Week One - vs. Buffalo Bills

I'm sure no one would be surprised to hear that with 5 and half minutes left I was as confident as Brady in a collapsing pocket that the Pats would somehow come out with a win. I've been watching this team long enough to know that if you let them keep the game close, they'll find some way to win in the end. And sure enough, when the Bills kick returner thought he was helping run the clock out by leaving the end zone, he should have known they'd be ball-hawking to force that fumble that turned into the winning touchdown. So while I'm pleased to see that we haven't lost the swagger or the ability to play games all the way to the end, there are a few things that are a bit concerning.

Granted this was the first game of the season so I'll give a little grace, but at this point every game counts, even the first one. I was none too please with either line performance. The whole first half Brady was getting hit or hurried constantly, and this from a Pro-Bowl line that's been together for years! When they switched to quick underneath passes that helped a little, but you can't get too one dimensional as a team. On the other side, Trent Edwards had all day to throw the ball. Now I know the defense did well at shutting down T.O. which was probably their number one goal. But that also lead to Fred Jackson (the backup) cleaning up for over 120 yards on the ground. If this young defense can only focus on stopping one offensive play maker per game, we're gonna have trouble with the majority of teams in the NFL. We lost a lot of play makers on defense this year, a lot, but that means young guys are going to have to step up and take their places. We can't rely on special teams to bail us out every game. Thoughts?