New England at Baltimore (12/03/2007)

The atmosphere in the Patriots locker room and out at practice has been light-hearted but focused all week. That can’t be good news for the Ravens.

After their close call in Indy, the Pats came back to obliterate the Bills. Now, after another tight one versus the Eagles, look for a similar rebound in Baltimore. Perhaps they won’t score as many points as they did in Buffalo (weather conditions could be a factor), but you never know with the offense.

Either way, New England should score more than enough to win convincingly Monday night.

They've worn their emotions on their sleeves like some kind of scarlet letter ("C" for "cheaters"), and last week in an interview Brady finally admitted what everybody else already knew; namely, that the Patriots weren't going to be satisfied simply beating opponents.

"We're trying to win - we're trying to kill teams, to blow them out if we can. You want to build momentum for each week," he told WEEI radio in Boston. "You don't want it to be 42-7 or 35-7, and then all of a sudden you look up and it's 35-21."

Belichick's relentless preparation and incessant scheming are the very reasons the Patriots are running roughshod over the NFL and into the record books. And he's hardly in a mood to stop pushing now.

"There are lots of things we need to work on," he said afterward, in a detached, eerily calm voice. To make it clear he wasn't exempting himself or his staff, Belichick added, "We've got to coach 'em better."