Patriots look like Patriots of old in dominating Broncos 41-7
The team Tom Brady used to lead to dominant wins finally showed
up.
The Patriots played like the club that had a perfect regular-season record last
year as Matt Cassel, in his best game since taking over for the injured
quarterback, threw three touchdown passes, Sammy Morris ran for 138 yards and
New England routed the Denver Broncos 41-7 Monday night.
On defense, they forced five turnovers. And on special teams, Wes Welker’s
44-yard punt return set up Randy Moss’ second touchdown catch.
“The main focus was to really play a complementary game,” Moss said, “special
teams, offense and defense. And I think we did that tonight.
“When we put all three of those things together, this team is very, very scary.”
That team had been very, very inconsistent—solid one week, shaky the next.
Nothing like the Brady-led steamroller that won eight games by at least 20
points and two by at least 30 last season. Only a last-minute touchdown in a
17-14 Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants kept the Patriots from going
19-0...
Sammy Morris rushed to the left for 4 yard gain (Stephen
Gostkowski made PAT)
0 - 13
0:44
NE
TD
Matt Cassel passed to Randy Moss to the right for 13
yard gain (Stephen Gostkowski made PAT)
0 - 20
3rd Quarter
7:32
NE
TD
Matt Cassel passed to Randy Moss to the left for 27 yard
gain (Stephen Gostkowski made PAT)
0 - 27
2:21
NE
TD
Matt Cassel passed to Wes Welker to the left for 6 yard
gain (Stephen Gostkowski made PAT)
0 - 34
4th Quarter
13:21
DEN
TD
Jay Cutler passed to Daniel Graham down the middle for
10 yard gain (Matt Prater made PAT)
7 - 34
3:09
NE
TD
BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed to the right for 1 yard
gain (Stephen Gostkowski made PAT)
7 - 41
Team Statistics
DEN
NE
First Downs
18
24
Passing
12
7
Rushing
4
15
Penalty
2
2
Third Down Efficiency
6-14
5-13
Fourth Down Efficiency
0-0
2-2
TOTAL NET YARDS
275
404
Total Plays
58
68
Average Gain Per Play
4.7
5.9
NET YARDS RUSHING
106
257
Rushes
26
38
Average Per Rush
4.1
6.8
NET YARDS PASSING
169
147
Completions-Attempts
19-29
18-24
Yards Per Pass Play
5.3
4.9
Times Sacked
3
6
Yards Lost to Sacks
18
38
Had Intercepted
2
0
PUNTS
5
3
Average Punt
48.6
39.0
PENALTIES
8
5
Penalty Yards
87
65
FUMBLES
3
0
Fumbles Lost
3
0
TIME OF POSSESSION
26:03
33:57
Pregame Previews, Storylines,
and News
New Page 1
Preview:
Any air of invincibility surrounding the New England Patriots
appears to be gone for this season. The Denver Broncos probably never thought it
was there to begin with. The Broncos look to continue their long-standing
dominance over the Patriots when they travel to Foxborough for a Monday night
matchup of AFC contenders trying to avoid consecutive losses. Since losing
reigning league MVP Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury in the first
quarter of their opener, the Patriots (3-2) have shown little resemblance to the
team that posted the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history in 2007...
Pick: The Pats and especially Matt Cassel were completely
exposed last week against the Chargers, while Denver still needs to play some
defense if they want to be a contender. The Denver offense is a lot better than
the Pats and we just don't think they can keep up. Broncos 28 - Patriots 23
Notable:
Even without injured Patriots QB Tom Brady, this game has plenty
of appeal. Broncos QB Jay Cutler would be well advised to make sure he knows
where the Patriots' Adalius Thomas lines up. The athletic Thomas leads the Pats
with three sacks
9.0
14.6