Patriots vs. Raiders: 11 Things We Learned About New England in 31-19 Win

The Oakland Raiders' resurgence last week over the New York Jets led many to believe they were capable of pulling off a big upset over the New England Patriots in the Black Hole.

The Raiders, coming off a "we did it!" game, were set up for a letdown. The Patriots, coming off a "we blew it!" game, were looking for a bounce back.

As is often the case in the NFL, things sort of returned to normal the week after two big upsets for both teams. Here are just a few other things we learned throughout the course of the game.

Ocho-No-Stinko

New England's media has been pretty tough on Chad Ochocinco through his first three weeks with the Patriots, but he did his part in quieting his loudest critics on Sunday with two catches for 26 yards.

He still has yet to reach the end zone, but his receptions have come largely in crunch time, with two receptions on Sunday in the final two minutes of the first half, one of which on 3rd-and-10 to keep the drive alive.

It's worth mentioning, too, that Ochocinco was late coming back from the locker room after halftime according to Boston Globe writer Greg Bedard.

It will take more than one game for Ochocinco to fully get out from underneath the media spotlight of scrutiny, but this was a good step in the right direction. Now, it becomes about building off this success to prove that he's not a bust in New England.

3rd Down Defense in Shambles

The Patriots gave up nine of 15 third downs to the Raiders, with six conversions coming through the air, two on the ground, and one by penalty.

The numbers look pretty awful, but New England's defense has done its job when needed for the most part this year. They forced multiple three-and-outs last week against the Bills when their backs were against the wall as Buffalo mounted their comeback. When protecting their late lead over the Raiders this week, they were able to force Oakland to turn the ball over on downs three times in the second half.

As has been the case all season, it wasn't sexy, but in the end, it was exactly what Bill Belichick always looks for: a win.

Penalties and Turnovers Prove the Difference

The Patriots had no turnovers and just five penalties for 45 yards.

The Raiders, meanwhile, turned the ball over twice, including three turnovers on downs, and had nine penalties for 85 yards.

Both New England and Oakland were in the top three in penalties headed into this game, and though the turnovers are an obvious indicator of success, the penalties were believed to have an even bigger impact on the outcome of the game simply because of how abysmal both teams had been up to this point.

New England's ability to win in both categories contributed mightily to their ability to win the game, as Oakland continually shot themselves in the foot and gave the Patriots opportunities that they inevitably capitalized on.

Specifically, Richard Seymour was penalized three times for 45 yards, including an early roughing the passer penalty on a play where Seymour threw Tom Brady to the ground.

Bend-Don't-Break Defense Doesn't Break Against Oakland

The Patriots are giving up yards by the bushel, but as a great head coach once said, "the final score is for winners." That head coach, of course, was Bill Belichick.

In that regard, the Patriots are also taking another of Belichick's mantras to heart, and "doing their job." They have only given up 98 points through four games despite giving up 1,949 yards. 

The final touchdown drive of 99 yards, completed in a grand total of 41 seconds, was the very definition of "garbage time yardage." With an 18-point lead, those were yards and points the Patriots defense could afford to give up. Nonetheless, it encapsulates what has been a long-standing problem for the Patriots, as they continue to get beat for big plays late in games.

Shutting Down McFadden Relatively Successful

The biggest threat entering this game for the Oakland Raiders was Darren McFadden. Subtract a 41-yard carry from his stat sheet, and he carried the ball 14 times for 34 yards—hardly as effective as he had been for the first three games of the season.

Of course, they gave up a wealth of yards to McFadden on checkdowns with four receptions for 48 yards. The Patriots have given up quite a bit of yardage to opposing backs receiving out of the backfield, having given up 36 receptions for 339 yards and a touchdown through four games.

Jerod Mayo has said that those are yards they're willing to give up, saying "You're not going to lose a game on check downs, I'll tell you that...Obviously you don't want those backs catching the ball, but at the same time it's like hey, you can catch this five yard pass and we'll play another down."

Patriots Game Planning Remains Effective, Forced Campbell to Beat Them

As a result of their ability to shut down McFadden in several ways, the Patriots forced the ball into Jason Campbell's hands. He looked pretty good at the onset of the game but threw two costly interceptions that ended up being more than enough to spell the difference in the game.

Thus far, every quarterback has gone over 300 passing yards against the Patriots, but New England will gladly take that stat when coupled with just one touchdown and two picks. Of course, they can't count on two gimmes like Campbell gave the Patriots defense every week. One interception was an underthrown throw-away that was attempted to go out of the back of the end zone, but instead landed in Patrick Chung's waiting arms. The other...read on.

Wilfork Island Exists

When did Darrelle Revis gain 130 pounds and start playing nose tackle for the Patriots?

Jokes aside, Wilfork proved how much of an asset he can be to this team with his athleticism on those returns and his sure hands in making those picks, but also proved that football can often be a "right place, right time" sport. The fact that Wilfork played 107 games before his first career pick and now has two in his past three games is testament to that.

Still, I'm not sure every nose tackle would have made those interceptions or been able to get the returns on them that Wilfork did. His experience at running back in high school certainly paid off in those situations, as we saw him stiff arm his way to extra yardage and even lower his shoulder into oncoming tacklers. You can't blame anyone for not being too anxious about tackling him.

The bigger question here is how is he remaining so invisible in coverage?

Tom Brady Bounces Back from Four Interception Game

A big question after Tom Brady's four-interception game against the Bills was how the franchise quarterback would bounce back from his poor performance. Not many doubted his ability to come back with a strong game, and he delivered with 226 yards and two touchdowns.

That being said, he completed just 16 of his 30 attempts for a 53.3 percent completion rate. He finished with a 100.1 passer rating, yet even still, it felt unspectacular. It wasn't a dazzling performance for Brady, as we saw from him in the first two weeks of action, but the way the running game played, it didn't have to be.

Patriots Need to Continue to Get Stevan Ridley Involved

Stevan Ridley scored his first "real" regular season NFL touchdown, and he finished the day with 10 carries for 97 yards and a lone score. 

He showed a lot of the same explosion we've come to expect of him and has now made his case for more carries both in the preseason and the regular season.

Take nothing away from BenJarvus Green-Ellis' solid performance with 16 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown, but it will be hard to justify keeping the rookie on the bench much longer after a game like he had today.

Wes Welker Is Crucially Important to the Success of the Offense

It was another day at the office for Wes Welker, who finished the day with nine receptions for 158 yards and a touchdown. He has been the biggest benefactor of Brady's bursting out of the gates in the 2011 season and has now racked up a ridiculous 40 receptions for 616 yards and five touchdowns. In four games, he is about 75 percent of the way toward his season stats for all of 2010. 

The best of those receptions came in 1st-and-10 for the Patriots at Oakland's 22-yard line. Welker leaped for a pass on a corner route right near the end zone and tapped both feet perfectly in-bounds at the one-yard line. It looked like a touchdown, but the call wasn't made and, therefore, it wasn't reviewable.

I think Welker meant it when he said he was feeling better than ever in training camp this offseason.

As of now, he's on pace to break every record except Randy Moss' touchdown record by a healthy margin. If he keeps up this pace, he'll end up with 160 receptions for 2,464 yards and 20 touchdowns. 

Ridiculous.

New England Is Collective Holding Its Breath on the Status of Jerod Mayo

One of New England's most important defensive leaders, linebacker Jerod Mayo, went down with an injury in the second half and didn't come back. Gary Guyton filled in for him, as has been the case when Mayo has been injured in the past.

It didn't look good, as Mayo was helped off the field by trainers, and didn't put any weight on his knee as he came off the field. At halftime, reports surfaced via Twitter that he was helped into the locker room by a cart, and didn't appear to bend his knee at all.

Needless to say, New England and their fans are waiting anxiously to find out the status of Mayo, and it could be another bad omen for a Patriots defense that has already had huge problems with communication and overall execution through four games.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter  @erikfrenz.