Its a no win situation.....

[Ring 6]

The score is almost meaningless to me in terms of how I'll view the team's abilities, assuming the Patriots win, although I'd love to see a 60-0 game. What matters is the level of play. If the defensive backfield is as bad this week as it was last week, the game will be a negative regardless of the score. If, on the other hand, it plays significantly better but gives up more points, that'll be a positive.

How do you play significantly better but give up more points?
You are so wrapped up in finding negatives you consider a 50% passing performance and 13 total points allowed to be bad defense.

 

[Ring 6]

I disagree about 5. I think the 2009 Patriots had pretty much no mental toughness whatsoever, but this year's team isn't where they were last year in that respect. They never blew a 21 point lead last season, and when the other team was driving down by a touchdown at the end of the game, they picked it off instead of committing pass interference.

Not sure how that gets defined as mental toughness.