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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- So what do we make of this?

More than ever this season, the New England Patriots looked like their 2007 version Monday night in Gillette Stadium.

Aside from the troubling trend of allowing too many sacks, the Patriots rebounded from an ugly loss to dominate the Denver Broncos, 41-7.

In alternating games, starting in Week 3, the Patriots have allowed 38 points, scored 30 points, allowed 30 points and scored 41 points.

Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel looked like a suitable proxy with his first three-touchdown game. Randy Moss scored two touchdowns. Wes Welker had the other.

Sammy Morris ran for 138 yards in the first half, and when he left the game with a knee injury BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Kevin Faulk ripped off some runs behind the Pro Bowlers on the left side of the offensive line.

The Patriots' defense made several big plays. They recorded sacks, made interceptions, forced fumbles -- you name it.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison waved to the Gillette Stadium crowd amid a thunderous ovation while a cart drove him off the field in between the third and fourth quarters of Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos.

Medical personnel immobilized Harrison's right knee as they assisted him onto the cart after a long delay. There has been no announcement on the severity of the injury other than he will not return.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots running back Sammy Morris had a career game in just the first half. Now, he's out with a knee injury and his return is questionable for Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos in Gillette Stadium.

Morris ran for a personal-best 138 yards and a touchdown before halftime. That ties Morris for the 10th-highest first-half total since 2001, according to ESPN researcher Benjamin Lerner. The last rusher with at least 138 first-half yards was Denver's Selvin Young, who ran for 143 last December.

Before the game, the Patriots ended running back Laurence Maroney's season by placing him on injured reserve and deactivated LaMont Jordan, who's battling a calf problem.

For the Broncos, cornerback Champ Bailey and linebacker Boss Bailey will not return to the field, but quarterback Jay Cutler resumed control of the offense on the first series of the second half.

Champ Bailey is out with a groin injury, while Boss Bailey is out with a knee injury.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Here are some more notes on the Denver Broncos quarterback situation in Monday night's game against the New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium. The Patriots lead the Broncos, 20-0.

• A press box announcement has been made that Jay Cutler has suffered a finger injury, and his return is questionable. He appeared to strike his hand on Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork's helmet while throwing a ball that was intercepted by Brandon Meriweather late in the second quarter.
• Replacement quarterback Patrick Ramsey entered for the Broncos and, on his fourth snap, fumbled while dropping back to pass.
• The Broncos carry only two quarterbacks. No third-stringer exists, and nobody seems to know who the disaster quarterback is.
• Ramsey entered Monday with only seven games played over the past three-plus seasons. He has made only 74 throws in that span.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Denver Broncos are dropping.

In a development New England Patriots receiver Randy Moss must love, lockdown cornerback Champ Bailey has a strained groin, and his return is questionable. He appeared to be in agony, lying on his back on a trainers table on the Broncos sideline at the two-minute warning in the second quarter.

And before I could hit the button to publish this entry, Matt Cassel connected with Moss for a 13-yard touchdown over Dre Bly and a 20-0 Patriots lead with 44 seconds left in the first half.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler has suffered an apparent injury to his throwing hand.

He was hurt after throwing a long ball that was intercepted by New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather with 5:10 left in the second quarter.

Cutler's throwing hand has been packed in ice. Broncos backup Patrick Ramsey is warming up on the sideline.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots running back Sammy Morris is well on his way to a career day.

With 7:34 left in the first half against the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium, he has 11 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. Thanks to Morris, the Patriots are up 13-0.

The best game of Morris' career came as a Miami Dolphin in December 2006 against the Patriots. He ran a career-high 25 times for a career-high 123 yards.

Unless Morris gets thrown for some WWE-style losses, he will finish the game with more than 100 yards for the third time in four games. He came into this season with a single 100-yard game on his resume.

Morris, 31, has been getting a majority of the carries because of injuries to Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots are not having any trouble on the ground against the Denver Broncos.

Not even three minutes into the second quarter, Sammy Morris has 66 yards, mostly running left behind Pro Bowlers Dan Koppen and Matt Light.

And quarterback Matt Cassel has been sacked three times for 17 yards.

Cassel has been sacked 22 times (and counting) this season. Tom Brady was sacked 21 times all last year.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Andre Hall might want to find a nice slab of bench on the Denver Broncos' sideline. Or a hole to climb into.

Hall has two rush attempts for minus-7 yards and two lost fumbles. Not exactly a stat line you want on the back of your trading card.

The New England Patriots turned both fumbles into field goals. Stephen Gostkowski has made kicks of 31 and 40 yards to give them a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Hall, a second-year pro out of South Florida, came into the game when starting running back Michael Pittman suffered a minor injury that briefly sidelined him on the opening drive. The Broncos had converted three third downs and driven to the Patriots' 32-yard line when Hall lost his handle.

Hall fumbled again on the fourth play of their second drive. The ball was snapped from the New England 37-yard line but was recovered on the Denver 22.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- There has been a Ben Watson sighting at Gillette Stadium.

The New England Patriots tight end was spotted rumbling down the left sideline for a 29-yard gain to set up a 31-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal, the first points of Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos.

Watson came into the game with three catches for 17 yards, none of them longer than 7 yards. He was inactive for the Patriots' first two games and didn't touch the ball in last week's loss to the San Diego Chargers.

Sammy Morris ran four times for 25 yards on the drive.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The NFL's third-ranked pass offense will have to manage without two of their more dangerous targets, but one of them is back.

Eddie Royal, their second-leading receiver with 30 catches and 321 yards, is back on the field after an ankle injury held him out of last week's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jay Cutler will not have receiver Brandon Stokley or tight end Tony Scheffler in his huddle. Both are inactive and in street clothes.

Stokley is out because he suffered against Jaguars. Stokley has 16 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns in his past three games.

Scheffler has a groin injury. He has 16 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Also out for the Broncos with a groin injury is leading rusher Selvin Young, who has 266 yards and one touchdown. But Michael Pittman is coming off a 109-yard performance and has scored a team-high four touchdowns.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Here are the inactives for Monday night's game at Gillette Stadium:

Denver Broncos

• WR Brandon Stokley
• RB Selvin Young
• RB Ryan Torain
• DE John Engelberger
• T Erik Pears
• TE Tony Scheffler
• DT Nic Clemons

New England Patriots

• WR Kelley Washington
• CB Terrence Wheatley
• RB LaMont Jordan
• LB Eric Alexander
• T Nick Kaczur
• DL Jarvis Green
• LB Shawn Crable
• QB Matt Gutierrez (third quarterback)
  

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- I just got done taking a tour of The Hall at Patriot Place, and there I saw a replica John Hannah's Pro Football Hall of Fame bust.

	Paul Jasienski/Getty Images
	Patriots running back Laurence Maroney's 2008 season has been cut short by injury.

Andre Tippett's bust, the latest to be cast for Canton, will be displayed on the Gillette Stadium turf during a halftime ceremony at Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos.

Based on notes being dropped into the AFC East mailbag and questions in my latest chat, fans are ready to call Laurence Maroney the next significant Patriots bust -- not the flattering kind.

The Patriots have placed Maroney on injured reserve, ending his season after 28 carries, 93 yards, zero receptions and zero touchdowns.

Many seem eager to slap the bust label on Maroney. Personally, I'm not ready to do that. I'm usually one of the last ones to get on that train, especially when injuries are involved.

But Patriots fans have been annoyed with Maroney. He missed three games last year with a strained groin, but ran for 835 yards and six touchdowns. He hurt his shoulder Sept. 14 against the New York Jets and was scratched from the lineup twice in the next three games. In the one game Maroney did play, he ran with no conviction.

Maroney has started nine games since he was drafted 21st overall out of Minnesota in 2006. The Patriots made him the second running back off the board, taking him ahead of DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai, LenDale White and Maurice Jones-Drew.

I don't think Maroney can be called a bust yet, but what do you think?

The Buffalo Bills defeated the San Diego Chargers on Sunday and are off to their first 5-1 start since 1995 and their sixth since 1988.

Every time, the Bills went on to win the AFC East and never finished with fewer than 10 wins. Only twice did they not reach the Super Bowl. (The shaded part of the chart indicates Super Bowl appearances).

Those, of course, were the halcyon days of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith.

Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch and Donte Whitner are trying to write their own history. Edwards made his first start since suffering a concussion in Week 5 and completed 25 of 30 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown.

The Bills are two games ahead of the New York Jets and three games ahead of the Miami Dolphins. Both teams lost on Sunday. The New England Patriots are 3-2 and host the Denver Broncos on Monday night.

The Bills are 3-0 after a bye week under head coach Dick Jauron. They also raised their record to 12-2 in games when they hold opponents to less than 300 yards. The Chargers gained 263, with star running back LaDainian Tomlinson managing only 41 rushing yards.

MIAMI -- The Wildcat looked more like a fluffy Persian kitty.

The first three games the Miami Dolphins used their Wildcat offense it played a significant role. They recorded two victories and lost on a fourth-down desperation scramble in the final seconds.

The Baltimore Ravens found a way to tame the unusual formation -- an unbalanced line with running back Ronnie Brown taking a direct shotgun snap -- in Sunday's 27-13 victory in Dolphin Stadium.

"They are the No. 1 defense in the league, and we knew it was going to be tough," Dolphins running back Patrick Cobbs said. "Our execution wasn't as good as it should have been. I credit a lot to them, and we have to go back to the drawing board."

The Dolphins called a Wildcat play only six times. One was aborted by a false start. The five snaps generated 4 yards.

• Brown runs for minus-1 yard
• Right guard Ikechuku Ndukwe false start
• Brown hands off to Ricky Williams for 5 yards
• Brown runs for no gain
• Brown runs for minus-3 yards
• Brown hands off to Cobbs for 3 yards

Fans might have noticed the Dolphins run some plays that resembled the Wildcat but were not counted as such because quarterback Chad Pennington took the snaps before making an inside handoff (or faking it) to Brown or Williams on a misdirection.

The Wildcat failed to produce a touchdown for the first time. Miami scored six touchdowns out of that formation in the previous three games.

Baltimore also snapped Brown's four-game touchdown streak.

In the locker room afterward, some frustrated Dolphins sounded fed up about answering Wildcat questions.

"It's funny," Brown said. "The first couple of weeks, everybody was talking about 'Wildcat! Wildcat!' This is just part of our offense. It wasn't so much about the Wildcat. It's about our offense as a whole wasn't able to execute and put up plays and it showed. Running the football, we weren't able to get much going."