What’s Behind the Big Turn Around?

What do feel was the biggest factor in the turn around from Monday Night’s debacle to Sunday Night’s victory?

Kyle:  There were two factors: the offensive line and the opponent’s defensive game plan. Right form the start, it was clear that they finally had the best configuration for the O-line in at the beginning. There was no more musical chairs and the best five lined up and wore the Bengals highly touted defensive line down.

How in the name of all that is holy did the Bengals not blitz the Patriots back into the Rod Rust Era? After Monday’s debacle, any coordinator with functioning gray matter should have thrown everything at the Pats line and a jittery Brady. Instead, they played like a scout team. That won’t happen this Sunday.

Rick:  There were two big factors in Sunday’s win that may help spark this team. I mention the success of the run game allowing the offense to find more of a flow in an earlier question. The second spark for me was allowing Darrelle Revis to roam his island once again. Revis was all over A.J. Green and took him out of the ballgame. With the Bengals having to play from behind, this allowed New England to use Revis on his strengths of shutting down the best weapon. This week, he should be covering Sammy Watkins, the Bills’ best downfield weapon. The Patriots’ defense was physical, had an edge to it, and despite all the penalties, was able to hold the Bengals to 17 points with Green, Giovani Bernard, and their other weapons. It was a great turnaround for the Patriots’ D.

Raj: Confidence. And that too, the right amount of it. Not too little, not too much. After a blowout win against the Vikings, we saw an overconfident Patriots team that struggled to beat the Oakland Raiders. Because of that, we saw a very unconfident team in Kansas City that got massacred. Yet I feel that game re-energized the team as a whole and made them wake up. Rather than feel afraid of the Bengals, they realized that this was their time to make a change. Darelle Revis even mentioned in an interview that even though the Patriots may have started sluggish and may not have been the most confident bunch, they were determined to turn it around. We can be assured that after they got their spirits back and got their basics down on the field, they weren’t afraid to take any risks against a team like the Bengals. Sure enough, we got to see a blowout. But it all starts with confidence. Once a team has the right amount, they will have a balanced mindset that will allow them to have a winning mentality. If they can keep that up the rest of the season (and sometimes that can be difficult), then sky’s the limit to what this team can potentially do.

Derek:  I think it all comes down to getting back to the basics.  The Patriots committed to the run which helped the offensive line get settled and start winning their one-on-one battles.  The success in the run game set up play-action opportunities and allowed Brady to get guys like Tim Wright involved instead of looking to Edelman each time and dumping the ball as quickly as possible. This allowed the Patriots to string together some drives and get a sizeable lead, which forced the Bengals hand offensively and allowed the Patriots’ defense to pin their ears back and go after Dalton and his receivers.  Things just snowballed from there, but it started with a commitment to the run game and the offensive line.