Patriots, Welker start well, finish strong

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)

The excitement doesn't start until Wes Welker catches a short pass from Tom Brady. Then the NFL's leading receiver leaves defenders grabbing air as he weaves through them for extra yards. The New England Patriots follow the same pattern - a promising beginning to a season and a better ending. For them, the key to success is wins after October. For Welker, it's yards after catch. "Understanding coverages is the key thing, and knowing where defenders are and which way to turn and when I need to get (directly) upfield and when I have a little more room to do something else," he said. The 5-foot-9 Welker understands that very well. He leads all NFL wide receivers with 286 yards after the catch despite missing two games with a knee injury. He's first in the league with 46 receptions and is the only one among the top 24 whose yards after the catch are greater than his yards at the point when he made it. Welker's success is a major reason for Brady's productive return from knee surgery, answering the big question that faced the Patriots going into the season. "We've got a pretty good rapport with each other and we understand what each other is thinking against different coverages," Welker said. The Patriots also responded to the loss of five veteran starters on defense with an infusion of youth that has helped them to a 5-2 record and the AFC East lead at their bye week. Now they face another uncertainty: After their last two games against winless teams in which they outscored Tennessee and Tampa Bay 94-7, can the Patriots beat some of the NFL's best? They're about to find out. New England returns from the bye with a home game against Miami. The Dolphins are 2-4 but 2-1 since quarterback Chad Henne took over when Chad Pennington suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. They nearly upset the New Orleans Saints last Sunday. Then the Patriots visit Indianapolis and New Orleans, both unbeaten, in two of their following three games. "There's obviously some great teams," Welker said. "That's the way it is week in and week out, but especially this next month, so we're definitely going to stay on top of our game." They usually are this time of year. Since 2001, the Patriots are 41-17 before Nov. 1. Afterward, they're 70-17, including three Super Bowl wins and the postseason games leading up to them. Improving as the season progresses is a point of emphasis by coach Bill Belichick and his staff, "letting us know that this is the time of the season when good teams break away from the pack," running back Kevin Faulk said. "This is the time of the year when we have to come together as a team and play as one." The Patriots have made strides toward that since the season began. In the opener, they needed Brady's two scoring passes in the last 2:06 to beat the Bills 25-24. Then they failed to score a touchdown in a 16-9 loss at the Jets. They followed that with a 26-10 win over the Falcons, then hung on to beat the Ravens 27-21 before losing 20-17 in overtime at Denver. Then came the wins against two bad teams: 59-0 over Tennessee and 35-7 over Tampa Bay in London. But the Patriots aren't far from being unbeaten with the tight games against the Jets and Broncos. "We need to get better at everything," said safety Brandon Meriweather, who returned one of his two interceptions against the Buccaneers for a touchdown. "I think we need to get back to the fundamentals and do all the little things better." Brady has thrown 15 touchdown passes, but nine came against the Titans and Buccaneers. Laurence Maroney leads the team with 265 yards rushing, taking over the main running duties after Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris were hurt. Randy Moss has 43 catches, just three behind Welker. The defense has allowed the third-fewest points per game and gotten contributions from rookie defensive backs Darius Butler, with two interceptions, and Pat Chung, with one. On offense, rookies Sebastian Vollmer, as a replacement for injured left tackle Matt Light, and Julian Edelman, who had 21 catches before breaking his forearm, have played well. "They've played real well," Faulk said, "but at the same time, just as this team has to improve, they have to improve, too, no matter how well they've played." The Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time in six years last season, and Brady has played just seven regular-season games since suffering a season-ending left knee injury in last year's opener. Peyton Manning sat out all of the 2008 preseason after having an infected bursa sac removed from his left knee, and the Colts were 3-4 after seven games. They won their remaining nine in the regular season. "I'm feeling great," Brady said after beating Tampa Bay. "Certainly (there's) a lot of good things to take from being 5-2. We played two poor halves of football there against the Jets (and) Broncos. Those outcomes may have been a bit different." But November, the Patriots' month, is starting. "The conditions get a little bit worse and I think we're really used to those conditions," Welker said. "There's a lot of things we need to improve on, get better at, but we're making strides in the right direction. We just need to continue making those."