Certainly, when your defense gives up just 16 points, that should be enough for your offense to win. And yet no one is really rushing to heap praise on the Patriots' defense -- because of its inability to pressure the quarterback and its tendency to look very bad on particular drives -- for example the three-play, 56-yard touchdown march that the Jets used on Sunday to take the lead just after halftime.

Proving that stats can be deceptive, the Patriots defense is third (behind the Jets and the Broncos) in yards allowed per game, with 265. The Pats are sixth against the pass in terms of yards allowed per game (161.5). And yet look at the numbers more closely, and you will find that while the Patriots are not allowing teams to roll up big yardage through the air, they have allowed quarterbacks to be very efficient.

Opposing passers have a 108.0 rating against the Pats defense (the fifth-worst number in the NFL for a defense) -- they've completed 61.7 percent of their passes (13th worst)
for an average of 8.0 yards (seventh worst). The Pats are also one of just seven teams in the NFL that have yet to record an interception.

One encouraging stat for the defense: The Pats have been much more stout on third downs so far, allowing teams to convert only 33 percent of third-down chances, compared to 44 percent last season, when third-down stops were a big problem.

-Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes that Patriots receivers have dropped six passes in which coverage was not a factor. Six different receivers have been responsible, three in each game so far.

-It's surprising that in the six times that the Patriots have failed to score a touchdown in the Tom Brady era, the team has actually won three of the games.

-Appearing in the Patriots' locker room yesterday, rookie wide receiver/kick returner Brandon Tate said he is "ready for a long journey" as he continues to work his way back from a knee injury suffered his senior season at North Carolina; Tate says he has the Patriots playbook down pat and is ready to contribute when cleared to play.

-The Colts beat the Dolphins last night despite controlling the ball for just 14 minutes and 53 seconds. Since the NFL began tracking time of possession, in 1977, that is the least amount of time that a team has held the ball and yet gone on to win. It was also the Colts' lowest time-of-possession figure since the arrival of Peyton Manning in 1998.

-Former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress will be sentenced today for that accidental shooting last year; he has agreed to a two-year prison term as part of a plea deal.

-A tale of two coaches: the 49ers' Mike Singletary declined all chances to discuss his team's allegation that the Jets tampered with Michael Crabtree. Rex Ryan, for his part, called the charge ridiculous and said he wished the schedule allowed his team to settle the matter on the football team.

-Twitter seems to have an uncommon ability to cause friction between teammates. ProFootballTalk.com notes that, despite the Cardinals' efficient pummeling of the Jaguars on Sunday, the younger brother of star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was tweeting about Fitzgerald's frustration with quarterback Kurt Warner. Marcus Fitzgerald, who later tweeted that he was just kidding, also accused Warner of playing "like a damn 80 year old."

-Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels sat wide receiver Brandon Marshall for 27 consecutive offensive plays during a crucial stretch of Denver's 27-6 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.

-Former Cowboys great Troy Aikman says that, fairly or unfairly, the game Tony Romo had on Sunday night in front of a national TV audience will fuel critics who say that Romo cannot do the job in big-game situations.

-Romo might not have Marion Barber available on Sunday against Carolina, as Barber deals with a quad injury suffered against the Giants.

-The Eagles ran the "Wildcat" 10 times on offense when they were shellacked by the Saints, 48-22, and it didn't seem to help quarterback Kevin Kolb very much. This has led some to wonder if Sunday was the day the wildcat jumped the shark.

-Redskins coach Jim Zorn also had his play-calling questioned after his team's ugly 9-7 victory over the lowly Rams. But Zorn said it was lack of execution by his team, and not poor strategy, that kept the 'Skins out of the end zone.

-Back when the Jaguars were good, their defense was formidable. Today it is awful, and Jacksonville looks like one of the worst teams in the league.

-Even though the Lions saw their losing streak reach 19 games (and 25 out of 26) on Sunday against the Vikings, Detroit did manage to sell out Ford Field, which was a reason for some optimism.

-The NFL's most accurate passer? To this point, it's been Brett Favre, who has completed 77 percent of his passes and not thrown an interception.

-The Browns will stay with Brady Quinn at quarterback against the Ravens this weekend despite Quinn's back-to-back poor performances.

-The Saints say running back Mike Bell's knee injury is not as serious as initially thought.