Notes, not-so-random thoughts, anecdotes and other tidbits from the fourth quarter of the Broncos’ first game on NBC since January 1998.

10:49 p.m. EDT: A chair flies down the stairs in the press box, summarily starting this quarter with a bang. Surprisingly, it is not I who am responsible for this slight mishap.

10:54 p.m. EDT: Denver down to its last timeout.

Notes, not-so-random thoughts, anecdotes and other tidbits from the third quarter of the Broncos’ first game on NBC since January 1998.

10:03 p.m. EDT: Funny how this game opened as a duel of teams that split their carries among a pair of running backs, and yet each is primarily using one back — although the Patriots’ change is due to a Corey Dillon injury.

Notes, not-so-random thoughts, anecdotes and other tidbits from the second quarter of the Broncos’ first game on NBC since January 1998.

9:02 p.m. EDT: New England on the Broncos’ side of the field after Tom Brady finds Reche Caldwell for 23 yards … and then the Patriots go back to the no-huddle. A possession earlier, the Pats called for the no-huddle, at which the Broncos utilized a timeout.

9:03 p.m. EDT: Two no-huddle runs net seven yards for the Patriots. They hurry to the line of scrimmage, but the Pats fall one yard short of the first down on third-and-three when Michael Myers trips up Laurence Maroney. At that point, the Pats huddle and go for it …

9:04 p.m. EDT: … and are stuffed when Demetrin Veal bursts through the offensive line and swallows the rookie running back. The Broncos pass that no-huddle test and take over at their 37.

Notes, not-so-random thoughts, anecdotes and other tidbits from the first quarter of the Broncos’ first game on NBC since January 1998.

8:20 p.m. EDT: The Broncos won the coin toss, calling tails. They’ll move from north to south. New acquisition Quincy Morgan is on the field for the opening kickoff return; he thought about returning the kickoff from six yards deep in the corner of the end zone, but ultimately opted to take a knee for a touchback.

8:23 p.m. EDT: Javon Walker picks up where he left off last week, taking a short pass in the right flat from Jake Plummer and turning into a 15-yard, third-and-2 gain (with Rod Smith helping make the final few yards possible with a downfield block).

Less than 45 minutes to kickoff, and here are some pre-game notes from Football Night in America:

• Quincy Morgan is on the active roster. Just six days after signing with the Broncos, the team made him one of its 45 active players for the game. Now we await to see whether he is in on kickoff returns, which was a possibility throughout the week.

Greetings and salutations from Gillette Stadium, an edifice that rises oddly out of the part-suburban/part-rural (and I guess that makes it sub-rural) southern Massachusetts landscape, its 21st-century accoutrements clashing with the colonial-style home architecture and rustic milieu of what is otherwise a typically genteel New England hamlet.

It is an odd contrast. Norman Rockwell meets We Will Rock You, I reckon. But it is home for the Patriots, and with two championships and four winning seasons in their first quartet of seasons here, it is indeed a glorious home for them.