If going for it on fourth-and-2 two weeks ago was a slight at the Patriots defense, then what transpired last night in the third quarter might've been more of a slap.

Laying out the situation ... Patriots have the ball at the Saints 10-yard line. Fourth down, 4 yards to go, and 4:12 left in the third quarter. Saints lead 31-17. And Bill Belichick and Co. go for it.

Bottom line: Three points wasn't going to cut it.

The reason why: The defense looked like Prairie View A&M trying to slow down the old Oklahoma wishbone. The result wasn't far behind.

"No doubt, we needed some points at that point," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "I thought we were running the game well at that point offensively. I thought we needed more than a field goal, the way the game was going.

"(Mike) McKenzie made a good play over here."

McKenzie saw exactly what was coming, and went after it.

So his team is 11-0. New England is 7-4, and looking for answers. It may be the last shot the defense gets to slow/stop this kind of offense, given the rest of the schedule. And that means, going into the playoffs, there'll still be questions, and chances are, they're going to be hard to answer.