Patriots Win 26-10

It wasn't pretty, but a win nonetheless. The Patriots found themselves in a dogfight at halftime before an uncharacteristically animated Tom Brady delivered a inspirational halftime speech. Brady's antics must have worked because the team showed up big time in the second half. The Pat's dominated time of possession with 23:39 minutes to the Falcons 6:21. Assisting along the way was Fred Taylor who continually pounded out tough yards to help the Pat's finish 7-10 on 3rd and short and 3-3 on fourth down (including a critical 4th and 2 on our own 24 in the 3rd quarter in a six point game).

Now, let's take a look at last weeks preview and see how the Pat's fared.

Keys to the game:

5. Matt Light vs. John Abraham (CHECK)

Not only did Matt Light hold John Abraham to zero sacks and two total tackles but collectively the Patriot's offensive line had there best game of the season. They yielded zero sacks and only two QB hits all day long. The O-line will look to build on this performance when they face a stout Baltimore Ravens front.

4. Beware of Tony Gonzalez in the red zone. (CHECK)

I wrote in my preview "look for Coach Belichick to hit Tony at the the line of scrimmage and shade a safety over the top." Thats exactly what Belichick did. Coach routinely had someone hitting Gonzo at the line of scrimmage and utilized various double team schemes to limit Tony to 1 catch for 16 yards.

3. Pressure Matt Ryan. (MISS)

Despite an average pass rush that generated no sacks and only three QB hits, the Pat's were able to keep Ryan uncomfortable all day. They took away his new favorite target Tony Gonzalez, and eliminated the run game. The defense managed to hold Ryan and the offense to two total first downs the entire second half.

2. Establish the run game. (CHECK)

Fred Taylor had his best game as a Patriot and is proving to be a worthy off-season pickup. Sammy Morris contributed with hard fought yards all day and Kevin Faulk was his reliable self seeing 9 total targets on the day. Look for the Pat's play calling to be more run-oriented in the future.

1. Don't let Michael Turner get going. (CHECK)

The run defense came to play early on and forced the Falcons to abandon the run in the second half, where Turner saw only three total touches. Good work by the big guys up front for playing physical football and holding a strong running team to 58 total yards rushing.

The Patriots executed 4/5 key match-ups. That is a recipe for success against any team. The Patriots will take on a strong Baltimore Ravens squad next Sunday and look to build on this win.

Props to the entire defensive and offensive lines. The O-line gave up no sacks and had its first 100 yard rusher of the season. The D-line forced no sacks, but it was a solid preformance against a good offensive line.