Patriots defense finding a rhythm after strong performance against Raiders

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The New England Patriots have now set a franchise record with 13 straight road wins, after their 33-8 victory over the Oakland Raiders yesterday in Mexico City.

This a major feat that didn’t look that possible a few months ago. The team was off to a 2-2 start with the defense allowing multiple 300-yard passers and around 30 points a game in the first month to the season.

But with a new identity and high confidence in one another, New England’s defense has completely turned things around – now ranking 13th in points allowed per game – as opposed to dead last throughout the first part of the season.



After another impressive performance by the Patriots’ defense yesterday, Devin McCourty reflected on their major turnaround this season.

“We played at a high level,” McCourty said, “[The Raiders] made some plays, but I thought we executed our game plan and did exactly what we wanted to do today.”

“We’re just playing together… we’re kind of figuring that out,” he continued. “We’re understanding how we need to prepare, how we need to practice, whether it’s a hard, full-padded practice, whether it’s a walkthrough, we know what we need to do on each of those days and when we do that, we give ourselves a chance. You’re seeing that on Sundays. Everyone running around, everyone knows their job and it’s all about execution.”

“I think we understand how the season starts to pick up. You know, each game means more. We understand that seven wins (now 8) doesn’t mean anything. We have to continue to get better. So, I think why we end up usually improving is because it’s the understanding of there’s no tomorrow.”

The New England Patriots are never satisfied. They’re a team with a constant desire to get the next win. And they always keep us coming back for more.

Follow Megan on Twitter: @carnahanmegan

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