FOXBORO — Matt Cassel isn't going to be confused with Minnesota star Adrian Peterson anytime soon, but Cassel has shown that he's pretty adept at running with the football.

 The Patriots quarterback, who at times does seem to take off a bit too quickly, was at his best on New England's first possession against Buffalo. On second and 6 from the Bills’ 13, Cassel was lined up in the shotgun, got the snap, dropped back a couple of small steps ... and saw the middle of the field open up.

 So he went for it.

 "At the time I was thinking, ‘I beat my man, why don't you throw to me?' " Wes Welker said after the game, drawing laughs. “But then I saw him in the end zone and all was forgotten.”

 Cassel also converted a third down with his feet later in the half, and had another first down wiped out by a Jabar Gaffney penalty.

 “He’s a good athlete,” Bill Belichick said of the former major-league baseball prospect. “He has made some of those plays; obviously, the touchdown was a big play for us. When you go into the game, you never count on those plays; if you end up getting a couple that’s great. Those are bonus plays and when you get them you feel fortunate.”

 But Cassel isn’t just making plays with his feet. Though his passer rating overall (83.8) isn’t flashy, his play on third down is: Going into yesterday, the New England signal-caller led the AFC in third-down passer rating at 109.8.

 Against Buffalo, he converted five more third downs via pass. On the 19-play touchdown drive that sealed the game, New England collected five of its 11 third-down conversions.

cthorn@projo.com