New England’s 20-10 handling of Buffalo can be summarized by their first and last offensive drives: a fast start and a slow finish. The Patriots took just over three minutes to go up 7-0 on their opening drive; they ran more than nine minutes off the clock to seal the game in the fourth quarter. As the awkward guy said to the cute librarian, “Nice bookends.”

The defense deserves plenty of credit here, too. Shaking off some early missed tackles, the Phalanx of Foxboro held the Bills to 3.3 yards per rush. They picked off Trent Edwards twice and held him to 120 yards passing. The visitors could muster only 168 yards of offense overall, holding the ball for all of 22:20. Offensive, yes, just not in the way they wanted.

Much like New England’s opening drive, Buffalo’s helped set the tone for the day. After Marshawn Lynch ran up the middle for seven yards, the Bills decided to pass on the next two downs. Edwards threw incomplete in the face of pressure from linebacker Jerod Mayo, and he got sacked by Richard Seymour.

The home team took advantage of a couple of calls to extend their first offensive possession. Matt Cassel threw deep to Randy Moss to open the drive, a sign of things to come (long incompletions, that is. Hey, it’s not like we haven’t asked for them). The incompletion didn’t count because safety Ko Simpson’s 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness pushed the Patriots up to their own 44. After medium-range passes to Jabar Gaffney and Moss, BenJarvus Green-Ellis got his first of 26 runs (Green-Ellis scuttled, plowed and swept for 105 yards on the day). Cassel found Wes Welker (10 catches, 107 yards) along the left sideline for a 21-yard gain to Buffalo’s 17. Replays showed that Welker failed to get his second foot inbounds, but, really, when do replays matter in the NFL, right? Anyone?

by Chris Warner
chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

For New England, “first place” no longer means “elite.”

After Sunday night’s 18-15 humbling in Indianapolis, the Patriots still find themselves atop the AFC East, tied with the Bills and Jets at 5-3. Welcome to the middle of the pack. Or the head of the pack. Whatever.

Maybe New England fans should feel positive that this one stayed close. It sure looked bad in the first quarter after Indianapolis’ 15-play, nine-minute drive resulted in the home team’s 7-0 lead. That Anthony Gonzalez caught a pass in the right corner of the end zone was not nearly as disconcerting as the fact that he and Marvin Harrison were covered by Patriots rookies Terrence Wheatley and Jonathan Wilhite due to injuries to New England’s defensive backfield. 

The Patriots got back into the game with a sustained drive of their own, mixing the pass and run well (four passes, eight rushes). Matt Cassel connected with David Thomas for 11 yards and Kevin Faulk for another 11, adding a five-yard scramble. BenJarvus Green-Ellis bolted up the middle for ten yards to Indy’s 27. The drive stalled at the 13-yard line on a missed pass to Benjamin Watson. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski did his thing to get New England on the board, 7-3, at the 10:24 mark of the second.

Wheatley went down with an injury on the Colts’ next drive in the second quarter after breaking up a deep pass to Harrison. No desperate phone calls to Earthwind Moreland or Troy Brown were necessary, however, as Mike Vrabel helped force a punt by keeping contain on a third-down Joseph Addai draw play.

by Chris Warner
chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

In order for the Patriots to succeed, Matt Cassel has to excel. Well, not excel, exactly. He just has to do whatever the opposite of “mess up” is. Perform. Function. Execute. Achieve. (Okay, fine: I used a thesaurus.)

In New England’s 23-17 win over the Rams, Cassel performed quite well, hitting 21 of 33 passes for 267 yards and one game-winning touchdown. He also overcame a shaky third quarter to get his team 10 points in the fourth.

The kid stayed focused, even as his receivers let him down: both Wes Welker and Randy Moss dropped passes they tend to catch. Moss let six points through his hands on a pretty touch throw (or what would have been pretty). New England had to settle for a field goal and a 16-16 tie with 8:22 left in the game.

Cassel got the ball back about 90 seconds later and, after a St. Louis sack, completed a 23-yarder over the middle to Moss. Kevin Faulk picked up two first downs: one on a draw, the other up the middle after a Moss eight-yard quick slant. From the 15-yard line, Faulk juked toward the middle and bent his route outside, pulling in Cassel’s lofted ball past Rams linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (what?) for the 23-16 lead with just over three minutes remaining.

If a quarterback is measured by how well he performs at the end of halves, Cassel gets bonus points for his work in the second quarter. New England took the lead on some sound clock management, special teams, and a big play to Moss (who knew?). With 29 seconds left in the half, the Rams had to punt twice due to an ineligible receiver penalty, giving the home team the ball at St. Louis’ 46. Cassel found Moss crossing for a 30-yard pickup, but couldn’t connect with him in the end zone. Still, with one second left, Stephen Gostkowski got the home squad the lead, 13-10.

The halftime score came as a surprise to viewers because St. Louis had managed to squander some serious opportunities midway through the second. The Patriots pass defense looked porous, with pores the size of donut holes. Consider this: by the time rookie Donnie Avery scored the Rams’ first TD on a 69-yarder for a 10-7 St. Louis lead with 14:14 left in the half, he had already tallied four catches for 113 yards. (Avery ended up with six receptions for 163 yards. Uh, Pats DBs? Peyton Manning likes to throw long. Just thought I’d put that out there for next week.)

by Chris Warner
chris@patriotsdaily.com

Before last night, Bill Belichick had only beaten Denver twice in his coaching career. That number increased by 50 percent after New England’s 41-7 dismantling of a flailing Broncos squad. The game saw the return of high-scoring football and opportunistic defense to Foxboro, as well as injuries to high-profile players on both sides.

How was the visitors’ performance? So bad that Merriam-Webster has officially categorized the term “Denver defense” as an oxymoron.  On the night, New England’s quarterback, the oft-maligned-for-not-being-Tom-Brady Matt Cassel, completed 75 percent of his passes (18 for 24) for 185 yards and three touchdowns. As for the running game, the Patriots gained 257 yards, averaging 6.7 per play.

I mean, seriously, the Broncos should change their mascot to the Confidence Builders.

The play that seemed to put Denver away happened with the home team leading 13-0 with 1:32 left in the first half. The Patriots went for it on fourth down (having succeeded at it once before), knowing that, if they failed, they would surrender possession near midfield with a chance to score and regain some momentum. Sammy Morris kept the proverbial pendulum from swinging that way, bouncing outside of fullback Heath Evans’ block and picking up 29 yards to the Broncos’ 13. On the next play, Cassel made one of the best-looking passes of his short career, stepping up under pressure and firing the ball high to Randy Moss for a touchdown and a 20-0 halftime lead.

by Chris Warner
chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

Sunday afternoon, when former Patriots Sean Morey and Monty Beisel combined to block a Dallas punt and recover it for a touchdown in Arizona’s overtime win, I thought something good might happen for New England that night.

So much for omens.

Some teams maintain hope for a comeback. Their fans believe that their defense can get the ball, their offense can sustain a drive, or a big play can turn momentum. This year, against sound competition, the Patriots have failed to become that type of team, which made the second half of their 30-10 drubbing in San Diego so painful.

For a moment there, trailing 17-3 at the start of the second half, the visitors showed some fire. Matt Cassel hit five of six passes for 65 yards and scrambled twice for 12 more. Sammy Morris’s 28-yard catch-and-run took New England down to San Diego’s one-yard line. Like a singer choking on the final note, the Patriots’ promising show turned into an embarrassment. Their four plays on the goal line, in order: a play-action pass that fooled exactly no one; a negative run where Pats center Dan Koppen got pushed back so far by nose guard Jamal Williams he made the sound of a truck in reverse; a pass to the ground near Mike Vrabel’s feet; and a scramble to nowhere by Cassel where he failed to see tight end Benjamin Watson, who looked more wide open than the Atlantic.

After neglecting to close the gap to 17-10, New England allowed a 98-yard TD drive. In four plays. (Man, I wish I were making that up.) As he did all night, Philip Rivers found a deep target in Vincent Jackson for 59 yards (Jackson ended up with 134 yards receiving on five catches). From the Patriots’ 33, Rivers sought Jackson again. Ellis Hobbs’ pass interference advanced San Diego to the one. On the ensuing play-action pass, Rivers found tight end Antonio Gates wide open for a TD. Yeah, that’s how a play-action pass is supposed to work.

by Chris Warner
chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

At Candlestick Park, the Patriots were able to put together enough solid football to come out with a 30-21 win. Driven by Randy Moss (five catches, 111 yards), Wes Welker (eight catches, 73 yards) and a Swiss-Army-knife named Kevin Faulk (four catches, 29 yards; seven rushes, 32 yards, two touchdowns), the offense held the ball for nearly 40 minutes to keep San Fran at bay. (Sure, unoriginal, but it gets me every time.)

Matt Cassel piled up 259 yards, hitting 22 of 32 passes and a touchdown. Sounds good, but as the French novelist Balzac once said, “Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and abilities.” Yup. Balzac. Pronounced how it’s spelled.

Anyway, Patriots fans were wondering exactly where Cassel’s instincts and abilities had gone as he got hit in the pocket and threw a sliding fastball to Niners linebacker Takeo Spikes, who I thought retired about three years ago. The home team wasted no time reimbursing their guests on the next possession, as J. T. O’Sullivan’s 40-yard bomb was tipped and intercepted by Brandon Meriweather. New England’s offense ran out on the field, gained four yards in three plays, and punted. That made four possessions, one first down.

Seriously, those first five minutes had as much action as watching Weebles wrestle. San Francisco’s Nate Clements came up with a nifty, cross-field punt return, giving his team the momentum to open up the scoring on a 16-yard in-pattern to Frank Gore, who cut past Ellis Hobbs for the touchdown catch.

by Chris Warner
chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com

Coach Bill Belichick has said that if you only do one thing on his team, you’d better do it well. Over his 15 years in Foxboro, Troy Brown did plenty of things well, helping his team evolve from the early-90’s ooze to the upright level of today.

Everyone who follows New England’s football team has his or her favorite Troy Brown play. Over the course of 192 games, playing offense, defense and special teams, there’s been ample opportunity to admire Troy (you’ll excuse me if I feel compelled to call him by his first name).

Hence, in no particular order, a brief rundown of favorites. Many of them can be seen on the Patriots website in the “Troy Brown Retires” video.

Best High School Play

Fake Field Goal vs. Rams, November 7, 2004 - Jogging away from his teammates toward the sideline, Troy dropped out of the Ram’s radar long enough to walk into the end zone and gather in a four-yard touchdown pass from Adam Vinatieri halfway through the third quarter. The score stretched a 19-13 lead to 26-13. Also worth mentioning about this game: Troy played defensive back after Asante Samuel went out with an injury (There was an Earthwind Moreland appearance… remind me how they went 14-2 again?). Troy’s stat line included three receptions (30 yards), three tackles, one broken-up pass.

The Best Offense is a Good Defense, or Vice-Versa Play

Interception vs. Cincinnati, December 12, 2004 - Troy stepped in front of Chad Johnson to pick off a Jon Kitna pass in the end zone, preserving a two-TD lead early in the fourth. This play confirmed that Troy’s time in the defensive backfield was more than a desperate measure; the man could do the job. New England eked out a 35-28 final, which meant that Troy’s pick probably prevented overtime. Troy’s line: Two receptions (27 yards), two tackles, one interception.