Three preseason games, three losses for the Pats, who seem content to dig themselves into an early hole in every contest by having Cassell continue to start. (And in regards to Cassell, we've probably all been a bit unfair by constantly criticizing him as he's often playing without the Pats' top offensive personnel, but still it's hard to argue that Gutierrez or O'Connell hasn't been substantially more impressive and I, for one, would be surprised if Cassell was Brady's top backup next season, or even by the end of this one.) But the best part about the preseason is that all those extraordinary performances - or, in the Pats' case, all those ugly defeats - have about a 2.39% impact on the way things play out in the regular season (yes, that's an exact calculation). Lending credence to that point is the fact that the last 4 Super Bowl winners combined to go 6-10 in the preseason with all but one team posting a 1-3 record (the Steelers went 3-1 in 2005-06). Moving on, let's recap a few of the more pertinent happenings from last night's game:

• Wes Welker should not be returning punts, least of all in the preseason
• One of the things the Pats love about Wes is his versatility in being an excellent slot receiver as well as a far above-average kick and punt returner, but the last thing we need is our second best wideout getting injured during a preseason game.
  
• C.J. Jones continues to impress; Ray Ventrone didn't look too shabby either
• Neither are guaranteed to make the team, but both continue to plead their case. Jones finished with 3 catches, 70 yards and a touchdown, while Ventrone had 4 catches for 49 yards.
  
• The 5 backs the Pats keep will be...
• Maroney, Morris, Jordan, Faulk and Evans. BenJarvus Green-Ellis has looked pretty good in three contests (5 runs for 6 yards, 1 catch for 18 yards yesterday) but appears destined for the practice squad or free agency.
  
• The first David Thomas sighting of 2008
• 2 catches for 28 yards for the oft-injured third-year tight end. Love to see him stay healthy enough to contribute this year.
  
• Will the real Chris Hanson please stand up?
• Hanson had 5 punts for 224 yards (44.8 average) with a long of 53 yards, meaning that he's far surpassed his career averages so far in the preseason. Anyone want to bet that will continue into the regular season? Didn't think so...
  
• Gostkowski remains perfect in the preseason
• Thanks to last night's 35-yarder, Gostkowski is now 5-for-5 in the preseason with a long of 44. He looks certain to improve on last years impressive 87.5% success rate.
  
• Lynch looks kinda slow...
• And he looked especially bad on Philly's 76-yard punt return. Looks like the former Bronco might be better suited staying closer to the line as opposed to falling back in coverage.
  
• Special teams looked like crap
• Two return touchdowns (one kick and one punt) later, the Pats' special teams units have some explaining to do. The plays came at 1:35 and 0:00 in the second quarter, so a lot of guys were probably already looking to halftime and not going at 100%. Wonder if Belichick will take that as an excuse and go easy on them in practice this week?
  
• Chad Jackson could be ready to step up
• We've been waiting for the third-year receiver to step up and claim a steady role in the offense for the past two seasons and it looks like this could be the year he finally does so. Jackson had 2 receptions for 17 yards including a nice 1-yard catch from Gutierrez in the fourth.
  
• Heath Evans says all the right things
• Channeling his inner Bill Belichick during the postgame presser, Evans stated, "I know one thing. We're a Bill Belichick-coached football team and we're going to find a way to get better." They'll have their chance to prove they've gotten better by beating the Giants in a rematch of last year's Super Bowl next Thursday.