In their first home game in nearly a month, the Patriots faced the Broncos, winners of 16 of the last 19 games between the two teams, on Monday Night Football; earlier that day, the Patriots placed Maroney on injured reserve with a shoulder injury after he had missed two of the team's last three games, and activated offensive lineman Stephen Neal from the physically unable to perform list. After winning the coin toss, the Patriots deferred their pick to the start of the second half; the Broncos elected to receive. On the opening series, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler injured his finger on the first play, but led the Broncos into Patriots territory, where running back Andre Hall, who replaced injured starter Michael Pittman two plays prior, fumbled at the Patriots' 30-yard line; Patriots defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith's recovery gave the Patriots the ball at their own 32-yard line to begin their first drive. A 29-yard reception by Watson brought the Patriots into the Broncos' red zone, where the drive ended and a 31-yard Gostkowski field goal gave the Patriots a 3-0 lead. On the fourth play of the Broncos' ensuing drive, Hall fumbled again; this time, a scramble for the ball pushed it 25 yards in the Patriots' favor to the Broncos' 37-yard line, where Mayo recovered it. A Broncos unnecessary roughness penalty on the play gave the ball to the Patriots at the Broncos' 22-yard line, but after failing to make a first down, a 40-yard Gostkowski field goal extended the Patriots' lead to 6-0. An exchange of three punts brought the game into the second quarter, where Morris ran for 34 yards on the second play of a Patriots drive to put them in the Broncos' red zone yet again. Four plays later, on 4th-and-1 from the Broncos' 4-yard line, Morris ran for a 4-yard touchdown that gave the Patriots a 13-0 lead. The Broncos' next drive ended with Meriweather intercepting a deep throw by Cutler, setting up the Patriots' next series at their own 16-yard line. After a sack of Cassel put the Patriots even deeper into their own territory, a facemask penalty on Cassel on third down by Broncos linebacker Jamie Winborn gave the Patriots a new set of downs. Five plays later, on another 4th-and-1, Morris ran for 29 yards to give the Patriots a first down from the Broncos' 13-yard line; he ran for a total of 138 yards on 16 carries. On the next play, Moss caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Cassel to extend the Patriots' lead to 20-0. The Broncos' next drive began with backup Patrick Ramsey replacing Cutler at quarterback. On the fourth play, defensive lineman Mike Wright sacked Ramsey and forced a fumble, which undrafted free agent linebacker Gary Guyton caught to give the Patriots the ball at midfield. Cassel suffered his fifth sack on the next play, the final of the first half. The Patriots chose to receive the ball to open the second half. Another undrafted rookie, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, elevated from the Patriots' practice squad before the Chargers game, replaced Morris, who left the game with a knee injury. A Patriots punt was followed by a Broncos three-and-out; Welker returned the punt 44 yards to give the Patriots the ball at the Broncos' 28-yard line. After two Green-Ellis carries gained one yard, Cassel used a screen play to throw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Moss to extend the Patriots' lead to 27-0. Three completed passes and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork moved the Broncos' next drive into Patriots' territory before the Broncos turned the ball over for the fifth and final time, with safety James Sanders intercepting a Cutler pass; a second unnecessary roughness call, originally on Wilfork but later changed to be on Sanders, gave the Patriots the ball at their own 20-yard line to begin the ensuing drive. Three plays after a 27-yard Welker catch put the Patriots in Broncos territory, Broncos safety Calvin Lowry appeared to have intercepted an errant Cassel throw at the Broncos' 1-yard line, but, when the Patriots challenged, the pass was deemed incomplete, as the ball touched the ground before Lowry had possession. Two plays later, Welker caught his first touchdown pass of the season, this one from 6 yards out, to give the Patriots a 34-0 lead. Four plays later, former Patriots tight end Daniel Graham caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cutler to cut the Patriots' lead to 34-7. The Patriots' next drive got as far as the Broncos' 33-yard line but eventually ended in a punt. The Broncos, facing 3rd-and-21 on their next drive, had a 21-yard completion by Cutler pushed back by a Broncos holding penalty; Richard Seymour sacked Cutler on the next play, forcing the Broncos to punt on 4th-and-23 with 6:35 left in the game. On the ensuing Patriots drive, two 10-yard runs by Green-Ellis and 16- and 15-yard runs by Faulk put the Patriots in the red zone, where Green-Ellis earned his first NFL touchdown, running in untouched from the 1-yard line, to score the final points of the game. Another Broncos punt gave the Patriots the ball to end the game with a 41-7 victory that took the Patriots' record to 4-2. The Patriots accumulated 257 rushing yards, their largest total since the 1985 season. Cassel, who completed 18 of 24 passes for 185 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions, finished with a passer rating of 136.3, one of the ten highest single-game ratings in Patriots history, and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. On the final play of the third quarter, as the Broncos were driving into Patriots territory, Harrison was injured while attempting to tackle Cutler. Harrison, whose 2005 and 2006 seasons were cut short by knee injuries that caused ligament damage, suffered a torn quadriceps muscle in his right leg. Harrison was carted off the field and placed on injured reserve two days later. Safety Antwain Spann was then activated from the practice squad. The Broncos also lost players to injury: Ramsey and linebacker Boss Bailey were also placed on injured reserve, while cornerback Champ Bailey was sidelined for several weeks by a torn groin muscle.. How many points were scored in the first quarter?