Mike Dussault

Not too much to really feel great about as Patriots fans, other than (hopefully) having escaped without any major injuries. It was as ugly a win as I’ve ever seen and really the Patriots didn’t deserve to win until Jerod Mayo made a big game sealing interception on the four yard line.

That was a championship play, and if there’s one small bit of positivity to take from this one it’s Mayo having an interception for the second straight game. He is starting to make big plays, the kind that Tedy Bruschi became Patriots legend with.

The tale of two stats: 

• Pats Third Down D: 7/14 = 50% 
• Pats Red Zone D: 2/5 = 40%

This game was the embodiment of everything we hate about the current New England Patriots.  The defense was non-existant for most of the game. They bent and broke yet still won because they had a better quarterback.

Usually they’re only destroyed through the air but this week it was on the ground as well. We can only hope that Spikes and Chung return this week and bring new life to this defense. Because never before have they looked more lifeless (until Mayo’s pick).

At least Gronk showed up and continues to show he’s the best tight end in football. 

Also have to give props to the pass protection in the second half. 

Two former Pats wide receivers had huge days:

• Stallworth : 4 catches, 96 yards
• Gaffney: 6 catches 92 yards

McCourty had a horrible first half but turned it around in the second half. I’m starting to legitimately worry this could be a lost sophomore season for Devin. That interception getting called back was a rough break. That could’ve been what he needed to snap out of the funk. Shoulder or not, he’s off and teams are picking on him.

I don’t know what’s wrong with Ihedigbo but he’s a tough guy and playing through a lot of pain. Starting to wonder if he’s the long term safety Chung can’t seem to stay healthy long enough to be.

Nice start to the game for Dane Fletcher but it seems like he slowly ran out of gas. Looked like the Pats went with this 3-4 look as a base:

75-74-93

50-52-51-95

Seems like they thought they could stop the run with it, when they couldn’t they brought in Deaderick, kicked Carter to DE/OLB and took Anderson off. The Pats couldn’t stop the run in that grouping either, with Carter getting consistently sealed. Rough game for Carter in run defense.

It will be hard finding things that make you feel any better about the Patriots Super Bowl chances than you did before the game.