Bill Belichick offers his thoughts on the game the morning after the win.
Good win yesterday. It was certainly a lot better in the second half than it was in the first, but, you know, [the Minnesota Vikings] are a good football team. They have a lot of talented players. They gave us some problems. We gave them a few, and in the end, we were just able to make a few more plays, certainly in the red area, third-down conversions. I mean, that last drive, offensively, was a big drive for us. We had a lot of guys step up and play well; it is hard to single anybody out when you have a game like that. There were a lot of people that contributed to it, so that was good. It is time to turn a page and move onto Cleveland. After watching them against New Orleans, it is a pretty formidable group they've got, so we have a lot of work to do. I know they got a jump on us in terms of preparation with their bye week, so we have a lot of catching up to do.
Bill Belichick is asked about Dan Connolly who has taken over Logan Mankins' role on the O-Line.
We have asked Dan to do a lot. He has played left guard obviously, but has also played fullback in our short-yardage and goal-line packages. [He's a] smart guy. [He's a] good technique player. He has really improved a lot over the time he has been here. He has gotten a lot of playing time this year and has continued to improve. So he is doing a solid job.
TEAM TALK
- Erik Scalavino reports Logan Mankins will be rejoining the team today.
- Erik Scalavino offers some players' reactions to the Randy Moss waiver.
- Patriots Today - Big plays define the Pats' victory. (2.34 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Two teams going in different directions. (4.14 min. video)
- Locker Room Uncut - Reaction to Moss news and more. (3.28 min. video)
- Patriots Today - WIlfork, Meriweather on WEEI Patriots Monday. (4.16 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Greg A. Bedard reports the Vikings released Randy Moss less than a month after the team acquired him from the Patriots for a third-round pick.
- Christopher Price writes about Randy Moss being waived a day after the Vikings loss to the Patriots.
- Chad Finn thinks the Patriots are better off as a team without Randy Moss, while the Vikings are an example of the whole being less than the sum of its parts.
- Mike Reiss explains how a Pats-Moss reunion could work.
- Gerry Callahan says Bill Bellichick gave the Vikings the 'ticking time bomb' that was Randy Moss, and they gave him a third-round pick. Brilliant.
- Dan Shaughnessy thoughts the Patriots were giving up on the season when they traded Randy Moss, but now he sees why it was a brilliant move by Belichick.
- Tom E. Curran offers five thoughts on the Moss situation.
- Matt Pepin posts the transcript of Brad Childress' press conference last night.
- Ian Rapoport catches some Patriots players in a state of disbelief over the news that Randy Moss was waived.
- Tom E. Curran wonders what's love got to do with Randy Moss' Patriots lovefest?
- Ian Rapoport reports Logan Mankins is set to return to the Patriots today, two weeks earlier than the Nov. 16th deadline.
- Mike Reiss says Mankins' return only makes the 6-1 Patriots better. The Pats may get a roster exemption for a short period of time as he works to get back into the rotation.
- Christopher Price looks at what the return of Logan Mankins means for the Patriots.
- Robert Lee wonders if this is Belichick's finest season so far.
- Ian Rapoport points out how the Patriots' running game ate up the clock in the second half - using the same plays as the first half but with better results.
- Jim Donaldson recaps the Patriots win saying that while their opponents are making mistakes, they're making plays. And that's the difference.
- Tedy Bruschi offers six observations on the Patriots' impressive win over the Vikings.
- Monique Walker notes the Patriots have adjusted well, limited mistakes and have been able to remain consistent in the second half.
- Mike Reiss offers his observations on the Patriots win over the Vikings after rewatching the game on TV. First quarter, second quarter, third quarter and fourth quarter.
- WEEI Patriots Monday: Highlights from Brandon Meriweather and Vince Wilfork.
- Christopher Price offers the Q&A of Bill Belcihcik's appearance on WEEI Monday afternoon.
- WEEI posts the portion of the interview where Bill Belichick comments how he "can't comment on any other team's transactions or players." He gives the general rules though.
- Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Coach Belichick isn't fazed by the 6-1 record; Wes Welker appreciates how the team "competes in all four quarters"; Patriots offense needs to improve its first-half offense; Brady says his QB sneak attempts were just to bleed the clock; Belichick talks about Adrian Peterson's TD that never crossed the goal line.
- Mike Reiss notes Devin McCourty is right in the mix with the top rookies around the league.
- Ron Borges Patriots Week 8 Report Card. The Patriots won both the street fight and the game because they were mentally stronger and physically more dominating.
- Kirk Minihane Patriots Week 8 Report Card. Law Firm leads the way.
- Michael Felger Patriots Week 8 Report card.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Mankins' return great news for Patriots.
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Patriots state case as NFL's best club.
- Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) NFL Power Poll: Most Valuable Brady.
- Tim Graham (Espn) Where's your team in NFL waiver order?
- Don Banks (SI) Randy Moss fallout: Trade blows up in face of Brad Childress, Vikings.
- Mark Kriegel (Fox Sports) Vikes knew what they had in Moss. What were they expecting?
- Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Waiving Moss adds to the mess in Minnesota.
- Kevin Seifert (ESPN) Moss 2.0: An inexcusable lapse of judgment.
- Kevin Seifert (ESPN) Did Childress go solo on Moss Move?
- Tedy Bruschi (ESPN) "You don't do this to Randy Moss". (2.30 min. video)
- Andrew Perloff (SI) Randy Moss: Ten teams potentially interested in acquiring ex-Viking.
- Steve Wyche (NFL.com) Moss will be available, but will there be any potential suitors?
- Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Do you want Randy Moss on your team?
- Chris Chase (Yahoo! Sports) Now Percy Harvin is piling on Brad Childress too.
- Chris Chase (Yahoo! Sports) How Randy Moss quitting on a play led to his release by Vikings.
- Michael Lombardi (NFL.com) Making sense of the Randy Moss situation and where he could end up. (3.04 min. video)
VIEW FROM MINNESOTA
- Judd Zulgad (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Vikings plan to waive Moss.
- Jeremy Fowler (St. Paul Pioneer Press) Catch and release: Vikings waive goodbye to Randy Moss.
- Tom Powers (St. Paul Pioneer Press) Randy Moss move smacks of desperation as Vikings lunacy continues.
- Judd Zulgad (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Childress gets his way, but will there be a price?
- Bob Sansevere (St. Paul Pioneer Press) It took Randy Moss only 26 days to talk his way out of town ... again.
- Judd Zulgad (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Has tossing Moss put Childress on hot seat?