The last time a rookie running back looked this good in his Patriots debut, Bill Parcells spent his post-game press conference warning the media not to send the kid to Canton based on one game.

As it turns out, Curtis Martin is indeed headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and it all began with a 102-yard, one TD performance against the Cleveland Browns on Opening Day of the 1995 season.

Maybe one day we’ll look back on Laurence Maroney’s 17-carry, 86-yard debut in yesterday’s win over Buffalo as the start of another career worthy of enshrinement, but as the Big Tuna would say, let’s not get the bust ready, yet.

Maroney electrified the Gillette Stadium partisans on his first two runs, which went for 28 and 22 yards respectively. The kid’s cutback moves are reminiscent of Gary Payton’s crossover dribble. When he’s in the open field, he should break a few ankles, as they say in basketball.

Corey Dillon used to be able to break opponents’ ankles. It’s quite apparent that those days are gone. Now, he’s just a power back and will have to be content to lower a shoulder or deliver a stiff arm for a couple of extra yards rather than juke someone out of his shoes for an extra 10 or 20.

Not that that’s anything for Patriots fans to lament. Dillon will never again be the dominant workhorse he was two years ago, but he’s also a lot less likely to be the Marion Butts clone he resembled at times last year as long as his young understudy stays healthy.

Admittedly, Dillon was banged up when he was taking the hand-off and falling forward for 2-yard gains last year, but it’s also reasonable to doubt that he would have run as hard as he did in the latter stages of yesterday’s game without Maroney around. Part of that is because the duo practically split their carries down the middle (16 for Dillon, 17 for the rookie), leaving Dillon fresher and healthier to grind out those hard yards at the end. But the veteran didn’t exactly seek out contact last year, either, often turning his back to oncoming tacklers.

Dillon is a smart guy. He knows Bill Belichick doesn’t play favorites, and he knows a repeat of last year’s performance, regardless of whether he had an injury excuse to fall back on or not, would result in less and less carries for him and more and more for Maroney. The rookie is pushing the veteran, so the veteran will probably be pushing the pile more this year.

It would certainly help all of the Patriots’ running backs if the offensive line continues to open the holes it did yesterday. The running lanes were probably wider and more plentiful than they’ve been since the days of John Hannah, Pete Brock & Co.

Unfortunately, the line also seemed to open as many wide open holes for Buffalo’s pass rush in the first half. I fear last year’s leg injury may have permanently converted Matt Light to a right tackle. Let’s hope Belichick realizes this before Tom Brady gets killed. The running backs share some of the blame for the shaky pass protection, too. Some halftime adjustments lowered the heat on Brady, but if he’s left as vulnerable as he was on the first play of the game too many more times, Matt Cassel will finally find out what it’s like to play with the first string.

The poor protection made it tough to judge just how much the Patriots miss Deion Branch, but it was still clear that anyone who thinks they don’t or won’t is in serious denial. Ben Watson faced double-teams and bracket coverage all day. Reche Caldwell finally caught a pass over the middle, so at least there’s some hope for him, but he’s not going to draw any safeties. Troy Brown showed he can still help, but he’s not a No. 1, 2 or 3 receiver anymore. We won’t know how effective the receiving corps can be until Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson suit up, but it’s hard believe that the Patriots will be making a lot of big plays in the passing game without Branch.

It’s also hard to pass judgment on the defense when it was minus one of its key cogs. Without Tedy Bruschi, the Pats struggled against the run and didn’t put much pressure on J.P. Losman in the first half. Again, the coaching staff made some important halftime adjustments, because in the second half, the Bills went three-and-out twice, four-and-out once and got stuffed on a key fourth down. The front line of Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren took the game over after that big stop, accounting for two sacks of Losman, including the game-winning safety.

How often do you hear that term, game-winning safety? This team that seemed to find every conceivable way to win over the last five years found yet another way yesterday. That’s about all we know about the Patriots right now, frankly, that they know how to win a game with a safety.

We’ll know more next week after they play the Jets, and we’ll find out a little more each week after that. Until then, let’s take the Tuna’s advice. Let’s not put them in Miami yet.

Randy Whitehouse is a staff writer. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected]