AP photo New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, center, celebrates his rushing touchdown with teammates in the second half of Sunday night's win over the Ravens at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Blame it on the rain?

The Baltimore Ravens, or their coach, John Harbaugh, tried to on Sunday night after the New England Patriots smacked his team 23-17.

For the Patriots, though, it was like old times. They adapted and improvised. They used a trick play. Bill Belichick and his staff outcoached the visitors, who looked like they wanted no part of the elements.

However, it was also different. Tom Brady wasn’t around to lead the charge. A new star emerged in running back Damien Harris. A receiver, Jakobi Meyers, continues to prove that what we saw in 2019 training camp and the preseason was no fluke. Another member of the 2019 draft class, Chase Winovich, emerged from the doghouse and was a defensive standout.

These are your Patriot keys going forward. Time to put all the thoughts of great teams of year past to rest. New England is not going to blow out teams with 40 points, unless playing an extremely weak defensive team (ah, Houston?).

This isn’t the most talented football team we’ve seen in this region; far from it. But what needed to happen since the blowout loss to the 49ers is it had to become 10 times more competitive.

Mission accomplished.

“This team has a ton of character, a lot of tough guys and you can see it in the eyes,” one of those tough guys, running back Rex Burkhead, said. “You can look in each other’s eyes and just see the focus and determination – like there’s no quit. Whatever happens, whatever’s thrown our way, we’re going to be locked in on our assignments and go out there and execute to the best of our abilities.”

It’s all in the eyes, says Burkhead.

“When you get in that huddle at the end, you’re trying to move the ball forward and you see it in all your linemen,” he said. “You see it in the quarterback and receivers, that just makes your hunger for a win even that much more.”

It’s a different world for these Patriots. They were able to match the physical style of the Ravens, adding a bit of self discipline and smarts. They have their limitations, and likely now know them a lot more than they did a month ago. NBC’s Cris Collinsworth alluded to that on the broadcast Sunday night, saying he was told by a member of the staff, “I know what we are, and I know what we aren’t…”

Is this a running team? It will revert to the way it won late in its last Super Bowl run, if the trends are telling. They’ve learned they can’t depend on the arm of Cam Newton, who’s accuracy is limited, but they can rely on him teaming up with Jakobi Meyers when needed.

It’s likely, through this change, you will see teams load up front against New England and dare Newton to throw. Or even run, although that’s risky.

How the Patriots will respond to that will be huge.

Of course, the problem New England has now is the timing. They are a 4-5 team, and even if the NFL eventually decides to allow eight teams in each conference, there are already nine teams ahead of them. They need fringe teams like Las Vegas and Miami, as well as Cleveland, to stop losing, otherwise it would likely take a 10-6 record to make it.

That, for New England, would be extremely hard to attain. But starting the second half of the season at 1-0 with a win over a quality team is certainly a great way to begin.

“We’ll just keep making steady progress and we’re definitely headed in the right direction here,” Belichick said late Sunday night. “So great to win, but look forward to the challenge of getting ready to go again next wee and developing some consistency here.”

The consistency Belichick needs is players buying into roles. Winovich, for example, is one of the players asked to do different things different weeks. The success enjoyed in the Belichick Era is partly due to the fact that different players do different things vs. different teams. Each game, in a lot of ways, is looked at as its own season. Its own entity.

“Chase had a great week of preparation and played hard,” Belichick said. “…He was definitely aggressive and I think he did a good job in the role that we asked him to do.”

Right now, here’s how this Patriot team wins games: It runs for good yardage, keeps the ball away from the opposition, and wins the field position battle.

Seven weeks left, and Patriot fans hope that when it rains, it pours – on the other team.

THIS WEEK’S RANKINGS:

AFC: 1.Kansas City (8-1). 2. Pittsburgh (9-0). 3. Buffalo (7-3). 4.Indianapolis (6-3). 5. Miami (6-3).

NFC: 1. New Orleans (7-2). 2. Green Bay (7-2). Tampa Bay (7-3). L.A. Rams (6-3). Seattle (6-3).