Suddenly, there's more talk these days about "managing" a game going on in the locker room at Gillette Stadium than there is in the clubhouse at Fenway Park.

Which, considering that the Red Sox dropped two of three to the division-leading Rays this week in Boston, is as surprising as seeing Jonathan Papelbon blow a game in the ninth inning.

What the Patriots want Matt Cassel to do Sunday at the Meadowlands against the Jets is "manage" the game.

Just like he did last Sunday against the Chiefs, when he came off the bench after Tom Brady was injured midway through the first quarter and completed 13 of 18 passes, one for a touchdown, and without an interception, as the Patriots managed to pull out their NFL-record 20th consecutive regular-season win, 17-10.

But the huge question looming now is: Can they manage to keep that streak going?

How will they manage without Brady, the two-time Super Bowl MVP who is as good as any quarterback in the game, certainly better than any quarterback the Patriots have ever had?

How will they manage to put up points without TB at QB? He threw for a mind-boggling 50 touchdowns last season -- an NFL record -- as the Pats went 16-0.

To put that spectacular season in perspective, Brady never before had thrown for more than 28 TDs, averaging 24.5 through his first six years. In 2001, the year he took over for Drew Bledsoe in the second game of the season and led the Patriots to their first NFL championship, he threw for just 18 touchdowns while starting 14 games.

So how many can we realistically expect Cassel, who hasn't started a game since he was in high school, to manage to throw this season?

Can the Patriots manage to win a sixth straight AFC East title with such an inexperienced QB calling signals?

"I think he showed that he could go out there and manage the game, manage the team," coach Bill Belichick said of Cassel after Sunday's Pyrrhic victory over the Chiefs, who were 4-12 last season and started a quarterback (Brodie Croyle) who now is 0-7 in his NFL career.

"I think he made some plays throwing, made some plays running, and managed the team pretty well."

That's what Belichick wants Cassel to do again this Sunday, against the Jets -- manage the team, manage the game.

That may be all Cassel can do at this point in his career. It may, indeed, be all it is fair to ask him to do. But is that going to be enough?

The Patriots have been blessed, in Brady, with a quarterback who can win games, not merely manage them. Cassel isn't being asked to win the game. What he's being asked to do is not lose the game.

He's like a middle reliever in baseball, whose job is to keep it close, to keep his team in the game; or like a point guard in basketball who, rather than being asked to score, or even dole out assists, is told to just make sure he doesn't turn the ball over and to play good defense.

Speaking of which, the defense is going to have to step up its game if the Patriots are going to continue to be a playoff team. The Pats would have been hard-pressed, even with the remarkable Brady at QB, to approach last season's record-setting average of nearly 37 points a game. With Cassel, an average of even 27 points a game probably isn't likely -- although it's possible he could put up that many if he were throwing against his own, suspect secondary.

And here's another question: If you watched the Chiefs game, do you recall Richard Seymour, or Ty Warren, or Vince Wilfork, making even one play that you remember? Tossing aside a blocker to drop a ball carrier in the backfield? Sacking the quarterback?

The Pats did have four sacks: three by linebackers (Mike Vrabel had two, Adalius Thomas, the other) and one by blitzing cornerback Ellis Hobbs. And there's no question that pressure from the big guys up front helped lead to those sacks.

But the point is, with the Patriots likely to be scrambling to score points with Cassel at QB, the big three up front have to come up with some big plays on defense.

Admittedly, New England's 3-4 defense is not designed for them to star, the way talented linemen can in the 4-3 alignment that led to such legendary front fours as the Rams' "Fearsome Foursome," or the Vikings' "Purple People Eaters." The roles of Seymour, Wilfork and Warren are less glamorous in Belichick's scheme.

But they're all former first-round draft picks -- large, mobile, talented athletes. The kind of players you'd expect to, at least once in a game, make a play that makes you say: "Wow!" Did any of them do that last Sunday?

They're going to have to this Sunday, if Cassel is going to manage to win against Brett Favre and the Jets, on the road, in the first game he's started since he was in high school in California in 1999.