Courtesy of BostonHerald.com

By Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent

Maybe the Patriots aren’t in as much trouble as everyone thought.

Maybe Tom Brady really is on his way back to form.

Patriots fans can be excited today. After much discussion about how the Patriots were out of form, how Tom Brady didn’t look like the pre-knee injury Brady, and how maybe the Patriots wouldn’t be ok (even with a 2-1 record), New England took it to an undefeated Baltimore Ravens team that looked like a legitimate Super Bowl contender the first three weeks, beating them 27-21.

Sure, it took a drop on fourth down by Mark Clayton to ensure the Patriots would escape with a victory. However, it took a true rise in performance from the Patriots to even be in that situation, after looking very shaky in the initial games of this young season.

Brady, who had looked uncomfortable in the pocket recently, had a huge task ahead of him going against an intense Ravens defense, lead by Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Terrell Suggs. Brady, true to his old character though, stepped up to the challenge and performed admirably.

Brady went 21-32 passing, for 258 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball five times for 11 yards and scored a rushing touchdown.

He looked more like the old Brady with some of that confidence and swagger back.

Surely, it’s no coincidence that Brady looked more comfortable with the return of wide receiver Wes Welker, who had been sidelined the past two weeks because of a knee injury. Against the Ravens, Welker caught a team high six passes for a total of 48 yards. Welker’s return was certainly a relief to fans, who spent the last few weeks cursing Joey Galloway for being incapable of catching a pass.

While the yardage isn’t anything to get too excited about, Brady is throwing to his favorite possession receiver again. Brady trusts Welker, and that relationship goes a long way into how Brady, and the Patriots as a whole perform.

After the game, Brady told reporters, “We’re making some good plays and then there are some things we need to do better. I’m glad we got the win, but I’m sure there are plenty of things we need to improve on.”

He’s right.

The Patriots defense did allow Ravens running back Ray Rice to rush for 103 yards on only 11 carries. Derrick Mason accumulated 88 yards receiving and a touchdown, and had it not been for Clayton’s fourth-down drop in the remaining seconds of the game (key word drop, not good Patriot defensive stop), the outcome may not have been so rosy for New England.

Brady himself still has areas to improve on. On third downs, he was only 1-4 with 11 yards, only one first down, and a QB rating of 39.6. 

But the best players realize that winning doesn’t mean you can’t improve, and Brady is one of those players.

And let’s not sell the Patriots short. Beating a tough Ravens team is no small task, and beat them the Patriots did. They now sit with a 3-1 record and with each win, the Jets season-opener disaster is getting foggier in our memories.  They head into Denver (4-0) next weekend, which again, won’t be easy—they really don’t have many gimmies on their schedule at all—but they can go to Denver with some more confidence and a good game to build off of.

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