FOXBORO -- Four thoughts on the season-ending knee injury to Tom Brady ...

1. As much criticism as Matt Cassel got in the preseason (some justified, some not), this should now be his team. He’s the starter. Period, story over. Any veteran pickup should be a backup consideration, at least in the short term. Maybe a more established name could be brought in to learn the system and be an option for the stretch run if Cassel proves unworthy, but short of that, Cassel is the man. I feel it’s a legitimate second-guess to wonder why Bill Belichick left the depth chart behind Brady devoid of any real NFL experience, but that’s the bed he made. Belichick apparently feels it’s too late at this point to bring in an established name (Chris Simms, Tim Rattay, etc), and it’s hard to argue the point. The time to beef up the position was the offseason, not now.

2. It will be interesting to see how Randy Moss responds to the quarterback change. Moss was obviously crestfallen on Sunday, which makes sense. Brady is the reason he came here in the first place, and he's the reason he left more money on the table in free agency to remain a Patriot last February. Moss has given up on quarterbacks in the past that he didn’t trust, although that obviously never happened on Belichick’s watch. Bottom line: It’s up to Moss, now a team captain, to be there for Cassel in the exact same way he was for Brady. His performance against the Chiefs hopefully spoke volumes.

3. I agree with the consensus that the Bernard Pollard hit was NOT dirty, but I do think it's a type of play that should be legislated against by the league. Pats cornerback Deltha O'Neal called it a ``bear crawl'' tackle, which is roughly the same kind of hit he saw former Cincinnati teammate Carson Palmer go down with during a January 2006 playoff contest. It is perhaps the most dangerous of all hits on the quarterback, and if the NFL is going to bend over backwards to protect QBs on late hits, in-the-grasp plays and blows to the head, why not also protect their most vulnerable body part? Blows to the lower leg have ended far more seasons than blows to the head.

Here's an idea: Providing a quarterback is set in the pocket (if he starts to scramble, all bets are off), why not say no contact above the shoulders or below the knees? It would be very hard on the officials, I agree (Below or above the knee? Was the QB scrambling or set?), but I think it'd be worth the trouble to save the game's most valuable assets. And lest anyone say I'm taking this stance because of Sunday, just know I felt the same thing after Lee Flowers took down Brady in the 2001 AFC title game and Kimo Von Oelhoffen felled Palmer nearly three years ago. In fact, I felt both of those plays were dirty hits, as was Vince Wilfork's shot at J.P. Losman last year. The Pollard hit fell just beneath that threshold.

4. This is now an opportunity for Belichick to experience his finest hour. In August, I was told over and over on the radio that if Brady goes down the season is over. So I guess those folks are moving on to the Red Sox now. I'm going to stick with Belichick and the team he and Scott Pioli built. The Pats have a lot more going for them than Brady, and something tells me they will prove it this season. If Cassel merely does what he did on Sunday, this is still a deep playoff team. I don't know about you, but I'm not canceling my flight to Tampa just yet.

Now the grades. Remember; send hate mail to mfelger@weei.com

QUARTERBACK -- B

What a good job by Cassel, who was everything a solid backup has to be. He was steady and in command, and he made the plays when he had to. His 51-yarder to Moss out of the end zone and his 10-yard flutter ball to Moss in the end zone were the signature plays, but there were several others subsequent to those tosses that were every bit as significant. The first came in the third quarter when the Pats, leading 7-3, were in second and long after Laurence Maroney was caught behind the line. On the next snap, Cassel patiently chipped off five yards on an underneath throw to Moss. Then, on third-and-8, he patiently stood in the pocket, stepped up and hit David Thomas over the middle to move the chains. His next big play came courtesy of his feet, scrambling for nine yards to pick up a crucial third down with just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Then it was a third-and-9 situation in which Cassel patiently found Welker on an out for a 12-yard gain. Cassel badly overshot Welker on their next third-down attempt (probably a miscommunication), but Cassel had already done the job, driving the Pats into scoring position where they got their crucial seven-point cushion with a field goal. Cassel wound up completing 13 of his 18 attempts (72 percent) without an interception. Again, if this is what Cassel is going to be the rest of the season, the Pats will be fine.

RUNNING BACKS -- C+

This would be an A grade if not for Sammy Morris' work in blitz pickup. Not only did he allow Pollard back off the ground to injure Brady, he almost got Cassel killed on a fourth-quarter sack in which he was late picking up blitzing linebacker Derrick Johnson. But aside from those plays (which is like saying, ``aside from that iceberg, the Titanic had a nice voyage''), Morris was terrific running the ball. His best was a 22-yard scamper up the middle in the second quarter in which he abused Johnson and juked safety Jon McGraw. Morris had two more great runs in the third quarter. It looked like the offensive line opened a huge hole on his 12-yard gain up the middle on the Pats' second touchdown drive, but it was really Morris kicking it outside to another gap when the original hole was closed. It was a great bit of quick, north-south running that Laurence Maroney still hasn't figured out. On his five-yard scoring run, Morris dragged safety Jarrad Page into the end zone. Morris also had five catches on the day. As for Maroney, he made a super cut back on his 17-yard run in the third quarter, but Morris was the better runner on this day and it was Morris who got the ball on the Pats' final, fourth-quarter drive. Those expecting LaMont Jordan to see a lot of the ball were sorely disappointed. He had two carries for six yards.

RECEIVERS -- B-

The work here was just okay, as the unit suffered through some early sloppiness. Wes Welker hurt the early flow with a fumble on a wide receiver screen (give Moss points for getting up quickly and saving a touchdown on the return) and Moss' fumble on the Brady injury throw was really a girly-man effort, as Moss ducked to the ground to avoid contact and wound up fumbling without being touched. Of course, Moss more than made up for that by hauling in Cassel's first scoring throw and being there throughout the course of the day (six catches, 116 yards). Welker also resumed his possession role to perfection (six catches) while tight end Dave Thomas (two grabs) was re-introduced to the offense. Jabar Gaffney (no catches) and Kelley Washington (one) were afterthoughts.

OFFENSIVE LINE -- B+

A good day for the much-maligned unit, especially in the ground game, as the Pats averaged 4.5-yards-per-carry (126 yards on 28 carries). The third quarter was particularly huge, as the Pats took their opening possession 80 yards down the field for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead. A 17-yard gain by Maroney on the drive featured good one-on-one blocks by Nick Kaczur and starting right guard Billy Yates, who was not nearly the disaster he was in the preseason. Kaczur again had a good seal block on Morris' touchdown run and was a factor throughout the day.  There were a few obvious protection breakdowns, but there were many more plays where the line provided a solid pocket, as was the case on Cassel's third-down conversion throw to Thomas in the third quarter. Logan Mankins gave up the sack to Alfonso Boone on the failed flea-flicker in the second quarter. The Pats gave up six tackles for loss on the day, to go along with four hits to the quarterback and two sacks.

DEFENISVE LINE -- A

These guys had a great day against what is admittedly an inexperienced, under-developed offensive line for the Chiefs. Richard Seymour was only credited with three tackles, but he was terrific against rookie Branden Albert. Seymour was constantly in the backfield disrupting running plays and also applied some pressure in the passing game, including a knock down of Brodie Croyle on Kansas City's first third-down attempt. Seymour's biggest play came on the Pats' final stand, breaking through the line and dropping Larry Johnson for no gain on second-and-goal. Again, if that's what Seymour is going to look like all year, then the defense is going to be better. Vince Wilfork also had a huge day on the nose (five unassisted tackles) while Ty Warren was steady. It was all part of an effort that consistently thwarted the Chiefs' running game. Johnson had just one run that mattered, a 22-yard scamper around end that should have been shorter had Harrison not gone for a swipe tackle. Even with that run, Johnson averaged just 3.4-yards-per-rush (74 yards on 22 carries).

LINEBACKERS -- A-

Mike Vrabel lit up the stat sheet (six tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits, one pass defended), and the numbers accurately reflected his play. He made a great play diagnosing an early bootleg by Croyle and getting his arms up on a failed swing pass. He pressured Croyle again later that drive before recording his two sacks in the second half against poor and/or non-existent, blocking. Adalius Thomas flashed in the third quarter, blowing up the point of attack on a Johnson run that gained no yards on one snap and then bursting in unblocked to sack Croyle and knock him from the game on the next. The Pats need to see a lot more of that going forward. Tedy Bruschi also made a few very good solo plays in the running game, including a stop of Johnson for a gain of two yards on the Chiefs final drive of the third quarter. As for the debut of rookie Jerod Mayo, one of the most notable things you can say is that he ran the huddle when it was him and rookie free agent Gary Guyton in the game in the second quarter. That tells you how much faith the coaching staff has in the first-round pick. It was otherwise a quiet day; he did fill the hole very well on a stretch run by Jamaal Charles at the end of the second quarter.  

SECONDARY -- B+

Cornerback Deltha O'Neal, making his Patriots debut, saved the day in this one. No one else was going to catch Devard Darling on his 68-yard reception from Damon Huard. But the nine-year veteran, coming from outside the far numbers, was able to track him down. He then had the ``coverage'' on Dwayne Bowe on the final toss into the end zone that fell incomplete. O'Neal got to Bowe's arm early, but avoided the flag. As for the Darling play, give a big, fat ``F'' to James Sanders for taking yet another bad angle (a problem throughout his career) and allowing a free lane up the middle. Brandon Meriweather didn't distinguish himself on the play, either. Now we get to Ellis Hobbs. Ellis, Ellis, Ellis. He giveth and he taketh away. The mercurial corner gave up one fourth-quarter touchdown (a 13-yarder to Bowe) and should have given up a second (a bad Bowe drop on the final series). But he also made a great interception earlier in the fourth, stepping in front of Bowe on a deep in-cut, and then followed that up with a thunderous sack of Huard. Get used to it, Pats fans. It will be a love-hate relationship all year. Meanwhile, Rodney Harrison was all over the field and was involved both in blitz and coverage packages. Often times he was in on the play (team-high 14 tackles), and sometimes he whiffed (missing Johnson on his 22-yard scamper). He got beat a few times by Tony Gonzalez, but who doesn't? Lewis Sanders, not rookie Terrence Wheatley, got the start at right corner and held his own.

SPECIAL TEAMS -- B

Good job by Hobbs and the ``answer team'' following Bowe's touchdown, as the Pats brought the ensuing kickoff back 51 yards to take over the field-position battle. And what a great punt by Chris Hanson in the second quarter (70 yards to pin Kansas City inside their 10-yard line). Unfortunately, that great effort was offset by two fourth quarter touchbacks in which Hanson failed to pin the Chiefs deep despite being in perfect position to do so. Meanwhile, Matthew Slater got saved by Morris on his late second quarter kickoff muff. Slater later got pulverized by a Chiefs kickoff coverage man, but it was that demolition that opened a gap for Hobbs' big return.

COACHING -- B

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels wasted no time going Charlie Weis on us by opening the game in the spread offense. Then on the second series, the Pats brought in the tight ends and went play-action. The focus switched more to the running game after Brady's injury, but don't expect to see McDaniels and Belichick abandon the series-to-series variety just because Brady is gone. There is one bone to pick with the offensive play-calling: The failed dive play to Heath Evans in the fourth quarter was too predictable, especially after it worked in the first half. It was hard to tell if the Pats dialed up any of Dom Capers' signature blitzes. In the meantime, maybe Capers can teach Sanders how to take an angle.

3 UP

Matt Cassel -- I said it before and I'll say it again: if Matt plays like this, the Pats are going to win a lot of games.

Offensive/Defensive line -- Pats handily won the trench battles against the inexperienced Chiefs.

Deltha O'Neal -- Game-saver.

3 DOWN

The fancy fans -- The red seat and lower-blue folks once again showed their colors. Some of these sections were only one-third filled as the Pats were trying to stave off the Chiefs on the final drive. Gillette = worst home-field advantage in the league.

James Sanders -- Gave up the angle on the Darling catch that could have cost the game.

Brandon Meriweather -- He also got caught on the long Darling play and wasn't much of a factor in sub packages. Either he or Sanders must emerge.

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH ...

-- What a terrible red-zone possession by the Chiefs at the end of the game. Two sideline, back-shoulder throws, one jam shot into Gonzalez and a second-down running play to Johnson that was beyond obvious. …

-- The Chiefs started to run blitz and really flood the box against the Pats' running game in the fourth quarter. Matt Cassel should get used to it….

-- I love Damon Huard as much as anyone, but his arm is weak. It felt like some of his outside throws took forever to reach the target….

-- Brutal coverage by Patrick Surtain on Cassel's 51-yarder to Moss.…

-- Belichick worked hard to get a lot of his young players playing time, and as a result rest some key veterans. At one point, it was Mayo and Guyton at linebacker (with Tedy Bruschi on the sidelines). Another time the Pats had Sanders and Meriweather at safety (with Rodney Harrison out). Pierre Woods also got first-half action at outside linebacker while Jarvis Green and Mike Wright worked into the mix on the defensive line. Seymour was on the sidelines for several stretches.

-- Call me unimpressed with Bowe. He went after one third-down throw from Brodie Croyle with one hand, when a two-handed attempt likely would have resulted in a key third-down conversion. And he dropped a touchdown in the fourth.

-- It's hard to recall through the haze of the Brady injury, but the Pats actually came out a bit flat in the game, as evidenced by fumbles from Welker and Moss on the first two possessions.

-- Surprising that rookie Shawn Crable was inactive, wasn't it?

Mike Felger can be seen nightly on Comcast Sportsnet.