FOXBORO – Take your Patriots snow globe off the shelf. Shake it up. Let your mind drift, along with the falling flakes, and remember . . .

The Snowin' Samoan, Mosi Tatupu, plowing through the Saints on a dark, December day. Mark Henderson, a convict on work release from Walpole state prison, driving a John Deere on to the field to clear a space for John Smith to kick a game-winning field goal against the Dolphins. Lonie Paxton, making snow angels in the end zone. A stadium full of fans, tossing snow into the air in time to the music blaring over the loudspeakers, celebrating a touchdown by Tedy Bruschi. Tom Brady and the "Tuck Rule." And, of course, Adam Vinatieri, booting a 45-yard field goal to send the 2001 AFC semifinal playoff game against the Raiders into overtime, when he won it with a 27-yarder.

"We've always been a good bad-weather team," Brady said Sunday after the best offensive performance in Patriots history – a record 59 points, on a record 619 yards total offense, and a record-tying six touchdown passes from Tom Terrific, five of which came in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't know that," said Brady, adding that all he knew was that the Patriots were "going up and down the field."

The hapless, hopeless, and still winless Tennessee Titans – disguised yesterday as the Houston Oilers of the old American Football League, in the NFL's Witness (or Winless) Protection Program – didn't go anywhere.

They were whitewashed in the white stuff, as QB Kerry Collins finished 2-for-12 for minus-7 yards – that's right, minus-7 yards — with an interception.

"It was a fun day to be out there," said Brady, who moves his hand forward on the ball when it's wet in order to have better control of his passes. "It was fun to see the way we performed."

The Patriots have more fun in the snow than a kid building his first snowman, or going sledding for the first time.

"We practice in it," Brady said. "We don't go in the bubble too often, whether it's windy, rainy, or snowy. When we first heard the weather forecast on Thursday, we were kind of (upset). But, when the game came around, we were excited and thinking: ‘This is how it should be.' When it's snowy like that, I think it's actually an advantage for our offense."

Apparently so. And for the defense, too, because the Patriots always win when it snows in Foxboro.

Always.

Which is why Sunday's whiteout was over before it started — the outcome decided half an hour before kickoff when the rain turned to snow, in which the Pats now are 11-0 in friendly Foxboro.

It helped that the opponent was the terrible Titans, who'd been outscored, 68-26 in their previous two games and turned out to be truly abominable snowmen, falling behind, 45-0, by halftime on their way to being not merely embarrassed, but humiliated, 59-0.

But the Pats could have trounced even the undefeated Saints or Vikings – who, lest we forget, played home games Sunday in their comfy, climate-controlled domes, as Brady racked up 345 passing yards by HALFTIME.

It was much the same the last time the Patriots played in the snow, last December, when they trounced the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals, 47-7.

The Pats won the 2003 AFC championship in the snow, beating the high-scoring Colts, 24-14. They also beat Indy the following year in the conference semifinals, 20-3, with snow falling.

Less significant, but more amusing, was the game in 1982 when coach Ron Meyer waved Henderson and his plow on to the field.

"It was a spur-of-the moment decision," Meyer said. "There wasn't anything malicious about it. I saw John on his hands and knees, trying to get the snow cleared and, all of a sudden, it hit me: Why not send a plow out there?"

Dolphins coach Don Shula was so hot under the collar that it's surprising the snow didn't melt along the Miami sideline. But there was nothing Shula could do but fume as he watched Smith boot the ball through the frosty uprights from 33 yards away with 4:45 remaining for the only points in the game.

"Afterwards," recalled Patrick Sullivan, the son of team founder Billy Sullivan, "I told Henderson to avoid the press. Of course, he didn't. There was a guy from the Miami Herald who was as angry about the whole thing as Shula. He was practically shouting at Henderson, saying: ‘Do you know that Coach Shula is on the NFL Competition Committee? Do you know how well-respected he is around the league? Do you know what the penalties for this could be?'

"Henderson just smiled at him and said: ‘What are they going to do? Throw me in jail?' "

There was no plow for Vinatieri that unforgettable night against the Raiders in January, 2002.

"There were three or four inches of snow on the ground," he said. "It was sticking to the bottom of my shoes, so I never really felt I could get sure footing. And we were out of timeouts, so we didn't have a chance to clear away the snow from the spot we wanted to kick.

"That was a real, real low percentage kick in those conditions. How many times would I make it if you gave me a hundred shots? I don't know – 10, maybe."

Vinatieri never would have had a chance to attempt the game-tying kick had not Brady's apparent fumble a few plays earlier been ruled an incomplete forward pass as a result of the infamous – in Oakland, anyway – "Tuck Rule."

Still, the Raiders had to like their chances as Vinatieri prepared to kick a rock-hard ball on slippery footing.

"We were down three points," he said. "I had to hit it. And the field conditions – I don't know if I've ever kicked in conditions worse than that. Looking back at it, it's probably the most difficult field goal I've ever had to attempt. It's certainly the one I'm most proud of."

That's quite a statement, coming from a kicker who twice won Super Bowls with field goals in the final seconds.

"I'll always remember those Super Bowl kicks," Vinatieri said. "Those are great memories. But, if you ask me what was my best kick ever, I'd have to say that one against Oakland."

As the Pats proved again Sunday, it's always memorable when they play in the snow.

jdonalds@projo.com