Patriots Defense Showing Renewed Sense of Pride, Aggression with SNF Win

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — "Ignore the noise."

It's part of a sign that hangs on the door which players walk through on their way out of Gillette Stadium. The mantra is etched into the mind of everyone on the New England Patriots' roster and is the last thing the players see when leaving work every day.

Never has that mantra been put to the test more than it was for the six days between the Patriots having their butts handed to them on Monday Night Football in a 41-14 debacle against the Kansas City Chiefs and Sunday Night Football, when the Patriots were put to the test against an undefeated Cincinnati Bengals defense.

Not only did they ignore the noise, but they made noise of their own, stifling the Bengals offense en route to a 43-17 rout.

From the opening whistle, the Patriots ran and hit with such fire and passion that it seemed noise may have finally gotten to them—for the better, not the worse.

"To tell you the truth, we already had a sour enough taste in our mouth after last week, so we didn't really need any added motivation," cornerback Kyle Arrington said in the locker room after the game. "The guys were already extremely, highly motivated. We were fortunate to have a shorter week so we could get back out on the field sooner. Teammates, coaches, everybody just did a great job as far as preparation throughout the week."

The preparation paid off. In the first half, the Patriots allowed the Bengals only 121 yards of offense, eight first downs and three points on their way to mounting a 20-3 lead headed into the locker room.

The Chiefs had hit those marks by the end of the first quarter on Monday night.

"You've just seen two different teams from Monday night to tonight," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said of his team's performance.

Opponent	Points	Yards	Passing yards	Rushing yards	First downs	Third down %
Kansas City Chiefs	41	443	236	207	26	7/12 (58.3%)
Cincinnati Bengals	17	320	241	79	17	0/7 (0%)

The turnaround could not have been more dramatic.

Earlier in the week, Wilfork sounded very confident that the Patriots defense would turn it around. Did he have a feeling it would happen this dramatically, and this quickly?

"Yeah," Wilfork said, pausing, before he continued. "I mean, I've been with these guys for a long time. I know what we're capable of doing when we execute well. Our goal is to continue to play the way we played tonight. That's the name of the game at this level: being able to continually do things that are going to keep your offense and your team in good shape. That's our job. We've got great guys, we've got a great team. I know what I have, I know the kind of coaching staff we have, I know the kind of game plans we put together. So I have all the confidence in the world."

Given two weeks to prepare for the Patriots, the Bengals came out looking flat and listless. Given six days to prepare for the Bengals, the Patriots came out looking sharp and relentless.

Not everyone had faith in the Patriots' coaching staff.

Although Bill Belichick has done himself no favors as a general manager on the offensive side of the ball, the struggles of the defense were harder to pin down. With so much talent on defense, the Patriots were expected to come together quickly to form one of the top units in the NFL.

When those expectations were not met swiftly and certainly, there was unrest among Patriots fans and media.

Those folks will rest easy on Sunday night.

As Belichick always says—and also said on Sunday night—"There are certainly a lot of things we need to do better." The Bengals only rushed for 80 yards, but that was thanks in part to rushing only 18 times and trailing by 17 points in the first half. They averaged 4.4 yards per carry on the ground.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton never got into a rhythm but was still able to go 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) for 204 yards (8.5 yards per attempt), two long touchdowns and a 117.4 passer rating against the Patriots' secondary. 

The bulk of those numbers was put up in garbage time, and one of those touchdowns came one play after cornerback Darrelle Revis—who had been stifling Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green—came out of the game; but it just goes to show that things are never as bad as they look in a loss, and never as good as they look in a win. With that being said, the tough tests have only just begun for the Patriots.

Next week, they face a talented Buffalo Bills squad with a new attitude now that quarterback Kyle Orton is at the helm. With two 3-2 teams going head-to-head, this game will be for the top of the AFC East. Yes, that's where the state of this division currently stands.

A befuddled New York Jets offense follows a few days afterward on Thursday Night Football. Then, a star-studded Chicago Bears offense comes to Foxborough 10 days later. Finally, the Denver Broncos are the Patriots' final opponent before their bye week.

If the Patriots defense continues to play with this renewed sense of energy and pride, those opponents could find it difficult to get in rhythm, but it's up to the Patriots to ride the momentum they created with this big win into future games to avoid any future abominations.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes obtained firsthand.

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