers (5-2) solidified their hold on first place in the AFC North and pushed the last-place Bengals to the precipice. The Bengals are 2-5 for the first time since 2004.

GIANTS 13, DOLPHINS 10

WEMBLEY, England — Eli Manning threw for only 59 yards but ran for New York's lone touchdown to lift the Giants over still-winless Miami in the NFL's first regular-season game overseas. The Giants (6-2) allowed only 254 yards and held the Dolphins (0-8) out of the end zone for the first 58 minutes.

LIONS 16, BEARS 7

CHICAGO — Jon Kitna passed for 268 yards and Kevin Jones ran for 105 yards and a score as Detroit beat Chicago (3-5). Detroit is 5-2 for the first time since 2000 and making a strong bid for its first playoff appearance since 1999.

JAGUARS 24, BUCS 23

TAMPA, Fla. — Backup quarterback Quinn Gray threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Matt Jones that put Jacksonville (5-2) ahead for good with 11:37 to go in the win over Tampa Bay (4-4). Gray completed 7 of 16 passes for 100 yards, without an interception.

SAINTS 31, 49ERS 10

SAN FRANCISCO — Drew Brees passed for 336 yards and hit Marques Colston with three of his four touchdown throws as New Orleans (3-4) handed San Francisco (2-5) its fifth straight loss. Reggie Bush had 113 total yards for the Saints, who jumped to a 24-point halftime lead.

TITANS 13, RAIDERS 9

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — LenDale White ran for a career-high 133 yards, Rob Bironas added two field goals and Chris Henry scored a touchdown as Tennessee (5-2) beat Oakland (2-5). Vince Young survived his worst game as an NFL starter, completing only 6 of 14 passes for 42 yards.

BROWNS 27, RAMS 20

ST. LOUIS — Derek Anderson threw three touchdown passes, two to Braylon Edwards, and Cleveland (4-3) erased an early 14-point deficit to beat St. Louis (0-8) for its first road win. Browns safety Sean Jones stopped Brian Leonard for no gain on 4th-and-1 from the 16 in the final two minutes and Leigh Bodden picked off Marc Bulger at the Cleveland 28 with 38 seconds left.

EAGLES 23, VIKINGS 16

MINNEAPOLIS — Donovan McNabb threw for 333 yards and a touchdown as Philadelphia (3-5) beat Minnesota (2-5). McNabb completed 23 of 36 passes.

BILLS 13, JETS 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — J.P. Losman came on in relief of an injured Trent Edwards and connected with Lee Evans on an 85-yard touchdown pass with 3:38 remaining to lift Buffalo (3-4) over New York (1-7).