Caldwell split the defense on a quick slant Branch has made a living off of. As he hit the end zone, the ball hit his hands. That's where the resemblance to Branch ends because the ball came off his hands like it had been thrown against a ping-pong paddle. End of drive. Start of the Martin Gramatica Era.
Soon after, quarterback Matt Cassel took over for Brady and reprised a play he made infamous at USC in a game against Arizona State. After losing the starting job to Matt Leinart, Cassel came on for him early in Leinart's first season and effectively ended his days at quarterback when he fumbled at a critical moment. A week later he was a backup tight end.
That fate will not befall Cassel this summer, what with five tight ends on the roster, but three plays into his first series of the exhibition season, Cassel was sacked by John Abraham on third down and fumbled, the ball recovered by Patrick Kerney at the New England 21 after a lengthy scramble.
On the next play, Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel was beaten for a 21-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins, who simply outbattled Samuel for the ball on a quick throw from reserve quarterback Matt Schaub. As dress rehearsals go, this was not going the way the Patriots had envisioned.
What they had in mind was something like the next ball Cassel threw, a 44-yard completion to tight end Benjamin Watson. Watson streaked up the sideline like the East Coast version of Antonio Gates before being bounced out of bounds. When he got up, he flexed his muscles, something the Patriots hope he does a lot this season.
When Maroney took a toss and rambled around left end for 9 more yards on the next play, you got the feeling this was the kind of opening night it was going to be for the Patriots. The kind coach Bill Belichick describes so well and so often -- some good things, some bad things. Oh, and some lucky things as well.
