Broncos couldn't master this disaster

FOXBOROUGH - The row of cameras was set up, ready for Broncos coach Mike Shanahan to explain what happened, but the anchorman with the Fox 31 microphone flag might as well have been speaking for him.

He went through all the Denver injuries last night (Jay Cutler, Champ Bailey, Michael Pittman, Dre' Bly, etc.), all the penalties (eight for 87 yards), and all the ugly numbers (the five turnovers, the 257 rushing yards allowed).

"The only way to say it," he said to the folks back in Denver, "is this was an unmitigated disaster."

"The Patriots played much better than we did," said Shanahan. "That's obvious."

From the first play from scrimmage, when Richard Seymour's helmet crashed into the pinky on Cutler's throwing hand, the Broncos were already on their way to a 41-7 demolition that had them questioning who they were as a team after leaving Gillette Stadium.

"A team with an identity, you know what you're going to get from them," said Bailey, uncertain of his status after injuring his groin chasing Randy Moss in the first half. "We don't know what we're going to get every [week]."

Tight end Daniel Graham sounded just as perplexed. "They outplayed us from the first snap of the game," he said. "We are stopping ourselves with turnovers. We have to do a much better job if we want to win and compete."

Shanahan said, "We went into the game knowing we couldn't turn the football over."

But Cutler threw two picks, and the Broncos coughed up three fumbles to a team that had only recovered one all season.

Backup running back Andre Hall fumbled twice on the Broncos' first two drives, his only carries of the game.

"We were pretty good this year about not beating ourselves with penalties," Shanahan said. Then they committed eight of them.

One, a pass interference penalty on Brandon Marshall for smacking Ellis Hobbs in the facemask before catching a pass from Cutler, pinned the Broncos 8 yards from their end zone.

Another bailed out Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, who looked to be sacked in the end zone by Jamie Winborn - only Winborn also a firm grip on Cassel's facemask.

The 15-yard penalty turned into a nine-play, 84-yard drive capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Cassel to Randy Moss.

The Broncos couldn't establish the run, but more importantly, they couldn't stop it.

Patriots running back Sammy Morris had a career game by halftime, with 138 yards (although he finished with the same total after hurting his knee). The Patriots' 257 yards was their best rushing game in 15 years.

"You could have 10 sacks, eight interceptions, it doesn't matter," said Broncos defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban. "You don't stop the run in the NFL, you're going to lose."

Cutler, who left the game in the second quarter to deal with his pinky injury, came into Gillette averaging 38 passes in his first six games, but he had thrown only 10 midway through the second quarter before giving way to Patrick Ramsey, who hadn't played a down since last November.

Cutler returned in the second half, but many of his deep balls looked more like pop flies. Brandon Meriweather had time to call a fair catch on the interception Cutler heaved up intended for Darrell Jackson.

"He just didn't have the zip," Shanahan said.

Cutler finished 17 of 26 for 168 yards.

Bailey was at a loss. Shanahan said his team just had to go back to work this week. The only person who really explained it better than the anchorman was Ekuban.

"We got our butts handed to us," he said. "Give credit to them."

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.