My reactions:
QB
Terrific accuracy. Tom was very good in diagnosing the defense, and made some terrific throws. Agree, one of his best games. The INT I didn't like from the formation - when the receiver ran in motion. Then two receivers bumped into each other. Too bad. If you take away the one 99-yard play to Welker, however, the two QB's had the following numbers:
31 of 47, 418 yards, 3 TD/1 INT
30 of 49, 416 yards, 2 TD/1 INT
RB
Woodhead continues to impress. He was suprisingly good as an inside runner. On second-and 10, which is so commonly a run down following a missed pass, he still seemed to pick up six or seven yards. BJGE is a good north-south runner. I was hoping to see Ridley.
WR
Branch just picked up like this was 2005 or something. Great game for him. Slater is a more effective downfield threat than Tate. Who would have thought the first reception of 2011 would go to Slater? Another terrific game for Welker. Great to see it in Miami. It's like Tom bringing his supermodel wife by the guy who broke up with her. I don't mind the inactivity from Ocho; it's the stupid penalties I don't need. Lining up over the tight end is sort of a Byzantine rule, but it's a rule, and you've been playing football for 20 years. It negated a nice play. There were several plays where Brady had 20 or 30 seconds in the pocket, and no one came back to bail him out. If the line is going to block like that when the defense drops seven in coverage, the receivers need to adjust and come back.
TE
Hernandez has Welker hands. He just has been catching everything since preseason. What a great option. And nice blocking off the line by all three tight ends. G1 had a long reception called back on a penalty.
OL
Again, Wow. Brady had so much time he was bouncing up and down in place, surveying receivers. The time he had was amazing, especially watching Henne get hit so much. The television coverage focused on Solder a lot - just perfect technique. He adjusted to RT immediately. Connolly and Brady didn't miss a beat, and Brady was right in the shotgun. Didn't see Light as much, but a quiet night from the LT is a good thing.
DL
Hot and cold. It looked like Love was in two or three plays for every one with Haynesworth. It looked like Wilfork played all night, while Haynesworth played a dozen snaps. Probably wasn't that dramatic. The Patriots didn't blitz much, and didn't generate a ton of pressure with just four in the first half. They definitely got better. Saw absolutely nothing from Ellis - not sure how much he played. Ninkovich is a great tackler, but is sort of overmatched at DE. I think he is a far better SOLB in the 3-4 than a RDE. Anderson was on the field a lot, and was rewarded late with a garbage time sack. Late in the game Henne was getting pounded, and was pretty impressive with this throws with the DL a tenth of a second from plastering him.
LB
Sort of a quiet night. As excited as we were to see Mayo at OLB, he had a quiet night. Fletcher impressed, tackling and rushing and covering. No Spikes, huh? Healthy scratch - that's troubling. Fletcher looked better than Guyton to me.
CB
Up and down night for McCourty. He had the dirtiest uniform in Miami by the fourth quarter, and had some terrific break-ups, and got beat by a good receiver a number of times. Not a shut down night when your #1 corner leads the team in tackles downfield. Dowling was surprisingly effective, looked good in coverage, had a huge pass defensed in the end zone. He played a lot more than Bodden.
S
Chung had one big hit on Fasano, but wasn't around the ball a lot. Barrett and Brown didn't contribute much. Bit of a weakness. Hopefully they can improve.