ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss explains how happy Bill Belichick is that he has Tom Brady on his team. (0:38)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Things move fast these days. The New England Patriots can win a thrilling nail-biter of a game, and almost before the final result is taken off the scoreboard, a discussion is sparked about some of the issues ahead.

What about Rob Gronkowski’s health? Can kicker Stephen Gostkowski be relied upon? Is the defense really good enough?

And then there’s this one: Was this a quality win?

The Patriots’ 22-17 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium had me thinking about a growing disconnect between the reaction of outside observers to a game compared to the reaction of the players and coaches who were just involved in it.

The Patriots know this wasn’t their best performance. But it was their best win of the year, and here’s why: When Bill Belichick measures the excellence of his teams on an annual basis, he usually starts with their physical/mental toughness and how they rise up in critical situations.

Those are the biggies, and there are only so many opportunities to gauge those things over the course of a season, to see how players will react in got-to-have-it situations in a hostile environment.

It wasn't always pretty, but Bill Belichick's Patriots did enough to get the win on Sunday. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

That’s why what unfolded Sunday was so critical for the 2016 Patriots, regardless of the quality of the opposition (the Jets, for their part, were a worthy foe).

Teams need to experience what it’s like to not play their best, no matter who is on the other sideline, and still find a way to win in crunch time.

Teams need to experience what it’s like to lose a top player like Gronkowski early in the game, be limited in the personnel packages that can be utilized the rest of the way, and still be resourceful enough to pull through with a quarterback clearly at less than 100 percent.

Teams need to take an opponent’s best punch – such as a remarkable “Butt Touchdown” by receiver Quincy Enunwa in the fourth quarter that was initially ruled incomplete and then changed on replay as Jets fans roared – and respond with a powerful punch of their own.

The Patriots did all those things on Sunday, and it helps explain why quarterback Tom Brady referred to running back James White’s 4-yard catch on fourth-and-4 on the game-winning drive as a “championship-type” play. That’s what it took, and Brady should know what that means since he’s won four Super Bowls.

Whether the Patriots can win one this season remains to be seen -- one of their top competitors, the Seahawks, lost at Tampa Bay on Sunday -- but this is the type of game that should give them confidence.

"I liked the way our team competed," Belichick said afterward. "We didn't start well, but we hung in there and battled all the way and made the plays we needed to make at the end. That's what it's all about."

This is, in many ways, the essence of professional football and building a championship team: Players and coaches get thrown into the pressure cooker in a highly competitive situation, with limited margin for error, and what does it look like when it’s over?

Some wilt. Some rise up.

Make no mistake, it didn’t look good for the Patriots for stretches of Sunday’s game, and no one, starting with Belichick and Brady, was saying this was the Patriots’ best performance.

Not. Even. Close.

And no one is saying there aren’t pressing issues facing the Patriots – Gronkowski, Gostkowski, the defense, defensive lineman Alan Branch’s potential four-game suspension and more all warrant further discussion in due time.

But more than anything, the Patriots’ 22-17 win over the Jets warrants a brief push of the pause button to take the time to appreciate what builds a team’s physical and mental toughness, and what it means when many players on that team rise up in the clutch.

That’s why this was the Patriots’ best win of the season.