Patriots Weekly Review: Omawhaaa?

My favorite Manning face is the losing Manning face. Each and every year, the "Brady vs. Manning Bowl" is hyped up to be a duel of two of the greatest QB's in NFL history. Well, simply put, this game lived up to that on one end: Tom Brady. While his stats were amazing, they do not even begin to tell the story of his domination in this game. Any time the Patriots needed a first down, he made it happen. Closing out the first half with only a few seconds left? Nothing less than a touchdown for Tom Terrific. This game was especially satisfying because of all of the commentators predicting a Denver blowout before the game began. With Peyton's track record in New England vs. Tom Brady's home winning streak against both Peyton and all other AFC opponents at home, I do not understand how that statement could even be made. Regardless, the opposite happened. The patriots ran up the score on what is supposed to be the new and improved Denver defense. On the other side of the ball the Patriots defense may have let up a lot of yards to Peyton, but they stopped him when it counted. All of this has to feel great going into the bye week, and when the power rankings come out Tuesday morning the Patriots are sure to be sitting at the top.
Hands down, the Patriots offense has been the most exciting in the NFL over the past month. A few weeks ago people were stating how weak they were at key skill positions. Now... the depth is wild. Amendola, Edelman, LaFell, Gronk, Wright, Hoo-man... not to even mention our second round pick last year Aaron Dobson who has not even played in the past weeks. This team continues to put up points all across the board, and until someone figures out a way to stop Tom they are the most dangerous team in the NFL. All of the people who wrote the Patriots off a few weeks ago did so at their own risk.
The defense and special teams did more than its fair share this week. Two interceptions against one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, with all the weapons he has, is a feat. Browner and Revis- despite penalties- locked down when it counted. Not to mention.. Rob Ninkovich. The longer we can go without discussing the absence of Chandler Jones, the better Rob is playing. Revis is the popular guy to talk about, but there is an argument to be made that Rob is our defensive MVP. Also, the addition of Akeem Ayers has proven to be a very smart move. He is all over the field, including one of the more important plays of the game with a fourth down sack of Manning. HAVE to love the way our defense is playing.

Just to mention the third flawless phase of our game, special teams was great. Julian not only added offensive productivity, but he scored our franchise record 4th career punt return. Besides the obvious, newly added Jonathan Casillas had an immediate impact with multiple special teams tackles. Oh yeah, the Patriots have the best kicker in the NFL.

Hopefully this team continues to rest up on the bye week and comes back ready for another grueling 5 game stretch. Go Pats!