vrabel

FOXBORO — According to nbcsports.com, Washington Redskins linebacker Randall Godfrey confronted Patriots coach Bill Belichick after his team was dismantled by New England on Sunday.

“I said something to (Belichick) after the game,” Godfrey said. “I told him, ‘You need to show some respect for the game.’ You just don’t do that. I don’t care how bad it is. You’re up 35 points and you’re still throwing deep? That’s no respect.”

Godfrey went on to say that “great head coaches” like his own coach, Joe Gibbs, the late Bill Walsh, or Belichick’s former boss, Bill Parcells, wouldn’t have run up the score as Godfrey alleges New England did.

“You wouldn’t see those types of guys doing that stuff. I’ve never seen nothing like that. Most teams, you get up like that, you sit on the ball and try to run the time out. They’re up 30-some points and they’re throwing deep. That was blatant disrespect. I hope we can see them again, definitely,” Godfrey said. “This is the pros; you show some respect, show some class.”

After the game, Gibbs said he had no problem with the final score.

When Godfrey’s name came up yesterday, Belichick said the player can say what he likes.

“Randall’s entitled to his opinion. If you ask him, I’m sure he’ll give it to you,” Belichick said.

Iron Mike

Mike Vrabel had an impressive day Sunday: three sacks, all resulting in forced fumbles that led to 17 points for the Pats.

He also had 13 tackles, his 10th career touchdown as a tight end and his first-ever kickoff return.

“He had a lot of good plays,” Belichick said. “Three strip-sacks in one game, that’s a lot of ball awareness and being close to the quarterback. The touchdown pass was well-executed, (and) he was in on a lot of tackles. He played well. He did a good job, but so did a lot of other guys. A couple of times we had good coverage that forced (Washington quarterback Jason) Campbell to hold the ball a little bit and gave Mike time to get there.”

Vrabel’s trio of sacks gives him a team-leading 7 ½ for the season. He now has 39 for his New England career, tying him for ninth in franchise history with Houston Antwine.

Points well taken

The Patriots became just the second team in NFL history to score at least 34 points in each of its first eight games of a season, joining the 2000 St. Louis Rams after they piled up 52 points on Sunday against the Redskins.

It was their highest point total in 28 years.

The Patriots have scored 38, 38, 38, 34, 34, 48, 49, and 52 points in their eight games, for a total of 331 points.

They’ve won each game by 17 points or more and they’ve outscored their opponents by an average of 41.3 to 15.9.

At this rate they’ll shatter the NFL single-season record for points scored of 556 set by Minnesota in 1998. They are on pace to score 662 points.

“People don’t understand what goes into it every week,” Patriots running back Heath Evans said. “I think everyone takes the stuff we say here as lip service, and we’re downplaying it, but we are taught and prepared by Coach Belichick, and we know that if we do the things that are asked of us Monday through Saturday — he’s not wrong too often — so we buy into the things he teaches and what he’s coaching and what he’s putting into place. Most of the time we have success like this.”

The best by far

Patriots defensive back Rodney Harrison said that while he has been a part of some great teams in the past, he has never been a part of one that has won as easily as the Patr are this year.

“I can honestly say that I haven’t been a part of anything like this, and I was on a team that won 21 games in a row,” Harrison said. “I don’t even think we scored 40 points during that span, so it’s something special but [the season] is still young.”

Extra points

Rosevelt Colvin’s 11-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second half against Washington was the first TD of his career. … New England is converting nearly half of its third-down opportunities on offense (42-for-86, 48.8 percent) while denying opponents on 71.3 percent of their third-down chances (62-for-87). Both marks lead the NFL. … As expected, New England re-signed Santonio Thomas to its practice squad yesterday. The defensive lineman was cut on Friday to make room for Richard Seymour on the 53-man roster. Thomas’ addition to the eight-man practice roster meant the Pats had to release center Pat Ross, who was brought aboard earlier this month.

roblee@projo.com