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Patriots look to bounce back against 49ers

Sep 30, 2008 - 8:59 PM New England (2-1) at San Francisco (2-2), 4:15 EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- The New England Patriots are in the unusual position of attempting to bounce back from a rare defeat.

Coming off a bye week, the Patriots travel cross country to visit the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

New England absorbed a stunning 38-13 beating at home to the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago, snapping its NFL-record regular-season winning streak at 21 games.

The fact that it came against a team which had won only one game last season made the lopsided defeat even more incomprehensible.

Coach Bill Belichick said the bye week gave the Patriots a chance to regroup.

"I think everybody had a good break here last week. We got a chance to get away and come back refreshed," he said.

Much of the attention has deservedly been focused on Matt Cassel, who was forced into the starting lineup when reigning MVP Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week One.

Cassel, who had not started a game since high school, has been OK thus far, completing 67 percent (48-of-72) of his passes with two touchdowns and one interception. However, that interception as well as a fumble were costly against Miami.

"Matt had a good week last week and a good practice yesterday," Belichick said. "I think he's doing things. I think offensively, collectively we have to do everything a little bit better."

That includes the defense, which was gashed for 113 yards and four touchdowns by Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, who repeatedly lined up and took a direct snap from center.

"We had trouble with a lot of things," Belichick said. "That was one of them."

Frank Gore will look to have similar success against New England. The third-leading rusher in the NFL with 369 yards, Gore also has 15 receptions for 156 yards and has scored five touchdowns overall.

J.T. O'Sullivan, who was on the practice squad of the Patriots in 2006, is in his first season as a starter in NFL. He struggled in the Niners' 31-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints last weekend, finishing 18-of-36 for 257 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

"He moves the ball. You can see he's in command of what he's doing. He's very coachable," 49ers coach Mike Nolan said of O'Sullivan. "You know, we're right there knocking at the door. He just needs to continue playing."

San Francisco will be relieved not to be seeing Brady after Saints quarterback Drew Brees shredded its defense for 363 yards and three scoring passes last week.