ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- On the third play of the Patriots' 38-7 rout of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, facing a third-and-10 at his own 32-yard line, New England quarterback Tom Brady tossed a swing into the right flat to Kevin Faulk and the "nickel" tailback ran 19 yards for a first down.

So wide open was Faulk on a play where the Bills blitzed from the opposite side that, if Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis hadn't already been plotting a steady diet of swing passes, screen passes and dump-off plays, he would immediately have altered his game plan.

	Tom Brady completed 23-of-27 passes for 310 yards and four TDs.

But he didn't have to adjust because the Bills never caught up to the horizontal passing strategy, and even if they did, their defense tackled as if it was performing in straitjackets. The New England short passing game was relentless and deadly effective.

"Our goal coming in was to find something that worked early and just keep using it until they stopped it," New England offensive left tackle Matt Light said. "I think when we got the screens and the swing passes going early on, we sort of figured, 'Hey, why change?' Turns out, we never did, huh?"

In a game where the Drew Bledsoe Revenge Factor was much ballyhooed, it was instead Brady who stole the spotlight, completing 23 of 27 passes for 310 yards, with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. His efficiency rating for the game was a career-best 154.1, no small feat, especially when one considers the maximum possible passer score is 158.3.

Maligned in recent weeks as the defending Super Bowl champions dropped four straight games, Brady scored the maximum in three of four categories -- completion percentage, touchdown percentage and interception percentage -- used to figure the quarterback rating. Only in the fourth component, yards gained per attempt, was he shy of a perfect score.

For most of the day, Brady didn't even have to look up the field to locate receivers running free through the Buffalo secondary. On the Patriots' initial possession, an eight-play scoring drive that culminated in a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Christian Fauria, the cagey Brady completed all six attempts for 61 yards.

Despite hookups of 14 yards (to wide receiver Troy Brown), 22 yards (to first-round tight end Daniel Graham) and the 19-yarder to Faulk, the short scoring toss to Fauria might have been the longest the ball was in the air.

By unofficial count, and obviously by design, 237 of Brady's 310 passing yards came on screens, swings and dumps. Nine of his completions were on screen- or hitch-passes as Brady connected with eight different receivers and threw touchdown passes to three different teammates. New England had 15 double-digit completions and a dozen came on short passes that turned into long gains. Three of the four longest pass plays came on screens.

The backbreaker came in the third quarter, a check-down to Faulk in the left flat, a short flip that turned into a 45-yard touchdown and essentially put the game out of reach. Faulk got two terrific blocks as he snaked down the left sidelined, deked one Buffalo defender to his knees, and scored untouched for a 24-7 lead.

"Whatever air was left in the balloon," said Buffalo safety Pierson Prioleau, "kind of got knocked out of us on that play."

Indeed, as Faulk raced past him down the sideline, Bills coach Gregg Williams tossed his clipboard to the ground. He and defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, who was consistently yanking secondary players in an effort to find someone capable of making a tackle, then engaged in a very animated sideline exchange.

In the aftermath of a loss that snapped the Bills' three-game winning streak, Williams cited his defensive unit's shoddy tackling. Truth be told, however, the Buffalo staff was outcoached. A Patriots team that had problems against the Bills in 2001, when Brady was sacked a dozen times in two matchups, arrived here with a superior game plan.

	“	We felt like we had some stuff that would be effective and, as the game wore on, there was really no need to change. … For the first time in what has seemed like a long time, we were able to dictate the tempo, to set the pace. ”
		— Pats QB Tom Brady

Head coach Bill Belichick acknowledged that the game plan was "specific" to the Buffalo defense. Translation: New England coaches felt they had a big edge on the outside, that the Buffalo linebackers could not handle Pats tailbacks in the flat, that the safeties were not sure tacklers, and that the Bills secondary was weakened by the absence of cornerback Antoine Winfield.

"It was all geared toward the Bills," said Belichick, eschewing any notion his team came here seeking to find a philosophy in mid-game. "It wasn't about anything other than trying to move the football against a good team."

And move it the Patriots did, scoring on six of only nine possessions and averaging 6.7 yards per snap.

Former Bills tailback Antowain Smith, too often an afterthought this year as Weis frequently used a four-wide receiver set, gained a measure of revenge by totaling 142 yards from scrimmage and scoring three times. The Pats got the tight ends, especially Graham, more involved. And they protected Brady not only with solid line play, but also with a passing blueprint based largely on quick releases, and getting the ball to receivers in spots where they could add yards after the catch.

Said a disappointed Prioleau: "I'm not going to discuss the 'dink and dunk' stuff. That (diminishes) what they did to us. They didn't throw the ball to the wide receivers because we didn't make them go that route. They found a wart and kept picking at it."

"We felt like we had some stuff that would be effective and, as the game wore on, there was really no need to change," Brady said. "The coaches had a great game plan, really, so give them credit. For the first time in what has seemed like a long time, we were able to dictate the tempo, to set the pace."

It didn't hurt New England that, in the first 25 minutes of the game, the Patriots averaged just more than 10 yards on first-and-10 plays. Included during that stretch were first-down gains of 15, 17 and 22 yards. If this is a formula that returns the Patriots to the manner of dominance they demonstrated in the first three games of the season, players are ready to embrace it.

"It's important," said center Damien Woody, "for us to play out front, with a lead. Jumping out on somebody early, like when we scored twice on three possessions, puts us in the attack mode. And we love to attack on both sides of the ball. We showed today you don't have to throw the ball deep to attack a defense. You just have to give guys a chance to make plays and we did."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.