Guess what? The phone rang and there was an actual live voice on the line! It wasn’t a recording from a candidate!

Anyway, is it me or are we seeing Matt Cassel develop into a legitimate NFL quarterback in front of our very eyes?

The Patriots may be the only organization in football to draft a college backup quarterback and keep him more than a year.

There’s still a long way to go, but he performed admirably (25-for-34, 204 yards) against a desperate Colts team in Indianapolis.

I thought the game would produce a lopsided Colts win.

The 18-15 Pats loss in a hostile environment against a healthy Colts team may be a turning point for the Pats.

It was a game they could have won if Jabar Gaffney hadn’t dropped a perfect TD pass from Cassel.

The Patriots were without their top three running backs, their defensive leader in safety Rodney Harrison and, of course, All-Everything quarterback Tom Brady.

Cassel didn’t get sacked, so that indicates that he may be getting more comfortable in the pocket and is more cognizant of how to avoid a rush, something Brady has mastered.

He also isn’t afraid to run for a first down and take a hit, which endears him to his teammates.

Now he needs to be able to complete the long throw to open up defenses and give him even more space underneath and to do a better job converting in the red zone instead of settling for field goals.

The defense still has some issues. The Pats have to develop a better pass rush.

But there is always a reason behind Bill Belichik’s game plan. I don’t see them blitzing as much as they have in the past because they are trying to protect their inexperienced corners and safeties.

If you blitz, that usually means your corners and safeties are in man-to-man coverage, which makes you susceptible to the big play.

The Patriots seem to have a bend-not-break mentality so they will give up yardage and hope to eventually make a stop, force a turnover or limit the opponent to a field goal.

The Pats are in a three-way tie with the Jets and Bills in the AFC East at 5-3 and the Dolphins are just a game back at 4-4.

They may have discovered a resourceful undrafted running back in BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who averaged a respectable 3.8 yards per carry against the Colts.

With Green-Ellis, blocking back Heath Evans and the always-reliable Kevin Faulk, the Pats were able to manufacture a running game to keep Cassel out of a lot of third-and-long situations and control the ball.

Key ingredients in a successful franchise are the ability to handle adversity, diversify and maximize the potential of your players.

Every franchise loses players due to injury or misbehavior.

That is why the directors of player development and player personnel and scouts are so critical to a pro franchise, especially in contact sports.

If the Patriots make the playoffs, it will be a significant accomplishment.

And with their playoff experience, they could surprise some people.

They will need a better pass rush to do so, however, because any pro quarterback will pick you apart if he gets time to do so.

The AFC is up for grabs. The Titans are undefeated, but they are beatable.

They certainly aren’t as dominant as the Patriots were a year ago and we all know what happened to the Pats.

If Cassel can keep developing, they’ll have a reliable backup when Brady returns.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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