The Patriots have done a lot of things better in 2010 than they did in 2009.  From the looks of things, they've solved their road woes, their second half woes on offense, among other things.  One aspect that has been overlooked has been the team's ability to finish drives off in the red zone.

In 2009, particularly early in the season, the Patriots would often get into the red zone, only to have drives stall and result in field goals.  In 2010, the Patriots have turned that fortune around.  So far this season, the Patriots have scored touchdowns on 61.4% of their red zone drives, up nearly 10% from last season.  Thursday against the Lions, the Patriots scored touchdowns on four of five red zone possessions.

So what is the reason for this change in success?

Find out after the jump.

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Update: CNBC's Darren Rovell has tweeted that the jerseys are a fake.  While this is certainly a relief, there has been no official statement from Nike or the NFL.  It could be possible that Nike is trying to cover up the negative fan reaction to these jersey sketches.  It's also interesting that the Patriots jersey has been singled out as a "fake."

As you may or may not know, in 2012, Nike will be replacing Reebok as the NFL's new jersey supplier.  With the take over, Nike is promising some innovative changes to the NFL jerseys.  Today, Nike leaked photos of some early "sketches" of new jerseys for all 32 teams.  The Patriots' design is arguably the most outlandish and downright ridiculous:

My thoughts on the new designs after the jump!

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Earlier this season, I did a "power rankings" of sorts, where I ranked Patriots' rookie and 2nd year players. Officially mid-way through the season,  I thought now would be a good time to re-visit that.

1. Patrick Chung, S, #25 | Drafted: 2nd round, 34th Overall, 2009 | PR: 1st

Although Patrick Chung has missed the last two weeks due a minor knee injury, I'm not going to push him down this list.  Right now, there's not a play on this Patriots roster that has made the jump that Chung has from year one to two.  While the Patriots run defense struggled Sunday against the Browns, there's no question, in my opinion, that Chung's ability to cover sideline to sideline would have helped slow down Peyton Hillis.

2. Devin McCourty, CB, #32 | Drafted: 1st Round, 27th Overall, 2010 | PR: 3rd

Sunday against the Browns, rookie Devin McCourty had a rough game.  Placed in one on one situations on the outside due to the team's inability to stop the run, McCourty failed on a few occasions to stop Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi off of the play action.  Aside from Sunday, McCourty has looked terrific this season and is on the way to becoming a shut-down corner, which is why he moved up my list.

3. Aaron Hernandez, TE, #85 | Drafted: 4th round, 113th Overall, 2010 | PR: 4th

Aaron Hernandez also moved up one spot on my list.  Despite now being the Patriots' primary receiving target, Hernandez has yet to see a real drop in production.  Sunday against the Browns, 'Herndo' came up with five grabs and his first two career NFL touchdowns.  We all know his versatility, but he's now proving to still be a threat despite drawing the attention of opposing defenses.

4. Sebastian Vollmer, OT, #76 | Drafted: 2nd Round, 58th Overall, 2009 | PR: 2nd

Sebastian Vollmer is a really solid right tackle in this league.  Hopefully, in the year or two, he'll be ready to move over to the left side full time.  While Vollmer has been mistake free for the most part, he hasn't been quite as elite as he showed last year, occasionally letting in a hit on Tom Brady.

5. Brandon Spikes, ILB, #55 | Drafted: 2nd Round, 62nd Overall, 2010 | PR: 5th

Brandon Spikes stays in the same spot here.  He's had a little bit of an up and down year so far.  At times he looks great.  Then at times, like on Sunday, he can struggle.  Right now, Spikes is on track for 94 tackles.  Not bad for a 2nd round draft pick who was reportedly "too slow" for the NFL.

6 - 10 as well as who just "missed the cut" after the jump!

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As a valued partner of SB Nation and this site, XFINITY is once again looking for your opinion. As XFINITY continues its sponsorship of this blog during the 2010 football season, the primary objective of the sponsorship remains engaging with knowledgeable and passionate football fans in key XFINITY markets.

The feedback from your community has been extremely valuable. As we're at the halfway mark of the NFL season, we would like to ask you a few questions so that we can gauge how we are doing. The process should take only a minute or two. Thank you for your time and consideration!

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Today, the Patriots made the Deion Branch trade official, announcing that the team had acquired the player that could easily be considered a "playoff hero" for the Patriots.  Branch will wear #84.

However, in conjunction with the Branch acquisition, the team announced that they have place tackle/guard Nick Kaczur on injured reserve.  As you have probably heard by now, Kaczur has been suffering from a neck ailment all season, undergoing surgery in August.  The team left the door open with Kaczur, but have finally decided to let him get healthy for 2011.

With Dan Connolly playing exceptionally well, there isn't really much of a need for Kaczur at this point.  Recent reports have also suggested that holdout guard Logan Mankins could report for the final six games of the season.  While the team might not accept Mankins back with open arms, his potential presence (along with Connolly's performance and the recent re-signing of Quinn Ojinaka) makes it unnecessary for the team to hold a roster spot for Kaczur.

My feeling is that Kaczur will become a very valuable role player for the Patriots for next year.  For now, however, it seems as though the team is doing just fine without him.

The Patriots have made a couple of small roster moves, re-signing offensive lineman Quinn Ojinaka to the 53 man roster and adding quarterback Brett Ratliff to the practice squad.

With the Patriots adding Ratliff to the practice squad, it means that the team will now have three arms in practice, as well as their new scout team quarterback.  Ratliff, 6'4" 224 lbs, has spent time under Eric Mangini with the Jets and Browns.

The Ojinaka move doesn't necessarily mean that the team won't make a trade for Deion Branch or make some other move.  The team doesn't play for a week and a half and the move is simply for practice.  Ojinaka could stick around, but probably won't see any game action soon, barring injury.

When talking football and really any sport, the term "must win" is often used a little bit too loosely.  After all, in professional sports, isn't nearly every game a must-win?  However, every now and then comes a game that can really define a team's season, and either send the team in a positive or negative direction.

This week, the Patriots will travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins on Monday night in their 3rd divisional game in three weeks.  Here are just a few reasons why I think this game can be labeled in the "must-win" category.

• It's a divisional game, as simple as that.  Following their 38-30 win over the Bills, the Patriots improved to 1-1 in the division.  However, the rival Jets had an impressive victory over the Dolphins and have improved to 2-0 in the division.  This week, they will play the Buffalo Bills, and should improve to 3-0 in the division.  The Dolphins on the other hand, have an identical divisional record to the Patriots.  A loss by the Patriots would likely put them in a two game divisional-hole to the Jets, and would also leave them a game behind the Dolphins.  While those numbers obviously aren't insurmountable, it would be nice if the Patriots wouldn't put themselves in that type of hole early on.
• Road games haunted the Patriots all year long in 2009, with the team's only real road win coming against an out-of-contention Buffalo Bills team late last season.  Things didn't start well this year either, with the team dropping to the Jets 28-14 in their only road game this year.  A win would help erase the perception that the Patriots can't win on the road, and would certainly give the young guys some confidence.

Two more reasons why Monday's game is a "must-win" for the Patriots after the jump!

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This post is sponsored by Xfinity.

As you probably know, we've talked a lot about Xfinity and the NFL Redzone channel here at Pats Pulpit over the past few months.  Xfinity is a big sponsor for us, but this opportunity should really interest any Patriots fan.

This Sunday, September 19th, starting at 1 PM, all people in the Xfinity market will have an opportunity to preview the NFL Redzone channel, for FREE.  The freeview will span both the early games and the late games.  This means, before you watch the Patriots take on the Jets at 4:15 PM, you can watch all of the thrilling moments, goal line stands, and red zone plays from all the games on Sunday.  And remember, it's all commercial free.  For more, call 1-800-COMCAST or visit xfinity.com/mostlivesports.  The freeview will be on channels 287 (standard) and 899 (high definition) in the Boston area.