If you're going to San Francisco

Can you say statement game?! For anyone wondering, Belichick always gets his team ready after a bye week. Especially after the pounding the Pats took from the Fins two weeks ago. I was looking forward to see the Pats defense rebound from that terrible performance. They didn't fail me. Really they were barely on the field and when they were they got great pressure on O'Sullivan and made him make some big mistakes. The pick by Merriweather is a reassuring sign that he may blossom into the guy "Who We THOUGHT HE WAS!".

The bigger story of the day was the Pats offense. They dominated the line of scrimmage and basically did what they wanted all day. Cassel proved he can be a better than average game manager and the offense fed off his poise in the pocket. The biggest thing that stood out to me in this game was the Pass to Moss. Finally the Pats stopped being predictable. Maybe they had tried to go deep to Moss in the prior weeks, but this was the play they desperately needed so defenders wouldn't be able to stack the line and make Cassel try to beat them with his arm. Well he did beat the Niners with that arm and hopefully this momentum carries into the Charges game next week. I think this trip will be a good chemistry builder for a team trying to find an identity. With Cassel being a young QB there is no better way to prove yourself with back-to-back wins on the road. Hopefully the Chargers D is as porous as the Niners. If the Pats hold the ball on offense for 40 minutes things will be golden. It was good to see the Pats establish that they are not going to quit or make excuses for this season. They are going to continue to play tough football and this game proves it.