The Patriots did collect two sacks on defense but still allowed Henne plenty of time to throw. Their game plan seemed to force Henne to dink-and-dunk. Henne had the upper hand on the TD drive, but forcing him to throw underneath led to his mistakes, and the Patriots capitalized.

Even if the problems with the defense aren't completely solved and there are question marks remaining, it was a huge victory for the Patriots. They have used their offense to carry them to victory all season and finally won a big game where they didn't need to rely on Brady's arm. Will they have game-changing special-teams plays consistently? Probably not, but they showed another way to win. Now the question is: If they needed it, could the defense ever lead them to victory?