So the Brady-less Pats lost again, this time to Tampa Bay. Looking at the final score, you'd figure it was a drubbing... well, you would be correct in that assumption. Tackles were missed, passes were dropped and picked, and for the first time in Chris Hanson's Patriots career, punts were not flubbed (It's not all bad news!). It was an ugly game to watch, but don't you get the feeling that Gruden was really looking to win that game, while Belichick was looking for certain players to step up and prove they deserve a roster spot and couldn't have cared less about the outcome? That's the beauty of these New England Patriots. Anyway, here's 10 things I think I know after watching last night's game:

• No Brady = no chance
• Cassell's terrible. In spite of playing a lot tonight, he's still terrible. He was lucky to not have that pass picked by Ruud in the first. The Pats reportedly really like Gutierez, and they wouldn't use a third rounder on O'Connell just to cut him a few months later, so Cassell, it appears, is playing for his Patriots life. Remember when all we heard about him was how good he was supposed to be after coming out of USC as the backup to Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart? What the hell happened there?
• John Lynch is a great addition (even more so if Meriweather's really hurt after his early exit).
• He only had one tackle and looked a bit slow on the several plays he was in, but as he gets back up to game speed, expect his role to become more integral.
  
• There was a startling lack of tackling on the Patriots' side.
• Lynch, Mayo, Hobbs, Spann... just 4 of the many guys to miss easy tackles tonight. Sure they're not at full speed just yet, but it's a bit disconcerting to see the likes of Luke McCown and Antonio Bryant beat your D for an easy 33 yard reception.
• We're gonna need to put up big points to win 12 or more.
• ...Not along the lines that the Bengals are going to have to, but with the relative inexperience on the D, it doesn't look like we're winning many 1-3 point games. Judging from last year's offensive onslaught, that shouldn't be too difficult, though.
  
• Welker looks solid as usual.
• On a WR screen toward the end of the first, Wes shook several tackles for an easy 13 yards. He should be very fun to watch out of the slot again this year. He also lit up former Patriot Eugene Wilson on a block at the end of the second quarter (12 second mark, if you have it DVR'd). Fabulous.
• Sammy Morris' first game action...
• ...went pretty well. He returned a kick for 15 yards and had 5 runs for 10 yards (with a long of 5 yards). Nice to see him in there amid speculation that last year's season-ending chest injury was possibly more of a concern than originally thought.
• The offense...
• ...wasn't on the field nearly enough. The Pats' had possession for just 22:02, meaning the Bucs had the ball just about twice as long as we did. That'll change with Brady under center, so don't fret too much over that one.
• One game can make a difference for fringe players in the preseason.
• C.J. Jones looked like crap last week - this week? 2 receptions for 31 yards, 1 kick return for 20 yards, 1 punt return for 26 yards. It wasn't much, but little week-to-week improvements like that can mean the difference between handing in your playbook and sticking around through some rounds of cuts.
• Chris Hanson still sucks.
• In spite of some nice words from The Herald about Hanson's kicking ability, the dude sucks. His first punt was a generous 41 yarder that barely found its way inside the Bucs' 30. He averaged 45 yards on 5 punts, but his career average (38.5 yards) says that's an aberration. Let's just hope he's not on the field much like last year.
• That NFL Network broadcast team sucked, as well.
• You mean to tell me that Sterling Sharpe isn't a good analyist/commentator? After the precedent his brother Shannon set for him? No way. Never would'a guessed. Listening to that game was just as brutal in spite of (or perhaps because of) the presence of legend Marshall Faulk. My favorite line of the night had to be "Does this Patriots team just fall apart without Brady in there?" What NFL team with the possible exception of the Browns and Cardinals would not be substantially worse with their second string QB in there?

In related news, NECN has the latest on this Patriots' rookie "initiations". No one got saran wrapped to the goal post, but there were some pretty interesting haircuts sported by the rooks last night.