Photo courtesy of Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

Game Rewind: The Patriots dominated their rematch with the Atlanta Falcons last night winning 23-7. The story of this game was the defense. After giving up an NFL record six 300 yard passing games to opposing quarterbacks, the beleaguered Patriots defense stepped up and shut down Matt Ryan and the Falcons high octane offense.

Here are five thoughts on this game.

1. The Defense Showed Up: After six weeks of being a running joke around these parts, the Patriots defense finally put together a four quarter effort and played their best game of the season. The defensive line did a good job of getting consistent pocket pressure on Matt Ryan and the secondary played their best game of the season. After allowing the first six quarterbacks on their schedule to throw for over 300 yards in each game, Ryan was limited to 233 yards passing and a touchdown.

2. Banged Up Secondary Played Well: Despite playing without Stephon Gilmore and Eric Rowe, the Patriots secondary played their best game of the season thus far. Malcolm Butler looked like the elite corner that he is last night. He spent most of the night on Julio Jones and did a good job of limiting Jones’ ability to make big plays down field. Jones did catch nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown but he never made that big play down field. It was nice to see the Patriots secondary not give up those type of plays.

3. Kyle Van Noy: So much for PFF ranking Van Noy the Patriots worst defender. That is what happens when a bunch of math geeks who don’t know the game, crunch numbers and come with asinine observations. Van Noy’s versatility and natural instincts were on full display last night. Sure, he isn’t the fastest, most physically gifted linebacker but he is tough, knows how to play the game and makes plays. He is the perfect Patriots defender.

4. Red Zone Offense Stalls: The Patriots offense has been as good as expected this season despite being without Julian Edelman but the red zone struggles are a concern. Some of the issues can be attributed to Edelman’s absence but not finishing drives is a problem for this offense as a whole. They need to figure it out as we get into the second half of the schedule. Not having a back who can consistently finish inside the five yard line is an issue.

5. The Falcons Are a Mess: After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Falcons have lost three in a row. The offense is out of whack right now and the defense cannot get stops at key times. After looking like they got over their heartbreaking loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl 51, Atlanta has taken a step back. Dan Quinn and his staff need to figure things out because this talented team looks lost right now.