Pats put it together
New England routs Broncos
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – 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.
“We played with a lot of emotion,” said Brandon Meriweather, who had one of the two interceptions off Jay Cutler.
New England (4-2) finished with 257 yards rushing. Denver (4-3) lost for the third time in four games.
“In front of the nation, we didn’t show up tonight,” cornerback Dre’ Bly said. “It’s embarrassing.”
Against the NFL’s worst pass defense, Moss’ two touchdowns doubled his total for the season. That’s still far short of his NFL record of the 23 last season he caught from Brady, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in this year’s opener.
Still, it was a solid comeback for him and his team after last week’s 30-10 loss at San Diego.
Coach Bill Belichick followed that with some tough practices.
“He really put it to us this week,” Moss said. “Hopefully, he can let up Wednesday.”
New England led 20-0 at halftime and 34-0 before Jay Cutler connected with former Patriots tight end Daniel Graham for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 13:21 left in the game.
“They outplayed us from the first snap of the game,” Graham said.
Cassel was sacked six times and the Patriots lost Morris and safety Rodney Harrison to knee injuries, but they still posted an easy victory.
The Broncos lost brothers Boss and Champ Bailey to injuries in the first half. Linebacker Boss Bailey hurt his knee and cornerback Champ Bailey injured his groin.