Patriots vs. Eagles: 5 Things We Learned in 38-20 Win

The New England Patriots have gotten off to some slow starts over the past few weeks, but have been able to finish strong. They replicated this pattern on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It looked ugly at the beginning, with Vince Young helping the Eagles drive down the field for a quick touchdown drive. The offense, once again, came out sluggish. The momentum shifted, though, and the Patriots took advantage and rolled to another victory.

With this performance, the Patriots will likely maintain their spots as both the league's worst defense in total yards and a top 10 unit in scoring.

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

Safety Is the Biggest Weakness of the Patriots

Early completions of 22 and 58 yards by Vince Young were a bad omen to start for the Patriots defense, and it continued on the second drive with a 44-yard throw-and-catch to DeSean Jackson that set the Eagles up at the 36-yard line.

It's clear that the Eagles had the intent of targeting New England's thin secondary early. The safety spot has been of concern all year long, with a revolving door of guys like Sterling Moore, James Ihedigbo, Sergio Brown and others. New England was vulnerable to the deep pass early in the season, and had improved over the season, but got off to a rough start on Sunday against the Eagles.

Young continued to test New England deep and had success. Young averaged 8.3 yards per attempt, but largely was done in by a low completion percentage.

Patriots Defense Capable of Stretches of Brilliance, Flashes of Awful Play

As mentioned in the previous slide, the Patriots defense got torched on its two opening drives but buckled down inside the 25 on the second drive to force an Eagles field goal. Of course, the real Vince Young came to play after three long completions, and three straight incompletions, led to a field goal.

The Patriots defense clamped down from there. At that point, they kept it up with four straight scoreless drives for the Eagles: punt, punt, pick, punt.

On the next drive, which resulted in a field goal, Young completed passes of 12, 9, 8 and 24 yards before New England buckled down—and got a nice gift in the form of a DeSean Jackson touchdown drop.

On the day, the Eagles didn't convert a third down until there was just 2:10 left in the third quarter.

Patriots Offense Continues to Start Slow, Pick Up the Pace Later

Two straight scoreless drives to start for the Patriots offense was quickly turned on two straight touchdown drives. After missing a field goal on a turnover opportunity, the Patriots scored a field goal and a touchdown on a long pass to Wes Welker (more on that later) to go up 24-13.

They took that lead into the locker room, and with the ball back in the second half, the Patriots took control and marched the ball down field in 3:28 for another touchdown.

This isn't the first time we've seen this problem from the Patriots, who have scored just six points in their past seven game-opening drives. Once again, New England can thank their defense for clamping down for the past few weeks while the offense has found its legs.

The Patriots Get Their Wide Receivers Involved

The focus recently has been on the Patriots tight ends, and with wide receivers Wes Welker and Deion Branch netting just two receptions each in last week's 34-3 beatdown of the Chiefs, some wondered what the story was.

The two were key components in the offensive onslaught, though. Welker picked up eight receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns, and Branch had six receptions for 125 yards.

The concern before the game centered around Philadelphia's explosive offense, but the Patriots had their share of explosive plays, too. Welker had a 41-yard touchdown catch and Branch had a brilliant catch-and-run for 63 yards.

Tom Brady's Elbow Is Fine

The big news in the pre-game period was that Tom Brady wasn't wearing a wrap around his elbow, which has been a rumored problem for weeks. He was sharp all day, and helped the Patriots rack up 38 points and over 400 total yards. He finished the game 24-of-34 for 364 yards, three touchdowns and a 134.6 passer rating.

This, despite pressure in his face early and often. The fact that the Patriots were able to counter that pressure with quick throws was a huge help, but Brady's poise in the pocket remained an important component of those drives. 

When Brady plays this well, the Patriots are practically unstoppable.