FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Closing the book on the New England Patriots' 19-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium with some film-review notes:

1. The power with which rookie defensive tackle Vincent Valentine (3rd round, Nebraska) played was notable. Often going up against third-year guard Andrew Norwell (6-6, 325), Valentine was able to get his hands into him at times and extend his arms, which is a big part of the two-gap technique. Valentine’s bull rush also created some interior pressure (3:27, first quarter; 3:00, second quarter). The 6-foot-3, 320-pound Valentine is still raw, but his size and strength set him apart from most draft prospects at the position, despite his limited production in 2015. That showed up Friday. Valentine was a lock to make the roster based on his draft status, but if he plays like he did Friday, he could also find his way into the playing-time mix a bit quicker than anticipated.

2. It wasn’t a productive game from a pass-catching perspective for tight end Martellus Bennett (4 targets, 0 catches), but he contributed as a blocker, securing the edge on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s 17-yard completion to Chris Hogan on the offense’s first snap, and on the next play getting out in front of Tyler Gaffney’s 14-yard run. A true combination tight end is a factor as both as a blocker and pass-catcher, and the 6-foot-6, 273-pound Bennett showed early in this game how he is more than just a pass-catcher.

3. Option routes are a big part of the Patriots’ offense, and it seemed as if the miscommunication between quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and receiver Julian Edelman that nearly resulted in a Luke Keuchly interception (11:26, first quarter) came as a result of the quarterback and receiver not seeing the same thing. When Keuchly dropped into coverage, Edelman sat on his route, while Garoppolo didn’t appear to see Keuchly and led Edelman with his throw into the spot where Keuchly dropped.

4. Garoppolo called it a night of “ups and downs” and he wasn’t alone, sometimes not receiving much help from teammates. The Patriots’ second drive, for example, started with an Edelman holding penalty, James White struggling to hold a block in blitz pickup, and then left tackle Nate Solder losing the edge too easily on third down. Solder later had some similar struggles (Brady sack, 3:44, second quarter).

5. It was telling that with the chance to work on the two-minute offense with 56 seconds remaining in the second quarter and all three timeouts, the Patriots took a knee. Those are the types of situations Bill Belichick usually loves to see come up because it’s hard to duplicate it in practice, and passing on the chance to work on it in a game seemed to be an indication of how Belichick didn’t see much positive happening at that time with Garoppolo and the offense.

6. Belichick was pleased with the punt coverage against Ted Ginn Jr., and in a reminder that Matthew Slater is still effective in his core special teams role, he drew a holding penalty that helped push Carolina back to its own 9 to start one first-quarter drive.

7. Rookie linebacker Elandon Roberts (6th round, Houston) was touted for his instincts by Belichick during the draft, and he showed that on the second play of the game, filling his gap, taking on the fullback and making the tackle on running back James Stewart on a 1-yard run. Roberts got an extended look in the game, and like most rookies, he came away with some good teachable plays. For example, he seemed to get caught out of position on Stewart’s 23-yard run later in the first quarter when the offensive line slid left on a cutback run to the right, but also was on the punt return unit clearing the way for Cyrus Jones’ third-quarter 60-yard return.

8. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski always credits holder Ryan Allen and snapper Joe Cardona for his successes, as they are vital parts of the overall operation. In turn, when Gostkowski doesn’t get the job done, sometimes it’s a result of the other parts of the operation as much as himself, as was the case on his missed 30-yard field goal which came after a poor, low snap from Cardona.

9. This wasn’t a game-planning situation, but the fourth-and-1 run that was stopped on the first drive of the third quarter had two tight ends lined up to the left and fullback James Develin aligned on the line to the right side. It’s easy to second-guess that after the fact, but the idea of running behind Develin, and forcing the defense to react to the extra bubble in the run game instead of declaring it before the snap, might have been more effective than lining up Develin on the line.

10. Diving back into football and making his debut after playing for the U.S. Olympic rugby team in Rio, safety Nate Ebner made the tackle on the opening kickoff. That’s instant impact.

11. Undrafted rookie Jonathan Jones was impressive as a vice player on the punt return unit, working against the Panthers' gunners. Jones' effort was a big part of springing Cyrus Jones on his 60-yard return.

12. This was a good game for linebackers Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins to work on spying a mobile quarterback like Cam Newton, which could come in handy at times in 2016 (e.g. vs. Ryan Tannehill, Tyrod Taylor, Russell Wilson).