This Sunday, the New England Patriots marched into Atlanta after their second loss of the season, which had had everyone looking in the mirror.

Last week the Patriots were outmanned against the San Diego Chargers, and if you go back to my Oakland Raiders article you would remember I had this to say about the Patriots defense...

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in that crap that this team is hurting because of the loss of key players. This team won two Super Bowls because of players who were plugged in stepped it up, and this season the guys who are getting plugged in are not contributing.

Case in point...

CB Duane Starks arrived here from the Cardinals to make up for the loss of Ty Law. When Randall Gay went down, Starks was called on to fill the hole, and he failed miserably giving up 14 points. The first mistake was allowing WR Keenan McCardell to get position and make the end zone catch from eleven yards out, the second was just poor coverage on Starks' behalf. It seemed to me he lost track (a CB no-no) of WR Reche Caldwell, and allowed him to make a lonely 28 yard TD reception. As a CB you can't lose track of the receivers your covering at any time because QB's will get you every time, and that is exactly what Drew Brees did. This week Starks somewhat redeemed himself as he played somewhat solid coverage because the Falcons kept the passes in the middle of the field and not to the corners.

LB's Monty Beisel and Chad Brown were supposed to be the replacements for Ted Bruschi and Ted Johnson and both seemed to be lost in the defense last week as far as stopping the run early. As a whole, the Pats defense hasn't been able to stop the run, but this has always been part of the norm for the Pats defense. Anyone who has been watching Patriots defense over the years can tell you the Pats allow a lot of yardage up to midfield and usually shut teams down once the hit the red zone. This year the Pats are not stopping teams in the red zone and it was the same story today despite the win.

Early this year in my pre-season piece I had this to say...

The Patriots are not the only teams guilty of this, but the TE spot was not being utilized as it should. So many teams have decided not to use that big man as with an extra pair of hands to catch, but instead to block. TE numbers have been down for a long time in the NFL and I believe this has to do with some many teams trying to run the ball effectively. Today proved my theory about TE's being open on most plays because defenses playing teams without marquee TE's block for the run a majority of the game. Today the Pats victory and success on offense can be connected to the reception between TE's Ben Watson (1 for 33) and Daniel Graham (5 for 119 1 TD), these two guys finished the game making an impact when needed and most of the time they were WIDE OPEN. But the success of the TE's didn't end there as Atlanta did the same with Alge Crumpler (6 for 99) who had a nice TD grab in the end zone.

QB Tom Brady is continuing to have a fantasy year with 22 of 27 passes completed and 3 TD's. He added an INT to the stats, but it was another one of those batted pop-ups that usually end up in the defense's hands. Tom is on fire, and if he can continue these performances without falling to injury he could surpass his previous seasons in numbers .

The WR corps is finished up with over 150 yards of receptions meaning the ball was once again well spread around. Deion Branch pulled down 8 receptions over 107 yards including a 51 yarder. Bethel Johnson came in and made an impact with one reception; a 55 yard TD. David Givens had 2 for 14.

RB Corey Dillon had 106 yards on 23 carries but exited the game late with a possible injury that had yet to be announced by the end of the game. Patrick Pass came in and finished the game with 34 yards on 6 carries and a TD he got early in the game.

The Patriots defense allowed over 100 yards on the ground, and didn't pressure the QB for a second week in a row. The reason for this may be compensation for guys assisting on stopping the run. Practices like this can't continue because today's defense made backup QB Matt Schaub (18 of 34 298 3 TD) look a lot better than what he is. If they had blitzed him early on and rattled him we would have truly seen how good a QB he is. I'll the guy credit on reading secondaries though, he made some great long passes to his WRs in certain situations. Another note on the Patriots defense this week that I applaud was the intensity and aggression they played with. It was like Patriots of old watching them hit guys even if they didn't make the reception. This is the stuff that stays with a WR, and can affect their game dearly.

Once again, all eyes were on DL Jarvis Green as he filled in for Richard Seymour, and it's amazing how fast people forget. This guy has performed every time he has filled in for Seymour, and I get tired of the media and armchair coaches selling this guy short.

Overall the Pats did what they needed to do to win the game despite the bonehead penalties yet again, but the officiating wasn't at it's best either. Several calls were blown, and I'm sure the ref who called Matt Schaub for stepping out of bounds as he rushed for the first down marker will catch heck this week.

Next week the Pats will once again have their hands full as they head off to Denver to face the Broncos, and one thing is for sure , I wouldn't want to be Melissa of JAMN 94.5 this week with her beau Trevor's team boasting a 4-1 record.