New England Patriots Links 10/19/10 - Confidence Is Rising

Jackie MacMullan notes Sunday's win over Baltimore shows the Patriots are on the right track.

Yet in the wake of New England's stunning 23-20 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens, a team many projected as the best in all of football, there were three lessons learned: Never count out a team quarterbacked by Tom Brady; don't bury the Patriots' work-in-progress defense just yet; and don't underestimate the skill set of Branch, who proved to be as redoubtable as ever when it came to getting open and catching the ball in the clutch.

Wilfork is right. It's only one game, only one win. There's a long season ahead. But, suddenly, it doesn't seem nearly as daunting.

Tedy Bruschi offers six observations from New England's OT victory.

Defense tightened up late in the game. The defense forced punts on each of the Ravens' final five drives and one thing I noticed was that the Ravens went away from the play-action pass, probably because the Patriots were doing a good job against the run. The Patriots defenders got good depth when in coverage, so Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco saw the defenders deep and then checked down to Ray Rice or to a short, crossing wide receiver. What helped the Patriots is that they tackled well on those plays. There were no broken tackles by Rice that added an extra 10 to 15 yards after the catch. Once the ball was caught, the ball carrier was brought to the ground, whether it was by Brandon Spikes, Jerod Mayo or someone else. They played deep to short and made the Ravens earn it.

Ron Borges sums up Sunday's game nicely.

Tom Brady came through for the 30th time, a revamped defense came through for the first time and Deion Branch came through like it was old times. Added together it led to a 23-20 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in what was a thoroughly enjoyable football game unless you hail from Maryland.

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino notes early in his New England career, rookie TE Aaron Hernandez has already earned the reputation as a big-play-maker.
• Monday Press Conference: Bill Belichick (16.20 min. video) plus transcript.
• Patriots Today - Solid teamwork led to Pats' win. (3.16 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Meriweather, Woodhead on WEEI. (4.17 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Ian Rapoport looks at the quirky nickel scheme that was the answer to why the Patriots stuffed the Ravens in the fourth quarter and overtime.
• Gerry Callahan revisits the preseason long-shot expectations for the Patriots that says there's no way this group of no names will go anywhere... or will they?
• Mike Reiss offers a few nuggets picked up from the locker room Monday.
• Christopher Price reports the Patriots beat the Ravens at their own game, matching strength with strength.
• Mike Rodak re-watches the Patriots-Ravens game and offers some of his observations from the First quarter, Second quarter, Third quarter, Fourth quarter and Overtime.
• Robert Lee sees the Patriots late-game rally unlike a year ago, when a 4th quarter deficit usually meant a loss.
• Tom E. Curran surveys the offense without Moss and says Brady's numbers will go down and it might not look pretty, but this offense will play to his strengths.
• Christopher Price posts the video of Deion Branch talking to ESPN's 'First Take' about his return to the Patriots.
• Mike Reiss charts the snaps played by Patriots defenders in the team's 23-20 OT win over the Ravens. Chung, Mayo and McCourty played all 77.
• Mike Reiss passes along some highlights of the Patriots special teams units from an NFL perspective.
• Bill Reynolds writes a timely piece on how we shouldn't take Brady for granted.
• Sports Tonight discusses whether the Patriots were the better team on Sunday, or if the Ravens choked.
• Mike Reiss informs us that the Patriots will leave on Friday to travel to San Diego for Sunday's afternoon game against the Chargers.
• Mike Reiss writes that while learning on the job, the Patriots' defense showed it can get things done.
• ESPNBoston reports Brandon Meriweather told WEEI that he's going to continue to be aggressive and won't change his game.
• Mike Reiss notes the praise from Belichick for Jermaine Cunningham and Rob Ninkovich.
• Tony Massarotti still thinks the Patriots have a long, long way to go this season but recognizes that they've already come a long way too.
• Ian Rapoport reports Robert Kraft said the Randy Moss trade "was done with a lot of good will."
• Ron Borges Patriots Report Card for Week 6.
• Kirk Minihane Patriots Report Card.
• WEEI Patriots Monday: Highlights from Bill Belichick, RB Danny Woodhead and S Brandon Meriweather.
  
• Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Brandon Meriweather may face suspension following his head-to-head hit on Todd Heap Sunday; Tom Brady responds to Terrell Suggs threat; Jermaine Cunningham had his most productive game with six tackles, a sack and a forced fumble; The longest run allowed by the defense was an 8-yarder; Belichick reminded his team that their last trip out to San Diego resulted in a 20 point embarrassing loss.
• Shalise Manza Young Patriots Notebook: Praise for Mesko's punt are still hanging in the air; Special teams under Scott O'Brien has really improved this year; Alge Crumpler was named a captain because Kevin Faulk was injured and Crumpler is one of those special players who always does the right thing no matter what the situation; Belichick talks about Danny Woodhead; Pats-Ravens earned high ratings.
• AP Former Patriot LB Junior Seau was unhurt in a crash when he fell asleep at the wheel and drove his car off a cliff. Seau had been arrested nine hours earlier on suspicion of domestic violence.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Tim Graham (ESPN) Brandon Tate contributes beyond box score.
• NFL.com Top 100: Tom Brady. Derek Jeter discusses the Patriots' three-time Super Bowl winner. Brady ranks 21 of all time. (4.16 min. video)
• Manish Mehta (NY Times) Rex Ryan says Jets are best team in NFL.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Ray Lewis already feeling sorry for Buffalo.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Offense by interference a bad idea.
• Michael Lombardi (NFL.com) Week 6: Lack of toughness keeping 'Boys, Bolts from fulfilling promise.
• Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Week 6 winners and losers.
• Pat Kirwan (NFL.com) Week 6 storylines.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Harrison: Suspensions will curb head shots.
• Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Is there a solution for helmet-to-helmet hits?