BradyManny

I do this only to combat the morons who want to trade Brady (who, ironically, are the same folks who wanted to cut Cassel a couple months ago). I don't do this to take anything from Cassel, who has been a hero...

But take the 400 yard passing games with a grain of salt, it was done against 2 of the worst passing defenses in the league:

ESPN - NFL Football Statistics and League Leaders - National Football League

Jets are 26th and Miami is 28th in the league in passing yards allowed. Of course, Cassel made those #s worse by himself, but you get my point. The biggest test comes this weekend against the top passing defense in the league. I think Cassel and McD will pass that test, and we'll probably hear more clamoring for shipping Brady, but in the meantime, curb your enthusiasm.

Oh, and while you're all there on that stat page, take a look that the Patriots much maligned passing defense is far better than Miami or NYJ at 18th in the league.

BlitzFritz

[i have not seen a single post where anyone WANTS to trade Brady.
i have seen some posts suggesting it as a topic of discussion.]

anyway, good pt about Cassel.
hes not hte second coming (yet) but he is better than anyone ever thought he would be. and hes improving

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"If you counted out the Patriots, you just don't get it." Adam Schein, September 2008

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BelichickFan

They aren't great pass defenses, they're ranked 19th and 21st in passer rating allowed.

But still :

Jets defense allows 87.7 passer rating, Cassel had a 103.4.
Dolphins defense allows 89.9 passer rating, Cassel had a 114.0.

Pittsburgh allows a 71.1, we'll see what happens.

upstater1

That's a phony stat.

The Jets are on a big roll. You will give up passing yards if you're playing from in front, especially with Mangini as coach because he plays prevent with 3 score leads.

The Patriots and the Titans were not running the ball in the second half against the Jets.

what does that tell you?

BradyManny

It tells me the Jets have a suspect pass defense that can't stop the Pats or the Titans when they know we're running. The Jets have a great run defense, but I don't think their pass defense scares anyone.

BradyManny

Cassel has played great, I'm not trying to argue that. I'm just trying to frame his performance with some perspective when you have about 1 out of 5 posts on here right now contemplating trading Brady.

AStack75

Seattle has the 31st ranked passing defense right now so we may see some more fireworks from Cassel in a couple weeks.

ctpatsfan77

This is what McDaniels did with the vaunted Vikings D in '06. . . . Their pass D was a FAIL, and the Patriots utterly embarrassed them.

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BradyManny

Exactly, McD doesn't even both trying to run against teams with good run Ds and bad pass Ds. He just exploits them. Kind of like when Brady dropped 41 points on this Miami team in 30 minutes last season.

CheerforTom

A disclaimer about that stat: the only reason that's the case is because of the start of the season and the ability of Pats' offense to hold the ball forever and keep the opposing offense off the field. Right now we are as bad defending the pass as any team in the league. It needs to be fixed quickly.