JSn

It was a funny feeling watching the game yesterday. In many discussions here and across the web, no one seriously expected the Seahawks to hassle the Patriots. But they sure did.

Odd to go from a feeling of sure victory to a feeling of "season is over" in so few minutes. I'm glad the players have more intestinal fortitude than I do. I thought I was gonna have a stroke, hehe. The Seahawks are better than their record, imo. They may have waited to long to sit Hass down to get better.

But some funny things happened along the way. We took more hits defensively (Bruschi, Wilfork, Sanders, and Vrabel briefly), we really missed Warren, and the guys who signed THIS WEEK had to play. Seau and Colvin played 28 of 57 defensive snaps! If they were not former Patriots that would have been all but impossible. Props to them and to Bill and Scott for making those calls.

Over one game, we saw the defense step up. Really, they were never "bad" after the first half. I think they let up for a split second on the Branch scamper thinking he had stepped out. And it was a good play by Deion. He was loved here for a reason, right?

Cassel is gaining near legendary status in my books for taking a beating in order to wait out a route and for making excellent decisions under pressure. His ability to forget drops and to stay focused under the gun (from defenses or unfavourable scores) is nothing short of impressive.
If he had another year of live experience on THIS team, he'd become an elite QB. He just needs to deep routes to come together more often and that's learn-able. He certainly doesn't lack the arm strength. What will happen to him elsewhere is hard to guess. Hopefully he bases his decision on a good system to play in. In some of these games, I'm not sure Brady would have done more than marginally better, though again, those deep route passes would be more spot on.



Wes Welker and Randy Moss are both receivers that genuinely warrant double coverage and will be a fierce tandem for the foreseeable future. Moss did a lot more in that game than he'll be credited with. The connection for him and Cassel seems hard to read, and maybe it's more a product of Cassel being undeveloped than chemistry. Still he made key plays from drawing coverage to making a nice sideline catch. Welker is a beast, though. How the heck this guy can take that kind of a beating is beyond me, but he bounces back by being MORE dangerous. He and Cassel deserve a lot of credit for having us in contention right now, however slim the margin for error might be. In a regular AFCE year, our record is good enough make us feel confident. This is by NO MEANS a regular year.



Gaffney is underrated. Seriously, we ride this guy and undercredit him, but he's a good football player. I think if it's reasonable, he will re-sign. He's made us angry a couple of times, but he's also been downright clutch.



Our depth on defense is better than we though. Or at least better than I thought. I was genuinely impressed with our patchwork D-Line. Absolutely everyone was playing well by the second half. Fundamental football ended up saving the day. After this game (two unretired vets and a slew of untested kids taking the field) Bill cannot be questioned as being the best coach in the NFL today. NO other coach can overcome these losses. Look at each key loss and think of how many other teams JUST ONE of them would have brought down.

I don't know what will happen next week and the Cards game certainly looks a little spooky from here. Regardless, as of today I feel like I am watching a second legendary season in a row being played out by the New England Patriots, and it's a great feeling!

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tatepatsfan

If we go 11-5 and win the division, this has to rank up there with BB's best coaching jobs. I still think 2001 takes the cake, but what a job this season. Even without mentioning Brady, the injuries on defense alone should have been enough to kill this team, but somehow we find ourselves in a 3-way tie for first with just 3 games to go.

Of course, we still have to win 3 in a row.

BradyManny

I gotta disagree on this one. Yesterday was not Cassel's best game by any stretch. In fact, I'd say it was a revert to some of the traits we saw before he really caught on fire - tucking and running too early, marginal pocket presence, inconsistent accuracy. He made a couple magnificent plays and hung in the pocket for some big hits, but I think Brady would've chewed that defense apart for 40+ points. Probably a lot of that can be attributed to an O-Line that was not as consistent as it was in some previous weeks.

I'm glad we got the W, and I'm glad Cassel made some big plays, but in terms of his stock and trade-ability, I don't think it was helped by his play yesterday. I don't think it was hurt either, though. We need him to play a little bit better down the stretch both to get us into the playoffs and earn us a bounty of picks in the offseason.

JSn

I don't disagree, I said "in some of these games". Tom is going to come back with a vengeance next year, but I think Cassel is very good QB in the making.

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N.Eman

our HOF coach is the best in shuffling guys around when needed. One of the traits im proud to have him. GO PATS!!!

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Deus Irae

Once big difference between the two QBs is that Brady terrifies the opposing D.C. while Cassel doesn't. Blitzing Brady just gets a team killed faster, and if you don't blitz you die the death of 1,000 cuts (unless you're the Giants in the Super Bowl). Blitzing Cassel isn't nearly as suicidal.

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PatsWickedPissah

Cassel Update:
+ Hangs in the pocket as well or better than most. Taks a lickin and keeps on tickin.
+ Has reached the point where he checks thru a couple options vs looking to turtle early
+ Greatly improved sense of the pass rush; still substantial room to improve
+ Quite accurate in the short to medium range throws
+ Outstanding runing ability
+ Throws well on the roll out; better than Brady in this aspect

- Lacks the Zen calmness needed to throw the deep ball; timing & accuracy need development
- Sometimes he blatantly telegraphs a play. Example: On the 2 pt after he stared left, directly at w3 and then threw the ball to him. Good throw. Made it. A superior CB reading his head coulda gambled and made that into a pick 6 and end of game. Why NOT gamble in that situation?

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patsfaninpittsburgh

MC compares favorably with cumulative aggregate talent of QB's around the league.

MC joins the 99.9% of all other QB's who do not compare favorably to TB.

If Tampa or Minnesota had current Cassel as their QB, both teams could be legit Super Bowl teams.

JSn

Um... He can't make a pick six out of a 2 point conversion.

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ctpatsfan77

Not-so-minor point: defenses cannot score points on a PAT or 2-point try, period. If they gain possession of the ball, the attempt fails, and a kickoff follows, as normal.

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