Kyle Arrington, Aqib Talib, Santonio Holmes

New England Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib, left, intercepts a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) in front of Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington (25) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

(AP)

Update your fall fashion books, because defense is back in style in New England.

Shocking, right? After years of watching Tom Brady and his cast of weapons win games for the Patriots, this week's game ball goes to players in the defensive meeting room following Thursday's 13-10 win over the New York Jets.

It's an odd time in Foxborough. The offense is struggling and the defense is soaring. The team is now 2-0, which feels familiar, but the ugly wins that were common during the championship years in the early 2000s and have been absent since 2007 are back on display.

And that's not the craziest part. All the players on the field during the fourth quarter deserve credit, but the secondary deserves the bulk of the credit for delivering the win after picking off Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith three times down the stretch.

But, really, it's never that simple. All three turnovers were the result of a team effort, and at times down the stretch Smith appeared baffled by what the defense was doing.

On the first pick, the Patriots employed a four-man rush and Chandler Jones came off the edge and forced Smith to flush the pocket and slide to the left side of the field. He locked in on wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who was running a crossing pattern over the middle, and delivered a pass that was tipped by Kyle Arrington. Aqib Talib reeled in the tipped ball to end the threat.

Jones again played a key role on the second interception. Lined up at defensive tackle, he stunted behind Vince Wilfork and came around the left tackle to crash the backfield. Aware of the pressure, Smith hurried his pass and underthrew his pass to Clyde Gates, which was intercepted by Alfonzo Dennard.

The third interception was more basic. The Jets offensive kept a clean pocket for Smith, but he simply underthrew Stephen Hill up the right sideline and Talib easily picked off the pass.

The secondary, as whole, put together a strong performance from start to finish. Granted, it came against a rookie quarterback and offense in transition, but it's a good starting point and the kind of effort that is going to be needed as the offense continues to endure growing pains.

QUARTERBACKS: C

Takeaway some dropped passes and Tom Brady doesn't finish with a completion rate of 48 percent. Still, he wasn't at his this best. He missed on a few deep passes, including ones to Julian Edelman and Kenbrell Thompkins, that would have went for touchdowns if the throw had been on point. After reviewing the film, there were at least six bad throws that led to incompletions. Brady finished 5 of 12 on downs where he was blitzed. He took an average of 2.13 seconds to pass the ball.

RUNNING BACKS: C

It's hard to do much when there aren't holes to hit. When Stevan Ridley was provided with running lanes, he took advantage. When he wasn't, he was stuffed. Repeatedly. LeGarrette Blount had a nice run off the right tackle for seven yards, but didn't do much else to speak of. Leon Washington missed a blitz pickup and allowed a quarterback hurry. Using James Develin as a receiver was a surprising twist, though it didn't yield results.

RECEIVERS: D

The performance was ugly. There's no way around it. There were four dropped passes, some wrong routes run, and several missed opportunities. The good news, though, is that rookie receivers Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins were consistently open and were in position to make plays. The dropped passes and route-running errors are fixable mistakes. Julian Edelman had another solid game, though it seemed some opportunities were missed due to Brady's insistence on getting the ball to him. Hard to figure out what happened on the third-down play from the Jets' 12-yard line prior to Brady's blowup on the sideline. Either Brady was expecting Edelman to sit in the zone or Dobson was supposed to curl off his route. It's also possible that Muhammad Wilkerson got his fingertips on the pass.

OFFENSIVE LINE: C

The pass protection wasn't too bad, as Brady was pressured on 12 of 40 dropbacks. The run blocking, however, was not up to the same standard. The running lanes weren't there, even on the left side behind Nate Solder and Logan Mankins, and the Patriots' running backs paid the price. Marcus Cannon (three run stuffs) and Ryan Wendell (three hurries) standing out as the weak links. Dan Connolly (two hurries, one sack), Solder (three hurries) and Sebastian Vollmer (one sack) also had a few bad plays, but were solid overall in pass-blocking situations.

DEFENSIVE LINE: C

Another tireless effort by defensive end Rob Ninkovich (four hurries, two knockdowns, five run stops), who consistently gets everything and more out of his ability. His run stuff on Bilal Powell for a four-yard loss in the third quarter when he cut behind Wilfork to get into the backfield was as good as you'll see. Wilfork had a rare bad game and struggled in run defense. He struggled to get off of UMass product Vladamir Ducasse's blocks. As a whole, the defensive line gave up too many big runs. Jones (six hurries, one knockdown) checked in with two nice sacks and deserves partial credit for Michael Buchanan's coverage sack for creating the initial pressure on Smith following a stunt with Wilfork. Jones, however, blew contain and allowed Smith to get loose for a 16-yard scramble.

LINEBACKERS: B

Dont'a Hightower (one hurry, one knockdown) was strong in coverage, allowing one reception on two targets for minus-3 yards. His play recognition appears to be improving. Jerod Mayo had a handful of run stuffs, but had a few suspect moments in coverage. Due to New England's penchant for running nickel sets, Brandon Spikes was limited to 33 snaps, with which he didn't do much.

SECONDARY: A

The interceptions sealed the victory for the Patriots. Hard to weigh any faults prior to that moment too heavily. At safety, Devin McCourty had a solid game and was in on two pass breakups. Rookie Duron Harmon, who was in on eight snaps, showed improved instincts while on the field. Upon further review, Talib's forced fumble on Stephen Hill was caused by his foot. Kyle Arrington (two passes defensed) had a really strong game, allowing three receptions. Dennard, who is battling an ankle injury, also played well, but he appeared a step slower than usual and was beat deep once by Gates.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

Stephen Gostkowski missed a 43-yard field goal heading into halftime, which brings down the collective grade here. He did, however, connect from 30 and 21 yards. Ryan Allen punted an absurd 11 times and averaged 46.7 yards per attempt with an average of 4.54 seconds of hangtime. His most impressive effort was his second attempt, when he booted it 60 yards with 4.97 seconds of hangtime. On Allen's third attempt, the Jets did not employ a return man. Marquice Cole appeared unaware of the situation and downed the ball immediately instead of allowing it to roll.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Situation: Third-and-2 at the New York 39-yard line, 0-0, first quarter.

The Patriots line up in a double wing formation with Dobson as the in receiver on the right side. Solder reports as an eligible receive and lines up as the tight end on Dobson's side of the formation. Solder's presence makes it appear that the Patriots are going to run the ball. The Jets, who are in man coverage, match up against Kenbrell Thompkins, lined up on the outside, and Edelman, the in receiver opposite Dobson, but leave Dobson uncovered. New York bites hard on a play-action fake to running back Ridley, leaving Dobson uncovered for an easy touchdown. Patriots 7, Jets 0.

FLYING HIGH

WR Julian Edelman – Caught 13 passes on 18 targets for 78 yards. With all the uncertainty at receiver, he was the only dependable target at times and Brady treated him that way.

IN THE DOGHOUSE

WR Aaron Dobson – The touchdown aside, he caught three passes on 10 targets with three drops. That kind of performance is unacceptable, but it's important to note that he was consistently open throughout the game. If he can create that kind of separation and put the rookie jitters behind him, he should improve.