Pats Actions Speak Loud Than Words

After yesterday's great win against the Bengals, everyone came out of the locker room saying the same thing: The team had delivered a statement to the rest of the NFL, letting them know that the team was not going to lay down on the season after a single tough loss at home.

Here is Rodney Harrison: "I think we had to prove to ourselves that we can play with the upper echelon teams, that we can beat the upper echelon teams. I think we made that statement. We beat them. They're a very good team, but we made a statement."

And here is Tedy Bruschi: "It was a statement of who we are. As football players, and men, in this locker room, what were we going to do after a tough loss? Are you going to let it affect you for another week and come out and have another [tough game]? We turned it around and that's who we are."

The concept that the Pats respond well to adversity is one that everyone in Patriot nation is familiar with. The team is rarely afforded any love from the national media (who give it grudgingly to BB) and were tapped as underdogs in this game by just about everyone. And they love being disrespected, since it fuels everyone's play.

It's good to see the players feeling like they have a chip on their shoulder. I think they play better and get motivated for the big games. It was great to see also that despite Chad Johnson's big talk, at the end of the way it was the Pats walking off the field with the W.