Was I the only one that didn't think the Patriots were dead last night?

I don't want to be the "all-knowing" kind of guy. But when the Patriots play, I sometimes get this weird feeling in my gut -- that's the "Patriots are going to lose" feeling. I don't know why it happens, but sometimes, even when the game looks the bleakest, I don't get that feeling.

I didn't get that feeling last night.

Then Mr. Tom Brady drives down and looks like the "Vintage Brady" as he was being called last night. Those last three or so minutes was Brady at his finest. Injury? What injury? This guy is good to go. The rust came off in the first half. The second half was all just about coming back to win the game.

Now with that out of the way, a few thoughts from me, if you care to read:

• Being two-faced. The first half, and part of that third quarter, looked a lot like the 2000 Patriots. They just didn't look like a good team. But then that 4th quarter started and man, that was the team we all know and love. Everything was clicking -- not just the offense. Did you see how good that defense was in those final 50 seconds the Bills had the ball? That was the defense we should have seen from the getgo.
• The face of the defense. When Jerod Mayo went down early, the defense took a huge hit. All of a sudden, with Mayo gone, the Pats D had no one to turn to. No Richard Seymour. No Tedy Bruschi. Now no Mayo. It was like a chicken running around with its head cut off. You had all these young linebackers just trying to do their jobs and it all looked ugly. But then, that final 50 seconds, wow. Great stuff. I'm glad to see the defense gel together and make an impact.
• Lau-Ma. It's kind of a shame the Patriots had to come back to win that game because if they didn't need to, Laurence Maroney probably would have had a big game. His rushes early in the game were really strong, but once the Patriots had to dig back, that meant a lot of passes from Tom Brady.
• More defense. I think this defense will be one of two things this season: really good or really bad. It's a young defense with a lot of question marks, but I feel like that could help these guys prove they're good enough to play. The defense we saw late was something we need to see every game from start to finish. If we get that, with Mayo in the middle, oh boy. Look out.
• How about more Tom Brady? Hopefully Brady won't have to throw the ball 53 times any more this year, but geez, that second half Brady was excellent. You could see how comfortable he was in the pocket and he was making all the throws. The Bills had soft coverage late -- which could be one of their main problems -- but still, Brady was picking apart that defense. I feel like he could have done that to any defense the way he was in the groove last night.
• Suzy Kolber. People are saying Brady is a jerk for blowing off Kolber last night. I think that's crap. A) he said he was going in and B) he ended up answering her questions anyway. It's not like he ran off. Even when he couldn't hear her, he stopped and answered the questions. I just don't feel like people should be calling Brady a jerk for something like this when there are NFL players out there killing dogs, killing people, etc. ... /rant.

Anyway. Great game, guys. It was fun following it with ya'll.

Go Pats!