FOXBOROUGH -- What does it mean when your coach has enough confidence to leave the offense on the field with his team facing 4th and 1 from its own 24 in a tight game?

"That means we're taking over the game," said Patriots guard Logan Mankins.

The Patriots converted that 4th and 1 situation behind Sammy Morris's second-effort lunge on a drive that ultimately stretched out over 15 plays -- and nearly seven minutes -- and featured a second-fourth down conversion before ending with a 33-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski to put New England on top, 19-10, with 14:55 to go.

Added Mankins: "That means we're running the ball hard, the line's blocking hard, the backs are running hard. When that starts to happen, that means you've got control of their defense. You can do whatever you want. It sets up the play action, sets up the pass, it sets up everything."

Said Morris: "It's something we have to do. We've lacked consistency, especially in short-yardage situations. We know what kind of group we have, we just weren't executing like we were capable of doing."

But, in retrospect, tight end Chris Baker couldn't help but admit it was a risky play.

"That was kind of crazy, we were way backed up," said Baker. "We had been stopped the previous week (in a similar situation) in New York, so that was a real confidence booster (today). We're going to go for it no matter where we are at... It showed a lot of confidence in our offense."