Bill has Bills number

11.9.08 11:30PM

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Pats win another case against Bills
Patriots return to action on short week Thursday night v. Jets
BRIEF: Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker and rookie running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis were on top of their games as the Pats defeated AFC East Division foe the Buffalo Bills 20-10 for 10^th time since 2003 to put New England in a tie for first with the Jets in the division.

It was a game of firsts.

Wes Welker became the first wide receiver to catch at least six passes in his team’s first nine games of the season. The Pats wide out caught 10 of Matt Cassel’s 23 completions – including stealing a 21-yard completion in the first half – for 107 total yards.

Welker has become Cassel’s go-to-guy. When the Pats quarterback starts to feel the pressure, he always looks for the scrappy wide out who typically can be found running across the middle confusing defenders twice his size. If he was on the Red Sox, fans would refer to him as a Dirt Dog. But Welker was not the only Patriot that helped guide the team to their sixth win of the season.

After injuries to Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan and Laurence Maroney forcing them to into the spectator role, the undrafted free agent out of OleMiss, BenJarvus Green-Ellis was thrown into the starting role. From the second he stepped on the field he has impressed Patriot coaches as well as the fans. Green-Ellis’s running style as a down hill back is an up-grade over the injury-prone, dancing Maroney.

Since making his debut against the Denver Broncos on Monday night, Green-Ellis has improved immensely. With his mother in the Gillette Stadium stands, the 23-year-old reached the century mark for the first time in his career. On 26 carries, Green-Ellis, also known as “The Law Firm,” accumulated 105 yards including one fourth quarter touchdown to seal the deal for the Patriots.

Along with Welker and Green-Ellis, Cassel also added to his short NFL resume with his first touchdown run of his career in the first quarter. On the Patriots first possession of the game, Cassel drove the team down field from their own 29-yard line to set up the game’s first score. With the ball on the 13-yard line, on second and six, the Pats QB could not find an open receiver so he tucked the ball and ran for the first down. Except there was one more thing, Cassel did not stop once he reached the three, he kept running before diving into the endzone to put the Patriots up 6-0. Stephen Gostkowski added the extra point to give the Pats the seven to nothing advantage.

The score may look close but it never really was in doubt. The Patriots had the game early on thanks to Homeland Defense and new Defense Secretary Jerod Mayo, who recorded four tackles in the game to increase his team lead in tackles to 59. The former Tennessee Volunteer is making an excellent bid at becoming the 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year. The defense gets top billing for today’s game as Ty Warren sacked Bills quarterback Trent Edwards for a loss of five yards. It was Warren’s first sack of the season while fellow defensive lineman Richard Seymour recorded his fourth sack of the year early in the game for a loss of six yards.

Early in the season, Buffalo was on fire but it appears as if they have already peaked. Between the Bills and Patriots, we witnessed two teams heading in opposite directions.

It will be a short week for the Pats as they welcome their AFC East Division rivals, the New York Jets, to Gillette Stadium Thursday night. The Jets are coming off a 44-point win against the hapless St. Louis Rams on Sunday.