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1. Tom Brady took to his Facebook page yesterday to praise law enforcement of the job they have done in quickly apprehending those responsible for the heinous crime. Brady said, “Thank you to all the brave law enforcement agents for keeping our city safe. #BostonStrong.” Law enforcement did an absolutely incredible job, and we have the FBI, the local police, the ATF, others, and the vigilant citizens who sent in numerous pictures and tips to the authorities.

2. Julian Edelman has been even more active, and he actually visited a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombings on Thursday. He and actor Bradley Cooper visited victim Jeffrey Bauman Jr., and here’s the tweet from Julian Edelman below.

Visited #survivor #stud #hero Jeffrey Bauman Jr. today. He was looking great and is a true inspiration. #strong twitter.com/Edelman11/stat…

— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) April 19, 2013

This is truly heart-warming stuff.

3. The New England Patriots worked out Kansas State Wildcats star linebacker Arthur Brown, who has finally found himself in the first-round discussion in this year’s draft, and I highly doubt he makes it past the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, and the first round as a whole. He probably won’t be there for the New England Patriots at No. 29, so the Pats would have to snap him up there if they really like him. While I think they are inclined to go the “BPA” route in this year’s draft, at some point you have to weigh in the need. The Patriots already have a great trio of starting linebackers, so all they need to do is build depth behind them in players who can cover. NESN’s Luke Hughes writes that Brown’s speed and coverage ability make him a strong possibility for the Patriots, but I think it’s best to pass up on him and wait until like the third-round to draft an LB (unless if someone really good falls into the second). My friend is touting Alec Ogeltree as a pick for the Pats later on in the draft, so I’d like you guys to leave your opinions about Ogeltree in the comments section.

4. The New York Jets could have a solid, underrated duo of running backs in Mike Goodson and Chris Ivory, because the New Orleans Saints have signed Ivory to a tender and will now almost certainly deal him off. The New York Jets didn’t want to sign Ivory to an offer sheet, but they are very interested in nabbing Ivory. Rich Cimini of ESPN New York writes that there are “strong indications” that Ivory will end up in New York.

5. After James Harrison likely dropped his asking price, the Cincinnati Bengals recently went back to the negotiating table after a “hitch” in the deal happened a few days ago. Now, Harrison is a member of a rival AFC North team after signing a two-year deal with the Bengals yesterday. Will he be able to transition to the 4-3 as an OLB after spending his entire career with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 3-4 OLB? And how will the Bengals get the most out of his pass rushing ability? One thing is for certain in my opinion, his hard-nosed run defense will not suffer much.

6. If the Arizona Cardinals really are thinking about taking D.J. Fluker with the 7th pick in the draft, then they need to reassess things. At some point, you have to scrap need, because taking Fluker in the top ten is a huge reach. He’s a solid right tackle, but I feel like this mad rush for tackles at the top end of the draft is a little too much. Then again, this news could be agent-driven (more draft stuff than free agent stuff is agent driven), but tackle is the most valued position in this year’s draft- even more so than pass rusher.

7. Mark Sanchez tells the New York Daily News that he blames the New York Jets organization for the Tim Tebow fiasco. And you know what? Sanchez is right on.

8. There are always people who feel the need to make classless jokes, and one of them caught me eye yesterday. It wasn’t even that it was “too soon” (the Boston bombings only transpired a few days ago), it’s the fact that this joke was never appropriate. I’m not going to screen-cap this tweet, but I will link to it here. This tweet from a Bad Luck Brian account was absolutely disgusting, and it’s even more disgusting that 472 heartless individuals retweeted it and 282 sheep “favorited” this horrendous tweet. I’ve never blocked an account on Twitter before, but this deserved to be that first black mark. Absolutely disgraceful and disgusting. It was also completely uneducated, because any long-distance runner will tell you that the Boston Marathon is the penultimate dream. The ultimate dream? Winning it. You guys watched that Saint Ralph movie, right?

Anyway, enough ranting from me. You guys enjoy your Saturday.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks dealt the New England Patriots a tough blow on the road a week before, and the Pats were looking to make things right by taking it out on the circus of the division. But the Jets were anything but a laughingstock in this one, as Mark Sanchez led them to an incredible fourth quarter performance. They came into the fourth down 23-13, but Sanchez tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller and Nick folk knocked down two 43-yard field goals to give the Jets a 26-23 lead.

Now that’s scary. The Jets were leading 26-23 in Foxboro, and the Patriots had just 1:37 left to put some points on the board. Sanchez showed some clutch ability in giving the Jets a lead, but Tom Brady showed that he is the king of clutch drives by hitting up star tight end Rob Gronkowski for back-to-back 15 and 12-yard completions to set the Pats up at the 48. Then, Danny Woodhead took over and showed why he is one of the must clutch players in the league by reeling off a big 20-yard gain on his first reception, then putting Stephen Gostkowski into better field goal position by snagging a seven-yarder. Brady and the Patriots were incredible working out of the no-huddle in a clutch situation, and they were able to save their third timeout to give Gostkowski the chance to knock down the field goal with five seconds left.

Gostkowski was criticized for not performing in the clutch and missing late field goals, as some Pats fans were still upset over his miss against the Arizona Cardinals. I felt somewhat vindicated by standing by Gostkowski as a great kicker when he nailed the 43-yarder to tie it up at 26, but there was still work to be done.

The Patriots started off with the ball in overtime, and their drive was nearly killed off on third-and-seven with the ball at their own 44 after an incomplete pass to Aaron Hernandez, but a pass interference from Jets corner Kyle Wilson saved the Jets. Gostkowski had a second clutch field goal to attempt, and he delivered by also hitting a 48-yarder to give the Pats a 29-26 lead.

The Jets weren’t done, though, and they continued to scare the Patriots at home. Alfonzo Dennard committed a penalty of his own (holding) on third down to get the Jets going, and Sanchez hit up Jeremy Kerley for a 17-yard pass to get the Jets to their own 40. But that’s as far as the Jets would go, because Rob Ninkovich performed one of the most heroic plays of the Patriots season. He and Jermaine Cunningham teamed up for a 12-yard sack of Mark Sanchez, and Ninko (one of the best players in the league at forcing and recovering fumbles) pounced on the loose ball to give the Pats the win. Thus, the Pats won on a game-winning fumble.

Each week, I do a “What We Learned” post on Monday after the game, but I feel like we need to run through some stuff we “learned” from this game in context. So below are some bullet points on why this game was so significant.

1. We realized just how bad the Patriots pass defense was, and I think this is when the Pats realized they needed to get another cornerback. The Pats managed to make Mark Sanchez look good by allowing him to throw for 328 yards, 8.0 yard per attempt, and a 90.3 QB Rating. While those numbers are a bit inflated (his TQBR was below 50), Sanchez still looked a lot better than he should have. The Pats acquired Aqib Talib during the bye week following their blowout victory in London over the St. Louis Rams, but let’s just say that this too-close-for-comfort game against the Jets was the final straw. They realized that Kyle Arrington is a good slot corner, but he is terrible on the outside; Arrington had a terrible game against the Jets. It showed the Pats that they needed a true outside CB and someone who could lock down possession receivers, as they were unfairly playing Arrington out of position throughout the beginning of the year.

2. The fact that the Patriots were able to pull this game out and not completely blow it after the Jets near-comeback in the fourth quarter was a moral boost for this team. They really needed it after losing out at the end to the Seahawks, and this game against the Jets started a seven-game winning streak for the Patriots. This game taught the Patriots a real lesson, and that is to not discount any opponent. Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork, and other veterans will tell you this all the time, but it seemed like younger players like Dennard and Stevan Ridley needed to have that lesson ingrained into their minds.

3. Rob Gronkowski, Wes Welker, and Aaron Hernandez all did a solid job moving the chains, and they rose up to help Brady move the ball down the field in important situations. Gronk caught six passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and that’s the kind of dependability, solid production, and playmaking ability at the TE position that the Pats were making. He was their best playmaker last season, and the Pats lost a lot of schematic advantages when he went down.

4. We didn’t learn this, but if you watch this game again closely, you’ll once again be amazed at just how good the Patriots starting linebackers are. Dont’a Hightower looks like a solid LB for a long-time, Brandon Spikes is a true difference-maker on defense, and Jerod Mayo is indeed one of the best linebackers in the league right now. If you still think he is overrated, then you probably didn’t watch him as closely as you think you did this past season. He improved greatly in pass coverage (Hightower and especially Spikes still have some work to do in that regard, though) and looked lively against the run.

This “Look Back” series is driven by reader suggestions, and this piece was suggested to us by Musket Fire staff writer Cyrus Geller, who told me that this game was an extremely important one for the Patriots.

Past “Look Back” pieces

Patriots score 21 points in 52 seconds to help destroy the Jets.

Defensive end Chandler Jones debuts against the Tennessee Titans.

The Arizona Cardinals upset the Patriots in Week 2.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The Patriots blew the game- and the Jets- out in one of the greatest second quarters you will ever see a team play. It started with a three-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker right off the bat that got the ball rolling. Then, the magic was set up.

Bill Belichick couldn’t have been happier with how his 200th win came about. The Patriots were in New York, blew out a bitter rival, and they did so on Thanksgiving Day in total annihilation. Not only did the Patriots score a whopping 35 points in the second quarter to take a 35-3 lead into the half, but it was the way in which they did it that makes it special. This is a Thanksgiving game that I will never forgot.

In 52 seconds, the New England Patriots put 21 points on the board, and Rex Ryan looked like he was about to barf, crap himself, and cry at the same time. If you didn’t see his face, then you should have. It was even more priceless than the butt fumble. Anyway, let’s run through each of the three beautiful touchdowns.

1. Shane Vereen, 83-yard touchdown pass

Pretty much all of those yards came from Vereen and his ridiculous speed. He caught the screen pass and just blew by absolutely everyone on the Jets, and that defense looked about fifty gears too slow for Vereen. Bart Scott looked like he was frozen in time, the way Clark Kent froze everyone in Smallville. Vereen is just so explosive, and he showed it by making the Jets defense look utterly foolish. I know that’s not hard to do, but what is hard to do is run so fast for 83-yards that somebody watching on TV will miss that player score if they turn for even a split second.

2. Steve Gregory, 32-yard fumble return

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. It’s really hard to scoop up a bouncing football while running, but Steve Gregory’s path to the end zone was threat. No, no, the credit for the butt fumble touchdown goes to Vince Wilfork; Mark Sanchez had no idea what hit him. Then, he realized, it was his own guard Brandon Moore. So Sanchez tries to scramble, and he ends up falling a little bit and smashes his helmet right into Brandon Moore’s butt (I feel for him). Part of the reason why this play happened is because Wilfork was strong enough to push Moore backwards into Sanchez’s direction. At the end of the play, Wilfork just pushed Moore to the ground.

3. Julian Edelman, 22 yard fumble return

Ah, another miscue from the Jets. Joe McKnight returned the kick-off and was promptly clocked by Devin McCourty on what was a terrific play by the Pats star safety on special teams. Julian Edelman scooped the ball up and ran it into the end zone to cap off the 21 points in 52 seconds.

The final touchdown of the half from the New England Patriots is also notable, and it was also notched by Julian Edelman. The current free agent wide receiver took advantage of some shoddy coverage by the Jets, and he got past the last man in the Jets secondary deep down the middle of the field. Tom Brady hit him up with a pinpoint pass (who said he can’t throw it deep?), and it ended up in a beautiful 56-yard touchdown pass that was probably my favorite touchdown of them all. I’m a huge fan of good ol’ offensive execution.

Speaking of execution, the Jets probably felt like a Thanksgiving Day turkey in that game. Heck, even Tom Brady got into the act with a fourth quarter rushing touchdown. The Jets tried to rack up some garbage yards in the passing game, but the damage was already done in 52 seconds. 49-19 was the final score, but the game was over with 8:51 left in the second quarter when Julian Edelman crossed the end zone for the first time that game.

Was this the best game the Pats played last year, or was it that blowout win on Monday Night Football over the Houston Texans?

The Patriots “Look Back” series strives to look back on the most notable (good or bad) moments of the 2012 NFL season. This is mostly based on viewer input, and today’s moment was provided by Foxboro Blog writer @vaidyeah33 via Twitter. You can send in your suggestions in the comments section, via email, on Facebook, or you can reach me on Twitter.

Previous “Look Back” articles on Chandler Jones‘s debut and the loss to the Arizona Cardinals can be read here in the links provided.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.