Brady and Belichick have been too good for too long

Mike Zimmer was handed a long list of things to fix when he became Vikings head coach eight months ago.

Using Wednesday's team meeting to snuff out the potential for overconfidence against the Patriots on Sunday probably wasn't one of them.

But, hey, this is the NFL. You can't be too prepared.

The Vikings are 1-0, lead the league in scoring defense and look particularly strong running the ball and rushing the passer. The Patriots are 0-1, alone in last place in the AFC East and look especially weak stopping the run and protecting the passer.

Hmmm.

Sunday's game also is at TCF Bank Stadium and, speaking of quarterbacks, did you know, Vikings fans, that Tom Brady's 30th-ranked 69.7 passer rating is 44.1 points lower than the fourth-ranked 113.8 mark held by former Brady understudy and current Vikings starter Matt Cassel?

"It is encouraging and you're happy and smiling," said defensive tackle Tom Johnson. "But at the same time, it's the Patriots. Sure, their line struggled last week. But they got Tom Brady. Tom Brady."

Yeah, but coaches don't assume anything, least of all on Wednesdays, when they're setting the message for the week of practices. So Zimmer apparently had someone go back to the last time the Patriots were 0-1 (2003) and crunch some numbers to remind the players of the superpowers that Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick possess.

"In our team meeting, Coach told us some amazing stats that opened some eyes, if they weren't already open," linebacker Jasper Brinkley said. "You hear what he's saying and you have to prepare like you know the Patriots are going to get everything right again. They always do."

After starting the 2003 season with a 31-0 loss to Buffalo, the Patriots went 14-1 en route to the second of three Super Bowl titles in a four-year stretch. Since that Buffalo loss, Belichick is 34-4 in regular-season games following a loss. He's lost back-to-back games only four times in the past 11 seasons.

"I'm not sure why [that is]," Brady said Wednesday. "I haven't really thought much about that. Truthfully, I don't think in the past much. I don't think two games ahead. I just focus on this week, and I know the challenge we have this week."

Last Sunday, the Patriots gave up 191 yards rushing on 38 carries (5.0) and surrendered as many second-half sacks (four) as they had first downs while being outscored 23-0 in a 33-20 loss at Miami. Meanwhile, the Vikings ran for 186 yards on 30 carries (6.2) and tied the Jaguars with a league-leading five sacks in a 34-6 rout at St. Louis.

Jerome Felton said he hopes Miami's success running the ball means extra snaps for him this week. Meanwhile, Brinkley had his eyes on Miami's pass rushers, including left defensive end Cameron Wake, who notched two strip-sacks that led to a pair of turnovers and 10 second-half points.

"What stood out the most to me was that pass rush," Brinkley said. "I'm sure they'll have different wrinkles for us. But Coach Zimmer played them last year in Cincinnati and did a good job."

Brady is 3-0 against the Vikings, but Zimmer is 1-2 against him as a longtime defensive coordinator. In a 13-6 Bengals victory a year ago, Zimmer's defense sacked Brady four times and limited him to 18 completions for 197 yards, no touchdowns and an interception in 38 attempts.

It's also worth noting that Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle runs essentially the same defense he learned while working under Zimmer in Cincinnati.

"There's always some similarities," Brady said. "But Coach Zimmer has his own style with his own players. They have a great rush. You can't be standing back there holding the ball for seven seconds trying to figure out who's open."

A Patriots victory Sunday would move Brady out of a tie with John Elway for the third-most regular-season wins (148) in NFL history. It also would give Belichick his 200th regular-season victory, making him the fourth-fastest coach to reach that milestone (306 games) and bumping Tom Landry (319) into fifth place.

"The stats Coach Zimmer was talking about were powerful because it puts down on paper just how consistent they've been," Felton said. "But at the same time, you really don't need a stat to understand that it's not going to be easy making these guys take two losses in a row. I think there's an understanding in this locker room that the Patriots are a different animal."