FOXBORO — The memory is tough to shake.

The first play from scrimmage in last year’s wild card game between the Patriots and Ravens, New England defensive lineman Vince Wilfork was knocked sideways as Baltimore's bowling ball of a running back Ray Rice shot up the middle for 83 yards.

It was the start of a truly miserable afternoon for Wilfork, which began with the Rice play, continued with boos from the home fans in an ugly 33-14 loss to the Ravens, and ended with him complaining about the treatment from the Gillette Stadium crowd and him openly wondering about his future.

But now, a year later, it's all good. The Patriots are sailing into the postseason with a 14-2 mark and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and the 29-year-old Wilfork is having one of the best seasons of an already storied career. Named to the third Pro Bowl last month, the lineman has played all three spots along New England's defensive front, and has become the biggest reason the Patriots' run defense has improved since the middle of the regular season.

With the Patriots on the cusp of their first playoff game since the abomination they suffered at the hands of the Ravens, Wilfork said Thursday he doesn’t allow his mind to wander back to that awful afternoon.

“No, we’re a different ball club. This is a different team,” Wilfork said. “Last year was last year.”

The Patriots imploded that afternoon against the Ravens for several reasons, including a lack of leadership emanating from an occasionally toxic atmosphere in the locker room. Two months after that game — and days after he signed a new contract with the Patriots — Wilfork spoke about the dawning of a new era in New England, and over the course of the 2010 season, the defensive lineman has clearly asserted himself as a leader and mentor for a new generation of Patriots’ players.

“Vince has a lot of respect on this team — he’s played a long time here,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s played in a lot of big games. He’s an outstanding player, so I think he’s looked up to by everyone.”

“Big V? He’s demanding and that’s what you need as a leader, but he’s fair,” said running back Fred Taylor. “He’ll make sure he coaches things that he sees or areas that he thinks need to be lifted. He’ll make sure to oversee those areas. He's not going to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself. I think that’s fair, being a leader, and he's done a great job of it.”

“I don’t know if I’m a player, I’m a coach, I’m a mentor – you name it,” Wilfork said. “I’m always talking, and teaching, and coaching and mentoring, watching film, we do it. I’m proud to be someone like that that they can actually look up and ask me for questions and I can give them the right advice. It’s been kind of fun.”

Wilfork’s leadership has been key for a defensive line that is still a work in progress. While the veteran has been a mainstay up front for New England with newcomer Gerard Warren, the Patriots have shuffled in a variety of other linemen around them because of injury — starters like Ty Warren and Mike Wright and backup Ron Brace have both been moved to injured reserve. Meanwhile, younger players like Kyle Love and Brandon Deaderick have been forced to step in and play bigger roles.

Love, a rookie free agent, was asked what sort of role Wilfork has had in his recent success.

“One-hundred percent. One-hundred percent. Every step of the way, every time I've needed him,” Love said. “I really kind of molded myself around his play in college, watching him. A lot of guys used to tell me, 'You play just like him.' And I started to watch him a lot more once people started telling me that.”

Wilfork said the group of young defensive linemen has learned the most important of life in the NFL: at this level, it’s all business.

“You don’t wake up every morning and have to go to a class. You are waking up [and] going to work,” Wilfork said. “I think all year it’s been — at times it may be tough — but they’ve understood early what this game was all about. This is business. We expect for you to be on time. We expect for you to know what you’re doing on the field.

“I think all of our rookies and all of our young guys have done a great job with it this year. The quicker you can establish what you’re here for, the better you’ll be. And I think those guys established early on what exactly they were here for and that’s to help us win ball games. They’ve done a pretty good job with that.”

Wilfork will certainly need them to raise their games on Sunday when the Patriots face the New York rushing attack in the divisional playoffs. Thanks in large part to LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene, the Jets’ were third in the league in the regular season with 2,374 rushing yards and 148.4 yards per game, and added 169 rushing yards in their wild card win over Indianapolis.

However, after a rough start, the Patriots’ run defense has made big gains over the second half of the season. At the midway point of the regular season, the Patriots had yielded an average of 118 rushing yards per game, 21st in the league. By the end of the season, those numbers had decreased to 108 rushing yards per game, 11th best in the league. The first half of the season, the Patriots allowed 941 rushing yards. Over the second half, 787 yards.

In five of the first eight games, they allowed at least 99 yards per game, culminating with an alarming 230 rushing yards allowed in an ugly loss to Cleveland on Nov. 7. But in four of the final eight games, opponents couldn’t top 80 rushing yards a game, as Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Chicago and Miami all struggled to formulate a sustained running attack against New England.

“I think everybody’s just been doing their job — focusing [on it], preparing a little bit more, watching more film,” Wilfork said of what’s behind the changes. “The more you play, the better you get. I’m a believer in the more reps you get in practice or in the game, the better you’ll be. And I think some of it came with that.

“Early on in the year, our run phase was kind of crazy. [I was] just seeing guys not understand the defense the way it needed to be played. So, as time went on, we got better and better and better. I think now, we’re sitting back and can say, ‘OK, we’ve gotten better, we have to continue to get better.’ We just can’t sit back and say, ‘Oh, we’re good.’ I think it’s just everyone knowing their role, knowing exactly where they need to be and when they need to be there and preparation.”

And if they can’t? Wilfork and his teammates know the ramifications.

“One blink, it’s a one-game season. [If] you lose this one, you go home,” Wilfork said. “The emphasis has been all this time: just remember what we’re here for. [If] we lose this game, we can’t go back and say, ‘Next week, we have to get ready for this’ because next week would be over. I think everybody understands that.”