FOXBORO, Mass. — A day after the Patriots' tense victory against the Packers, New England head coach Bill Belichick remained realistic that his team didn’t play all that great on its home turf.
Through the reflection, though, Belichick found some real praise for defensive anchor Vince Wilfork, who played almost every snap and shouldered a ton of responsibility in the Patriots' 31-27 win. Wilfork had six solo tackles — a reasonably monstrous total for a defensive lineman in New England's 3-4 scheme — and recovered quarterback Matt Flynn's fumble as time expired.
Wilfork moved across the defensive line and had to fight through the Packers' schemes that were geared specifically in his direction. Plus, the Patriots were without injured defensive linemen Mike Wright, Myron Pryor and Ron Brace, as well as run-stuffing linebacker Brandon Spikes, and they briefly lost defensive lineman Brandon Deaderick and linebacker Gary Guyton. Plus, defensive lineman Gerard Warren played despite missing some practice time with a minor knee injury.
Simply put, Wilfork had to be at his best to compensate for a very short-handed front-seven, and Belichick acknowledged as much.
"I thought Vince did a terrific job for us [Sunday] night. He was out there for a lot of plays," Belichick said. "I thought he played hard. He really had an outstanding game. They had a lot of attention directed at him, which is understandable, but he had a bunch of double teams and slides on the protection coming his way and those types of things. He really played hard, played well and did a lot of things to help us win. I thought he was outstanding, probably one of the best games he’s played. He’s played a lot of good ones, but I’d say that’s one of the best ones he’s played around here."
