RealGM

41-7.

Cassell proved me wrong and played well. It is always nice when your not watching for his mistakes, and just enjoying the game.

Man, I hope Morris is not that badly hurt, he was awesome. Best game from a RB since corey dillon was here.

Poor Rodney, looks like his season, maybe career is over. Does Meriweather step up to the starting role now?

Moss made me laugh and cheer. Great game for him.

And the defense!! Besides stupid penalties, I thought they played great. Mayo really stood out to me, he was all over the field.

I hope Harrison will be OK.

That didn't look good.

A few thoughts on the game:

-I really liked what I saw from the front seven tonight. After the pass rush was almost completely nonexistent in the Miami and San Diego games, the D-line held their ground against a Denver offensive line that looked very impressive coming into tonight. Still goes to show that the perennial Pats secondary woes can be shored up somewhat when the rest of the defense plays up to its talent level.

-I'm still very, very, very unsold on Cassel, but he looked better tonight. Was that check down to Watson early on the first time all year he didn't either stand around like a wounded puppy or scramble into his own blockers when his first option wasn't open?

-If Belichick is as much of a horrible cheating bastard as Gregg Easterbrook says he is, he should use some voodoo mind control to get the Shan Man to release Daniel Graham before the Broncos' team plane flys out. It wouldn't be an end-all solution, but the Pats need a competent blocking TE worse than ever.

-The Denver run D was absolutely pathetic and I refuse to take anything about the Pats away from it. BenJarvus Green-Ellis hasn't seen so many open holes since Dollar Smirnoff Night at the Ole Miss campus bar (and now you know where he went to school!).

Some thoughts:

- At first I was going to commend Sammy Morris for some smart one-cut running but once BenVince Wilfork-Ellis started ripping off large runs of his own, it was pretty obvious most of the credit should go to the offensive line, most notably Matt Light and Logan Mankins, who just absolutely abused the Broncos defensive line.

- Conversely, about half the sacks allowed were Cassel’s fault with the other half just being bad read and execution on the part of the line. Billy Yates was especially embarrassed on a quick stunt early on.

- Matt Cassel looked like a league-average quarterback last night, which is to say he looked three times better than he ever has.

- Props to Ellis Hobbs early on for playing a tight game against Brandon Marshall despite being three feet shorter and nearly 150 pounds less than the receiver. Of course Hobbs also looked lost out there on occasion.

- It wouldn’t surprise me if this was the sad, but fitting, end of Laurence Maroney’s career as a Patriot. Probably as a feature back as well, although that was probably true even before entering the NFL. He’s a great runner once he has a bit of momentum but he’s incredibly indecisive behind the line and, for such a big player, he wasn’t particularly good at finishing runs.