A day after yesterday's 38-24 win over the Bengals, the game seems to have changed the outlook for most people who were initially skeptical about New England's chances this season.
Coming into the game a lot of people wondered if their young defense would be able to shut down the passing game of opposing offenses, but in their first showing things seemed to work out pretty well. Bill Belichick's defensive unit held the Bengals to just three first half points as New England took a 24-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After taking another look, here are some other notes worth mentioning from yesterday as we start turning the page toward New England's upcoming game against the New York Jets this weekend:
- The Patriots still managed to put up 38 points despite not having wide receiver Julian Edelman, who missed Sunday's game with a foot injury. Edelman tried to fight his way onto the field after spening time with the medical staff prior to the game, but ended up being inactive.
- Unlike Terrell Owens, it's hard to dislike Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco. The veteran showed a lot of class, getting in between a scuffle yesterday between one of his teammates and a Patriots player, and helped mediate a peaceful resolution. He also showed some more class after he got drilled by safety Brandon Meriweather near the end of the game, but after the play congratulated him on the big hit.
He made a mention of it a few minutes ago on Twitter, tweeting, "Headed to lift weights to get the soreness out, can't even look to the left thanks to Merriweather, great hit though, i need a neck brace :("
- In case you didn't know, Patriots linebacker Gary Guyton, who returned an interception for a touchdown yesterday, has his own website. Be sure to check out his site GaryGuyton.com, and you can also follow him on Twitter @GaryGuyton59. If it wasn't for Twitter, you'd have no idea he spent last night watching Inception.
- Carson Palmer was obviously frustrated after yesterday's game, and when asked about facing Bill Belichick's defense, Palmer said,"I haven't played against anybody better."
- Heading into this weekend's game against the Jets, Randy Moss said yesterday that after matching up against Derrelle Revis last year and struggling, Moss claims that he spent his offseason working to elevate his game thanks to the Jets defensive back.
"I prided my offseason on Revis," said Moss during his press conference yesterday. "He opened my eyes up as a wide receiver, that there was a cornerback out here that I really had to get on my 'A' game. So I prided my offseason on staying off of Revis Island."
This is an archived article originally published on
September 13, 2010.
Content reflects the editorial context of its original publication date.
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