``There were some [positive] plays, but too much inconsistency on my part," said Cassel, who completed 13 of 26 passes for 229 yards and one touchdown. ``That's on me. I want to play better. I need to play better.
``We kept fighting back and there's definitely no give up. The thing is you come here to win and that's the whole thing. What it comes down to is winning games. We weren't able to accomplish that tonight and I take a lot of responsibility in that, being the quarterback, and not getting that done."
Most of Cassel's success came against the bottom end of the Falcons' roster, but at least he found some success after a sluggish start to what was a very important game for him.
Since Tom Brady took over in the 2001 season, coach Bill Belichick has opted to have a veteran backup quarterback on the roster. Last year it was Doug Flutie, with Cassel holding the No. 3 spot.
A year in the system, and the Patriots and Cassel were hoping he had improved enough to handle the No. 2 job. That question remained unanswered after last night's effort.
Yet Cassel finished strong, leading the Patriots to three straight scoring drives to finish the game. The first two ended in touchdowns; the last was a 30-yard field goal by Martin Gramatica that tied the score at 23-23 with 2:44 remaining.
Several first-year Patriots had solid games, with both teams going deep into the depth chart in the second half.
Laurence Maroney led all rushers with 66 yards on nine carries. Garrett Mills, a rookie H-back from Tulsa who practiced sparingly in the first two weeks of camp, had five catches for 75 yards. Patrick Cobbs, an undrafted free agent from North Texas, provided a spark to the offense, turning a screen pass from Cassel into a 57-yard touchdown, and contributing a game-high 80 receiving yards and 25 yards rushing on five carries.
Defensively, rookie linebackers Pierre Woods and Jeremy Mincey made several plays, and safety/return man Willie Andrews was a factor.
``A lot of our young players had their moments, and then there are other plays that I don't think were great, but we have to look at the film and I'm pretty sure we'll see a number of mistakes," Belichick said. ``Hopefully, they'll get better next week."
