Greg A Bedard of the Boston Globe writes about the "complete" Patriots win on Sunday. Overall the Patriots received high marks including praise for the special teams, coaching and obviously quarterback play. Tom Brady seemed to bounce back from a possible injury with a stellar day. Coaches Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia were able to slow down the league's best rushing attack and make Vince Young try to beat the Patriots defense. And the special teams received a great performance from punter Zoltan Mesko who limited Desean Jackson to no impact in the punt return game.
Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald writes about recent praise that wide receiver/punt returner/defensive back Julian Edelman received from former wide receiver/punt returner/defensive back Troy Brown. "Besides the meetings, you're in that playbook a lot more than you're used to, now that you're on the defensive side of the ball," Brown said. "You're trying to get familiar with the terminology, trying to recognize shifts and formations to make sure you're in the right defense. You can't always depend on other guys to help you do your job. When you're on the field, you have to recognize things yourself. You have to make sure you're getting the right signals and all that stuff. So it's a change. But he seems to be handling it pretty well right now."
Jarrett Bell of USA Today writes about the learning curve that the Patriots defense has faced this year. "There are some things that are better, but it just seems like we are trying to catch up here," coach Bill Belichick said. "Kind of on a treadmill here. If it isn't one guy, it's someone else, and guys going in and out at linebacker. It seems like we'll kind of get one thing getting some continuity and consistency and then something else happens. So we just have to fight through it. … Hopefully, we can progress quicker." The Patriots defense is last in yards allowed but 10th in points allowed this year.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com writes about the recent release of cornerback Phillip Adams. Adams was released on Tuesday, which could mean that injured defensive backs Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung could be returning soon. Chung has been out for the past three games while McCourty has missed the last two. With the move the Patriots have Kyle Arrington, Antwaun Molden, Sterling Moore and Julian Edelman as their healthy defensive backs if Chung and McCourty do not return.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com breaks down where quarterback pressures have been coming from this season. 11 current players have been involved in pass blocking with players like Brian Waters and Rob Gronkowski being most stout. Recently promoted Ryan Wendell has also played well allowing only one quarterback hits on 72 pass blocking plays.
