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FOXBORO - It might not have been a wildly productive performance for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, but oh was it ever efficient.

The Patriots ran off 81 plays from the line of scrimmage and controlled possession of the ball for a whopping 39:49 in beating back the Atlanta Falcons Sunday at soggy Gillette Stadium.

"I'm not sure what the ratio was, but we had the ball more than they did and it worked out," said Patriots guard Logan Mankins. "We chewed up the clock."

The Falcons had the ball for just 45 plays and 20:11 in comparison, being shut out through the second half, crossing midfield just once on their final five possessions.

"Maybe the 11 guys were more on the same page this week," said Patriot guard Stephen Neal. "We had a good mix," said Patriot center Dan Koppen, New England conducting 39 plays on the ground and Brady throwing the ball 42 times. "We were able to run the ball and that helps set up the rest of the offense"

Brady, however, surmised his performance this way - "some things were better and some things we've still got work to do on. Football is a team game and it's about everybody being on the same page. It's a great win, we'll take it and still understand that there are a lot of things we need to do better.

"We made some real critical plays, a few fourth downs, some short yardage ones, fourth and one on our own 25 yard line and made that. That was a big play for us in the game. We had a six-point lead and if we just stopped, they were already in scoring position."

Similarly, the Patriots were just a bit off in converting red zone situations as well. "It's just execution," said Brady, who completed just three passes inside the Atlanta 20-yard line. "It's making the reads and throws. We can't keep kicking field goals, I know that - we've got to be better than that" ...

Walking wounded

The Patriots lost defensive lineman Vince Wilfork due to an undisclosed first half ankle injury, with Myron Pryor (three assists) taking over his spot. "There's a lot of depth on the defensive line, with Myron and Ron (Brace) stepping in," said DL Mike Wright RB Laurence Maroney (four carries, 17 yards) went down in the first half with a thigh injury. "We were able to play from ahead and manage our offense a little better," said RB Sammy Morris. "We came at it a couple of different ways.

Stats and streaks

Running back Fred Taylor notched his 49th 100-yard rushing game and moved past Washington Redskin great John Riggins into 15th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 11,447 yards. "As a running back, as a running back coach, you always talk to your running backs about yards after contact," said Patriot RB Kevin Faulk. "Fred showed how important it is to get yards after contact - that's why he's Fred Taylor." ...

Tom Brady's touchdown toss to TE Chris Baker was the 200th of his career in 116 games, becoming the 27th passer in NFL history to do so. In fact, only three QB's have done it sooner, Dan Marino (89 games), Peyton Manning (106 games) and Brett Favre (107 games). "I didn't know that," said Baker of the significance of the catch. "I keep all my touchdown balls, so we'll (Brady) have to talk about that one." ...

Randy Moss has 26 receptions through three games, the most ever for him to start an NFL season. He finished the day with 10 catches for 116 yards, his second 100-yard game of the season, his 10th 10-catch game and the 61st 100-yard game of his career - second only to Jerry Rice's 76. "He made some amazing catches, he's a big reason why we won," added Baker ... For the second straight game, the Patriots did not allow a sack of Brady - that's 134 pass attempts and counting. "It's a different style of defense (Atlanta) compared to the Jets," added Koppen. "You still have to out there and block for him and the guys really took that to heart." ...

With a career single-game best four field goals, kicker Steve Gostkowski moved past Stanley Morgan into fifth place on the Patriots' all-time scoring list with 418 points. Gostkowski hit four field goals last season in games against the Jets and Arizona ...

Free agent safety Brandon McGowan forced a fumble by Atlanta's Michael Turner in the second quarter, which James Sanders recovered and the Patriots turned into a go-ahead FG by Gostkowski with 20 seconds left until intermission. "They held those guys up at the line and gave me a free shot to hit the running back," said McGowan.