(My Sportsbook) - Time to get those expectations back up, Patriots fans.

Any residue of the team's troubling 1-1 start, the one that came with a stolen win over the Bills (25-24) in Week 1 followed by a sloppy loss to the hated Jets (16-9) in Week 2, has been wiped away by back-to-back victories over good, probably playoff-bound teams.

One week after outclassing the Atlanta Falcons (26-10), Bill Belichick's club upped the ante with a 27-21 win over the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, moving the ball well against one of the league's most revered defenses and slowing what was the NFL's second-ranked offensive attack entering Week 4.

Tom Brady, making another step on the road to recovery following last season's major knee injury, completed 21-of-32 passes for 258 yards with touchdowns via both the air and the ground. Nine different New England players caught passes in the triumph.

But it was the work of that patchwork defense that really deserved the headlines on Sunday.

New England limited Joe Flacco and the Ravens to just two scoring drives on the day, keeping the big plays from Flacco (27-of-47, 264 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) to a minimum and frustrating Baltimore's receivers for much of the second half. Pressure on the blossoming Flacco was critical to the unit's success.

"I thought we had good pressure on him most of the day to tell you the truth, not all the time certainly, but we hit him plenty," said Belichick. "I thought that we were able to stay after them. We didn't always get them, but we stayed after them."

Stars for the Pats defense included defensive end Mike Wright, who had both sacks of Flacco in the win, and cornerback Leigh Bodden, who notched his first interception as a Patriot and stymied a Baltimore drive late in the first half.

Meanwhile, Brady and the New England attack complemented its defense by holding the football for nearly 35 minutes, and doing so on a day in which the running game could muster just 85 yards on 30 carries against the league's No. 1 run defense was no easy task.

Though a third-quarter sack-fumble by Ravens pass rusher Terrell Suggs, recovered in the end zone by tackle Dwan Edwards, hampered the cause, otherwise Brady stood in against withering Baltimore pressure.

Wes Welker, returning from a two-game absence due to a knee injury, caught a team-best six passes for 48 yards, and Sammy Morris (5 receptions, 35 yards), Benjamin Watson (2 receptions, 51 yards) and Sam Aiken (1 reception, 26 yards) also added value on a day when Randy Moss (3 receptions, 50 yards, 1 TD) was often taken away by the Baltimore defense.

"[They are] probably as good a defense - really clearly the best defense - in this decade," said Belichick of the Ravens. "They've got some great football players. I thought our guys really hung in there and made enough plays to win. I'm really proud of them.

"They played a lot of coverage over Randy, like we expected, with [Ed] Reed over the top, and so they took a lot of those plays away. We had to go to other options and we got good production from our backs, from our tight ends and certainly some of the other receivers - Sam, Wes and those guys. So they did a good job, too."

A pair of questionable roughing-the-passer penalties certainly aided the cause, though Brady took exception to any suggestion that those flags - one on Haloti Ngata for a glancing blow to the head, and the other on Suggs for going low on Brady (though Suggs made only minimal contact) - were unwarranted.

"Certainly not," said Brady, smiling, when asked if the calls were unjust. "No way. Are you kidding me? They've got to find ways...We're holding the ball, we're unprotected, just sitting there defenseless, so they've got to stay away from me. They deserve to get flagged."

Whatever the details of the win, it ranks as another confidence-builder for a Patriots team set to face another unbeaten opponent this week. The Denver Broncos (4-0), coached by former Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, will present Belichick and company yet another challenge on their road back to the company of the NFL elite, a journey of which several miles were shaved off in Week 4.

"Oh, they're tough," said Belichick of the Broncos. "I know Josh is very creative. He's got a great offensive mind, and [defensive coordinator] Mike Nolan, we had a great matchup with him last year out in San Francisco. I think he's very good with the job that he's done through the years with the Ravens, Giants and San Francisco's defense. I have a lot of respect for Mike and the job that he does, and certainly Josh. I know they'll be well-prepared."

BILLS: For the record, Terrell Owens had a catch. Three of them, actually, totaling 60 yards, to re-start a streak that ended after 13 years when the outspoken wide receiver went without a grab in the previous week's loss to the Saints.

But Owens' re-emergence mattered not, as the Bills were wiped off the field by previously winless, Miami, 38-10, in Week 4.

The struggles of the Buffalo offense were evident, in spite of Owens' contributions. Trent Edwards (17-of-26, 192 yards, 1 TD) was sacked six times and threw three interceptions, and the running game was a non-factor during a contest in which the Bills played from behind nearly throughout. Marshawn Lynch had just four yards on eight carries in his return from an NFL suspension, though he did catch a team-best five balls totaling 43 yards.

"Couldn't protect our quarterback and it kind of starts there," said Jauron of the offensive effort. "We didn't get much ever started. When we had our chances early, we didn't capitalize on them."

On the other side, Buffalo had major trouble getting the Miami offense - led by first-time starting quarterback Chad Henne - off the field. The Dolphins carried the ball 45 times for a whopping 250 yards, including a combined 200 yards and three scores from Ronnie Brown (20 carries, 115 yards, 2 TD) and Ricky Williams (16 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD). Henne (14-of-22, 115 yards, 1 TD) managed the game well enough to earn his first NFL win.

Said Jauron, "Defense did OK in the first half, but got worn down, got worn out and they ran the ball on us, which is what they do and they do it well.... We have to stay on the field offensively and make plays, score points, [and] give them a break there."

It could be Waterloo for Jauron, who needs to start pulling the Bills out of their 1-3 rut this week against winless Cleveland (0-4) at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Buffalo has a chance to get some traction during an upcoming five- game stretch that also includes matchups against the currently winless Panthers (10/25) and Titans (11/15), but beating those teams will rely heavily on the development of a young o-line that was as bad as advertised against the Dolphins.

"There are a lot of young guys playing up there that...haven't played much in the NFL," said Jauron. "We have to protect them more so they can protect Trent more."

DOLPHINS: Though it was the running game and a playmaking defense that largely ruled the day in the Dolphins' win over the Bills, the fact that Henne was efficient in his first NFL start was lost on few.

The second-year signal-caller's numbers (14-of-22, 115 yards, 1 TD) may have been pedestrian, but his ability to lead the team was lauded by head coach Tony Sparano.

"I loved his look during the game," said Sparano of Henne. "It was tremendous. Really communicated clearly, very well on the sideline, very good with receivers, excellent with [quarterbacks coach] David Lee. I thought he had a really good grasp of what [the Bills] were doing to him, which is all positive. There are a lot of things that Chad has to learn from on that film, a couple of things we'll need to clean up, for sure, but for the most part I was pleased with what he did today."

The Dolphins did allow Henne to take some shots downfield in the win, and despite his relative inexperience, that situation is likely to continue. The Michigan product has a decided edge over predecessor Chad Pennington in terms of arm strength, a situation that should help the Miami offense evolve in the coming weeks.

"Until you show the team that you have a lot of confidence in this player by putting it in his hands, I think that's where you gain a little bit of credibility or you don't," said Sparano. "I had this conversation with [offensive coordinator] Dan Henning a night or two ago...we have some opportunities here, so let's not be afraid to do this with this guy. Let's find out right away what he's all about."

With Henne at the controls, Miami will now embark upon an arduous stretch of games that continues with the Jets (10/12), Saints (10/25), Jets again (11/1) and Patriots (11/8). The cliched "one game at a time" approach figures to be stressed by the head coach.

"We've got to do a good job of not eating the cheese right now," remarked Sparano. "It's one win and we've got a really tough team coming in here next week. We're just going to get ready for that ball game. But, obviously, going 0-4 isn't a good situation; going 0-3 wasn't a good situation. We knew that. To this team's credit, they just kept grinding, they just kept practicing, and it's the thing that I'm most proud of them about is that they practiced hard and never looked back."

JETS: You knew it was coming, you just didn't know when.

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was bound to take the lumps that every rookie NFL quarterback must experience along the road to maturation, and those obstacles arrived in New Orleans' 24-10 win over the Jets on Sunday. To his credit, however, the youngster kept Gang Green in the game until late in the going.

The Jets were down only 17-10 when Thomas Jones rushed for a 15-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, and Sanchez would have the ball in his hands on two occasions with a chance to execute a game-tying drive.

On both occasions, however, the Jets would go three-and-out, a result emblematic of the rookie QB's frustrating day.

"I thought Sanchez at times looked like a rookie today," said head coach Rex Ryan, who was also saddled with his first loss as the Jets leader. "He made some mistakes, which I'm sure he wishes he had back. He wasn't the only one. We have to do a better job of protecting him."

On a day in which the Jets defense did a nice job handling Drew Brees (20- of-32, 190 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT), it was two major Sanchez mistakes that put the team in an ultimately insurmountable hole.

To start the second quarter, Sanchez lofted a ball that was intercepted by veteran safety Darren Sharper, who promptly returned the pick 99 yards for a New Orleans touchdown to make the score 10-0. Less than five minutes later, Sanchez was stripped of the football on a sack by Will Smith in the end zone, and the ball was recovered by Remi Ayodele in the end zone for another New Orleans score.

Sanchez (14-of-27, 138 yards) committed four turnovers on the afternoon (three INT, one fumble) and was sacked four times

"My mistakes killed us," conceded Sanchez. "Our defense played well enough to win. That game is 10-10 without three interceptions and a fumble. So that's the game right there. You turn the ball over like that, you just aren't going to win.

"I just made poor decisions today and that cost us the game."