Meriweather gets involved

The general rule with Patriots rookies is that they're to be seen and not heard. However, rookie defensive back Brandon Meriweather hadn't seen much of the field until Monday night's 27-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

Meriweather was more involved in the defensive game plan than he's been all season. The Patriots used their 2007 first-round pick as a safety in the dime package (six defensive backs) to start the game, a sign that Meriweather is making progress.

He said he knew that he would be utilized against the Ravens.

"Yeah, I [had] been working at dime all week," he said. "Bill [ Belichick] gave me an opportunity to play and the defensive staff gave me an opportunity to play and I just wanted to come out and do my best."

On what had to be a very emotional day for Meriweather - as his friend and mentor at the University of Miami, Sean Taylor, was laid to rest - his play was uneven.

On the Ravens' second possession, Meriweather took a bad angle after a scrambling Kyle Boller hit receiver Devard Darling in front of the Patriots' sideline. The missed tackle turned into a 53-yard gain, which was Baltimore's longest play from scrimmage this season and the second-longest pass play the Patriots have allowed this season. The big gain helped set up a 4-yard touchdown pass from Boller to Derrick Mason.

"That was a good team, and you knew they were going to make plays and it's just how you respond from plays like that," said Meriweather. "He caught the ball and made a play and I didn't."

Even after the gaffe, the Patriots continued to use Meriweather, who was credited with no tackles and one pass defended, in the dime.

Cameo hero

Receiver Jabar Gaffney's game-winning 8-yard touchdown catch was impressive in and of itself, as he corralled the ball in the left corner of the end zone and got both feet inbounds.

Yet considering what happened before the catch, Gaffney's effort looks that much better.

When Gaffney lost his concentration and dropped a soft pass from Tom Brady at the start of the second quarter - a play that would have been negated by penalty anyway - it earned him a spot on the bench. Gaffney stayed there for the next seven series, only to have his number called on the final two plays the Patriots ran in the game.

"I hadn't had a catch all game and they put me in," said Gaffney, who played eight snaps in all. "In a critical situation, I was able to come through. It feels good."

Brady told Gaffney that it was probably the best catch of his career, and that it couldn't have come at a better time. Now in his sixth NFL season, Gaffney has totaled 22 receptions for 237 yards and three touchdowns on the season.

Although he watched much of the game from the sideline, Gaffney liked how the Patriots adjusted in the second half.

"We kind of got a feel for what they were doing," he said. "They're a team that throws a lot of different looks at you. They were doing a lot of stuff we hadn't seen on film, and we were able to make the adjustments in the second half to pull it out."

Stop and go

When the Patriots needed to come up with big stops in the fourth quarter, safety Rodney Harrison came through.

With the Patriots trailing, 24-20, and looking to get the ball back, Harrison tackled running back Willis McGahee on a second-and-8 play - dropping him for a 1-yard loss - that ultimately led the Ravens to punt. On the Ravens' next drive, Harrison stopped McGahee a yard short of a first down on a third-and-2 pass play, forcing a punt and setting up the winning drive.

After the game, Harrison described the defense as rising when it counted.

"It was just a sense of urgency," he said. "We were getting our butts handed to us from the run-game standpoint. Guys just looked at one another and said, 'Forget about what's happened in the past, let's step up and worry about the here and now. Let's make a play.' "

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Harrison had an interesting exchange with Ravens coach Brian Billick. After safety James Sanders intercepted a pass, Harrison wound up in front of the Ravens' bench and was apparently passing along some of his thoughts regarding Boller. Billick was within earshot and blew Harrison kisses.

"I saw the smooch and I was wondering," Harrison said with a laugh. "It kind of took me off [guard]. We were just having some fun."

Ill wind

The Patriots had a handful of dropped passes. Tight end Benjamin Watson couldn't corral a third-down pass in the end zone on the opening drive, receiver Randy Moss was unable to hang on to a fourth-quarter pass on a post pattern in the end zone, and running back Kevin Faulk dropped a short pass on the team's final drive.

Moss noted that the conditions made it challenging.

"When it's windy and the ball moves on you a little bit, you try to focus on the ball," he said. "But when the ball is moving, your eyes are moving, so it's actually hard to catch.

"Tommy threw me that post route and the ball sort of moved on me. It was kind of hard. I'm not making excuses for the drop, and I'm not making excuses for my teammates' drops or nothing like that, but the conditions, when it's windy, it is hard to focus and catch that ball."

Nice comeback

Linebacker Adalius Thomas, who returned to Baltimore for the first time since signing a five-year, $35.04 million contract to join the Patriots in the offseason, said it was special to defeat his former team in his first try. "Coming in here, it's a tough place to win," said Thomas. "They bring so much energy. The defense brings so much energy and the offense came in and played a great game against us. Being that I was here and I know those guys, it's kind of like an old rivalry. You get the bragging rights until the next time we play. It was definitely special for me."

Sweet 17

When Moss caught a 3-yard scoring pass in the third quarter, it gave him 17 touchdowns this season, tying Curtis Martin's team record set in 1996 and tying Moss's career high for a season. He had 17 in 1998 and 2003 while playing for the Vikings . . . Moss became the 25th player in NFL history to catch 750 passes in a career . . . In throwing his 40th and 41st touchdown passes, Brady became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 40 in a season, joining Peyton Manning (49 in 2004), Dan Marino (48 in 1984, 44 in 1986), and Kurt Warner (41 in 1999) . . . Of the Patriots' 24 running plays, only one went for negative yardage, a minus-2 run by Heath Evans near the goal line in the first quarter . . . Laurence Maroney's 79 receiving yards were a career high . . . With the Ravens often overloading the right side of the line, the Patriots most often lined up a tight end to that side to help in pass protection . . . The Patriots scored on their opening possession for the 11th time in 12 games, with Stephen Gostkowski hitting a 21-yard field goal. Gostkowski is 14 of 16 on field goal attempts this season . . . Sanders's fourth-quarter pick marked his second straight game with an interception. His two picks this season are a career high.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com