DaBruinz

In regards to Cassel getting sacked, 4 of those sacks were the fault of someone OTHER than an O-lineman. 2 were the fault of TEs letting their man in clearn and 2 were the fault of the RBs not making their blocks properly.

The Pats REALLY need TE who is a good blocker and a mediocre receiver. Someone like Robert Royal.

Lloyd_Christmas

One thing that makes the use of Moss in the screen plays work is that he has Wes Welker blocking for him. Moss needs to get some pointers from Wes on blocking. The dude is half his size and takes guys completely out of the play on those screens.

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A Truly Vindictive Fanboy-type Poster

"My name is William Stephen Belichick, Coach of the New England Patriots, Three Time Super Bowl Champion, Defensive Guru, Pride of Karlovac, The Greatest Coach in the History of the NFL Since Vince Lombardi. Target of the spygate lynching, Defender of our Dynasty's legacy. And I will have my vengeance, in this game and the rest."

bostonia3333

FG KICKERS
I don't think we should take Gostkowski for granted guys, he might be our MVP this season. If he's injured we don't make the playoffs.He nailed his FGs again which helped relax Cassel and bailout NE's 1st quarter red zone ineptitude. He had some nice kickoffs too.

A- for Ghost

RUNNING BACKS
Sammy Morris was the MVP of this game no doubt. He is a fantastic running back but he needs to stay on the field. I have my doubts about his health, I figure BB plans to use him against tough opponents: IND, PIT and sit him against the weaker teams. The Ellis rb had some nice running yards too, I liked his style too. I think he looks a bit undersized to take on NFL hits on a consistent basis, but at least he's not afraid to hit the holes.

Running backs get an A

QB
Cassel looked horrible. I have NEVER seen a qb hold the ball that long and win a game so decisivelly. I guess football can be a strange game like baseball can. Cassel had good protection on those playaction fakes. It seems like if he can't find his 1st receiver he just takes off and starts running. I would give this guy an F for pocket presence, and that's being kind. I think the screen pass to Moss in the 4th? was a very shaky looking play. I was like wtf and then oh yes!! I think Cassel's best pass was the touch pass to Welker, which caught him perfectly in stride. He had a nice semi big play pass to Watson across the middle of the field.

Overall I will give Cassel a D+, he did make some positive plays, so he passed the exam.

WRs:
Their patience was tested again and they were very supportive of the playcalling . Great to see Moss happy, he got his 2 Tds on MNF. Some nice blocking and timely catches. The WRs made some nice plays when the ball came their way and made the most of their opportunities.

WRs get a B+

DL
Defensive Line looked decent actually. There were some people in Cutler's face at times. Adalius Thomas continues to be an enigma. Good to see Seymour break out a bit. That's encouraging to see when you are going up against a top 10 qb. Hopefully they will be ready for Indy in Indy in 2 wks.

DL gets a B-.

SECONDARY
The secondary is not the key to making the playoffs, but it will be the key to getting far in the playoffs against the upper echelon qbs. Hobbs played very well at last, almost had a pick 6. Merriweather seemed to be in perfect position on the throws over the top. Knowing that Colvin is gone, our DL can only do so much with the pass rush, especially against qbs with quick releases.

Secondary gets an A- tonight.

Jimke

I was really proud of the Patriots last night. I thought that Denver

would complete passes all over the field and clobber them. Once again,

the Pats rebounded from a one sided defeat and beat a favored opponent.

They are still in a position to compete for a playoff spot.

emoney_33

It should have been expected that the Patriots would stop the pass... Shanahan was smart and was running a lot early, but those fumbles ruined his plan.

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There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who do not.

tombonneau

I pity any athlete who has to be subjected to the Boston media & fans. Kid puts up a 130+ rating and you want to give him F but can't justify it since he ACTUALLY WON THE GAME.

Yes, Cassel has flaws. He holds the ball way too long. He gets jittery too soon under pressure. He isn't fast enough in his reads.

In fact, the way he plays sometimes, you'd think he has only started something like 5 NFL games.

VJCPatriot

Actually he worked on the Jugs machine extensively in the offseason to improve this aspect of his game. So he did have bad hands in his rookie season. It certainly looks like it paid off.

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QuinielaBox

Denver played a horrible game and deserved to get routed.

Patriots took care of business at home against a weaker opponent and kept their WC position in the standings.

Good to see the power running game comeback. Those two 4th down off tackle plays were go to plays.

Denver really stinks this year and I would not be shocked if they finished 5 and 11 down.

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Patriots winning just a game used to be cause for major celebration.

NEPatriot

This game is the BEST game which we played so far. Remember that we blew Redskin 52-7 last year? As long as we play like this, we will win the SB. Welker and Moss were happy about Cassel's performance.

We played good D and O. I'm really happy.

40yrpatsfan

James Sanders stood out to me, making plays I've never seen him make:

- the hit on the RB running wide to the far side - he got there on time and he crushed the guy with authority - you could Rodney's influence there

- his INT charging toward the ball and making a good catch as he did it.

In both plays he showed a decisiveness that he's lacked in the past. Maybe Sanders has turned the corner. He looked like a quality NFL safety last night.