FOXBOROUGH – If there have been two main complaints about the Patriots during this recent bump in their road, they have involved a too-predictable offense and a defense that disappeared when the going got tough.It is perhaps too early to tell whether Sunday’s 20-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers represented any radical new departure for the offense (the Patriots relied as much on Wes Welker as they have all season), but – for one game anyway – the defense stood tall.There may be a couple of reasons for this. First, according to safety Brandon Meriweather, the team simplified the defensive game play. Second, James Sanders was back in the lineup, providing, Meriweather said, some intelligence and experience in the defensive backfield; and third, the Patriots just tuned out all the bad talk and focused on playing.”You get to have fun,” said Meriweather, when asked about the simplified game plan. “You can play looser. When you don’t have to think, and make checks, you just have fun. It’s just like when you were a kid in the backyard. You never had a play or thought about it. You just played.”Meriweather also was happy to see Sanders back there.”He’s probably the smartest defensive back on our team,” said Meriweather. “He knows every position. He knows every call. He brings more to the table when it comes to making checks and making calls and it was great to have him in there.”Sanders hasn’t seen much action, but said he was told Monday he’d start Sunday.”I didn’t buy into it until (Sunday),” he said. “It felt great to be out there, doing what it is I love to do and getting an opportunity to show what I can do to help the team.”The defense had to withstand the loss of two of its longtime stalwarts – Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren. Still, in the closing moments, and at the close of a day when the team gave up only one big play, both Jarvis Green and Derrick Burgess scored sacks.The defense was hardest hit in the whole “tardy-gate” incident as Burgess, Gary Guyton and Adalius Thomas were among the four sent home Wednesday for being late for a team meeting. Thomas chafed at the punishment and was benched Sunday, with Pierre Woods taking his place.”In one ear and out the other,” Woods said, both of the criticism the defense has faced and the week in general. “You can’t pay attention to that. I mean, everybody’s got something to say. You guys will write your own thing. So, whatever you say ? like if I say something to you, you can’t worry about it.”It isn’t as if the Panthers didn’t gain yardage. They wound up with 305 (to 377 for the Patriots). However, the Patriots had the ball nearly 10 minutes longer, and held Carolina to only 23 percent in third-down efficiency.”It seemed like every time they had to make a big play, they made it,” said coach Bill Belichick. “Overall, it was better on third down, and better overall defensively. But there’s still room for improvement.”