clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

New England Patriots Links 10/03/11 - Patriots Stand Up to Physical Raiders, Show They Can Run in Win

By Marima

Ian Rapoport asked Bill Belichick about his team's toughness after the win.

"I think we have a physical football team and I thought we had a good day playing physically today," Belichick said. "I thought we stood up to a physical team. But you know, we’re going to see that pretty much every week. We’ll get challenged the next week, and I’m sure in a lot of successive weeks."

"Of course it’s nice to come here and win and be 3-1. I thought our team did a pretty good job today. Raiders are real physical, of course coming off a big win last week. I was proud of the way we ran the ball and played good in the red zone on both sides and handled the turnover situation a lot better than we did last week. So a tough win, but a good win, and we kind of turn the page and get back into the division this week. They’re a good football team and fortunately we were able to play well in the second half and make a few more plays than they did, and that was the difference."

Chris Forsberg asks Stevan Ridley what he saw on his third-quarter Touchdown run.

"Green grass, man, and a lot of it," he said with a big smile.

"[The holes were] huge, man," said Ridley. "The offensive line did an awesome job. Like I said, those were the biggest holes I’ve ever seen in my life. So I just had to keep running and hit them at full speed."

"With our coaching staff, they’re going to get it right each week," he said. "We know that. Going into each game, they're going to have the best plan on the field. So whatever they ask us to do -- if it's more run one week or more pass another -- we have to go out there and execute what they want us to do.

"I’m just trying to make the most of my opportunities -- just do my part and pull my load."

Ian Rapoport notes Bill Belichick's description of Vince Wilfork's prowess at picking off passes.

"Vince has got great hands - people don’t realize that because he’s not a skill player, but he can catch the ball, catch punts and everything else," Belichick said of Wilfork. "When he gets his hands on it, he’s like a vacuum cleaner - he sucks it right in there. But, that was a big play for us and great awareness on Vince’s part."

TEAM TALK

LOCAL LINKS

  • Shalise Manza Young credits a balanced offense and the Raiders who couldn't get out of their own way for the Patriots win in Oakland.
  • Karen Guregian saw promise in the Patriots resilient win in Oakland, proving the Patriots are not all finesse and can ground and pound when needed.
  • Ian Rapoport reports the Patriots shrugged off a slew of injuries and stood up to a physical team yesterday, able to run the ball effectively in the win.
  • Mike Reiss gives us his rapid reaction to Pats 31, Raiders 19 and tells us what to take from the win.
  • Jeff Howe recaps Sunday's win over the Raiders with the Patriots setting their sights towards next week's game against the Jets.
  • Christopher Price offers ten things we learned Sunday: Wes Welker should be in the discussion for MVP.
  • Tom E. Curran says Wes Welker's workload is getting ridiculous and worries about the beating he's taking.
  • Zuri Berry posts a drive-by-drive look at Sunday's win.
  • Monique Walker points out the Patriots rushed on 30 out of 61 plays yesterday giving the team a truly balanced approach in the win.
  • Chris Forsberg writes it's fair to say Richard Seymour did more harm than good for the Raiders Sunday vs. the Patriots.
  • Greg A. Bedard tells us to adjust our expectations for the Patriots defense; what we saw in Oakland is about as good as it's going to get.
  • Kirk Minihane looks at the Patriots' defense one quarter of the way into the season and just sees more of the same, but still with time to improve.
  • Tom E. Curran describes the Patriots defense as 'better. Still not good. But better'.
  • Chris Gasper writes that at some point the Patriots are going to have to stop relying on the charity and ineptitude of their opposition to win.
  • Jeff Howe says Jerod Mayo's knee injury will force the Patriots to fight through their toughest test so far in 2011.
  • Mike Petraglia notes Tom Brady says he'll 'never be' in Joe Montana's category after moving ahead of him in the all-time TD passing list.
  • Zuri Berry focuses on the sizzling Tom Brady to Wes Welker connection.
  • Karen Guregian details Patrick Chung's interception that spurred a 10 point swing in the Patriots favor right before the half.
  • Chris Forsberg looks at the impact of Patrick Chung in the win over the Raiders, even while wearing a cast over his right thumb.
  • Christopher Price looks at two key moments in the game: Vince Wilfork's interception and Stevan Ridley's 33-yard run into the end zone.
  • Mike Reiss looks at the snaps played by offensive skill-position players and analyzes what it means.
  • Mike Reiss charts the players who appeared on multiple special teams units, noting Fletcher, Slater, Tarpinian and White played in all four units.
  • Mike Reiss takes a closer look at how the running back snaps were split Sunday.
  • Boston Globe Patriots Notebook: Tom Brady passes Joe Montana with 2 TD throws; Kyle Arrington had a rare PI call overturned on the field by the refs; Vince Wilfork says Bill Belichick challanged the defense to make plays in one of the best weeks of practice they've had; Gary Guyton stepped in as the signal caller when Jerod Mayo went out with a knee injury; Pat Chung was right when he said he could play with his thumb in a cast; Deion Branch caught just one pass for a TD; Chad Ochocinco was 2/26.
  • Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Jerod Mayo suffered a sprained MCL and may miss up to six weeks; Vince Wilfork came up big again, with a pick of Jason Campbell and a 19-yard rumble; Wes Welker was on fire with 9 catches for 158 yards; Danny Woodhead appeared to have sprained his ankle; Kyle Love went down in a heap but was only shocked, not hurt, and returned for the second half; Taylor Price was active but didn't play.
  • Kirk Minihane tells us what went right and what went wrong in Sunday's win. Stevan Ridley was an absolute game-changer.
  • Mike Reiss lists his three up and three down for the Patriots.
  • Mary Paoletti gives us the Best & Worst from Sunday's game.
  • Ron Borges picks out the Best and Worst from the Pats win in Oakland.

NATIONAL NEWS

VIEW FROM OAKLAND

More From Pats Pulpit