I feel it’s time to give some kind of report card on my beloved Patriots. My problem is that I haven’t seen many games. Last year almost every Pats game was on national TV, this year there have been only two or three. It’s hard to get a read. But lack of knowledge has never stopped me yet so here we go.
- Defense: We haven’t had a good secondary since the Law/Milloy days. Getting older every year, but they are still getting it done. Mayo’s a monster.
- Offensive Line: These guys are the key. Early in the season they looked terrible. Cassel was having bad games because he couldn’t stand in the pocket for more than a second. Everyone looks bad when they are about to be sacked. As they have tightened up Cassel has looked better every game.
- Cassell and the long ball: Cassel started off throwing only short passes. Why? In the games I watched, whenever he threw it more than 20 yards it was way off the mark. I mean, way off. He looked like I would. I’m not sure what has happened lately but all of a sudden he’s throwing long accurately. This has opened up the offense.
- Using Moss: In the first half of the season he didn’t even try to throw to Moss. What a waste! Now that he’s going to him a lot, Moss is catching them a lot. Funny how that works.
So is Cassel the real deal? Clearly, he’s a good player. But is it him, or the system? I tend to agree with Tuesday Morning Quarterback, it’s mostly the system. Belichik looks better every day. And trade Brady? It’s worth asking I suppose, but it’s crazy. Cassel’s playing well, but a few games does not a hall-of-famer make. Let’s see how things stand at the end of the season and talk then.
I agree with most of your points here, but I can explain about Cassel. As is typical of all rookie QB’s (or replacement QB’s) it takes time to 1) get used to playing with your teammates, timing, comfort level throwing to them, confidence in them, 2) get comfortable throwing the ball longer than 5 yards for plain ol’ fear that the other guys are gonna snag it from you, and 3) get comfortable with your offensive line that you don’t have to immediately rush the throws, making them “way off” as you said.
I do think that Cassel is a good solid QB, but as no one seems to have remembered, the Patriots had one of the softest schedules this year of ANY team. So is he worth trading up for Brady? No friggin’ way. Will they trade high on Cassel next season (even with the franchise)? Probably:
“The Patriots will be about $20 million under the cap this offseason. The franchise number for a quarterback will be about $11 million. The Patriots could easily franchise Cassel, then trade him before the draft.” — Sean Crowe’s article at Examiner.com.