Am I in Denial?

[skri65]

Why do I have faith in Cassel and our chances of making the playoffs. Cassel has truly done nothing to warrant my faith in him and his ability to beat other quality teams.

I still have faith that this team will make the playoffs and from there, get lucky? Am I in denial? Or am I being reasonable?

Seriously, I don't know.

 

[swheeler23]

i think they will still have a good season because of Moss, the defense and the easy schedule they have. They could go 12-4 because of who they play. With Brady in I was thinking 14-2.

 

[BadMoFo]

Why do I have faith in Cassel and our chances of making the playoffs. Cassel has truly done nothing to warrant my faith in him and his ability to beat other quality teams.

I still have faith that this team will make the playoffs and from there, get lucky? Am I in denial? Or am I being reasonable?

Seriously, I don't know.

You are being hopeful. Don't worry many of us feel the same way.

I guess because we can all this Hollywood ending. Seventh-round draft pick who hasn't started a game since high school and was on the verge of being cut this year because of his bad play in the preseason, takes over for the reigning league MVP and takes our team to the Promised Land.

 

[skri65]

It's too good of a story to pass up. It brings me back to Brady in 2001. That's what I can't help but think Cassel can do us good this year.

 

[ALP]

You are being hopeful. Don't worry many of us feel the same way.

I guess because we can all this Hollywood ending. Seventh-round draft pick who hasn't started a game since high school and was on the verge of being cut this year because of his bad play in the preseason, takes over for the reigning league MVP and takes our team to the Promised Land.

unless ur buddy buddy with belicheck i dare ask how u know cassel was about to be cut?


to the OP, u think that b/c with the Pats team + coaches is still better then any other groups out there

 

[D-cleater]

Why do I have faith in Cassel and our chances of making the playoffs. Cassel has truly done nothing to warrant my faith in him and his ability to beat other quality teams.

I still have faith that this team will make the playoffs and from there, get lucky? Am I in denial? Or am I being reasonable?

Seriously, I don't know.

Did you just stop by for the first time this week? I did, but I think there's a 15 page thread of people that have just as much faith in Cassel.

For me, It all starts this week. If we win the next game, the teams confidence in Cassell will surge and this team will be playing inspired football. I really think we willl beat the Jets. Soundly. And again, this is all we need.. one win against a hated rival, for the team to gain confidence in Cassel and rally around him. Miami will plays us tough but I see us going 3-0 into the bye and coming out with a game plan to make Cassell successful.

And then, somewhere in the middle of the season Cassell is going to need to engineer a comeback win. Our record may only be 8-4 / 7-5 as we go into december, but if the kid can get one or two comeback wins under his belt this team will carry him into the playoffs.

Thats how I see it, and I do'nt think I'm in denial. This team, with Cassell at QB, is good enough to make the playoffs. I even replaced Brady with Cassel on my fantasy team. Looking forward to this season.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

You are being hopeful. Don't worry many of us feel the same way.

I guess because we can all this Hollywood ending. Seventh-round draft pick who hasn't started a game since high school and was on the verge of being cut this year because of his apparent bad play in the preseason, takes over for the reigning league MVP and takes our team to the Promised Land.

I fixed your post for you.

Phil Simms--talking on a NY radio station, where he had no need to varnish the truth--basically argued that the reason Cassel looked bad was that the Patriots made no effort whatsoever to try and win games: they had no game plan whatsoever.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

I'm not all of the sudden thinking that Matt Cassel is the second coming or something, but I have seen teams with crappy QBs win the superbowl. (XLII leaps to mind) and this is one heck of a team around him, it's not like we've got Reche Caldwell as our #1 reciever now.

All Cassell really has to do to give us a chance is cut out the turnovers. I can handle the 3 and outs and the drives stalling in FG range, but he needs to protect the ball.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Like I said, Cassel is going to need 4 reg season games to see what we have-- he just needs to be solid, that is it and that is all we should expect.. The other 52 team members just need to do thier job.

 

[dhamz]

The posts of those in denial usually mention the myth that the Pats won a Super Bowl in 2001 without much help from the QB position. They go on to predict things like wins in Indy and San Diego, 14-2 records, etc. Essentially what they post is that now that he is hurt Tom Brady just wasn't that good to begin with. It is all about the coaching.

Thinking this team has playoff potential is realistic. There is a whole list of teams around the league considered possible playoff teams who do not have elite QBs. The Titans made the AFC playoffs last year with downright terrible QB play. In a weak division, with an easy schedule, and the talent around Cassel this team can make the playoffs.

 

[Mack Herron]

Nobody knows what Cassell can do with real bullets, but if Bill thinks he is worth a chance, then I'm in. I know that Cassell has had sufficient time to prepare and he will get a fair chance. If after a few games BB decides he cannot cut it, he will be released. He does not need to be Brady, but he needs to be good. He has to stop throwing to the guys in the other jerseys (KC dropped an easy interception and just missed another). Nothing will get him into the unemployment line faster. My guess is that we see O'Connell before the bye.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Nobody knows what Cassell can do with real bullets, but if Bill thinks he is worth a chance, then I'm in. I know that Cassell has had sufficient time to prepare and he will get a fair chance. If after a few games BB decides he cannot cut it, he will be released. He does not need to be Brady, but he needs to be good. He has to stop throwing to the guys in the other jerseys (KC dropped an easy interception and just missed another). Nothing will get him into the unemployment line faster. My guess is that we see O'Connell before the bye.

Brady won his first start at home and then promptly lost his second to division arch rival Miami on the road where he threw 4 picks. After week 10 we were a .500 team coming off a road loss to the projected NFC Superbowl contender. A healthy former franchise QB and the incomparable Damon Huard remained on the bench and Brady was not released. And the rest as they say is history.

Every QB throws picks and almost only counts in horseshoes... Fans need to keep that in mind over the next several weeks. There are 53 players on a roster and 45 are active on gameday. BB will review their performances, individually and in context after each weeks game. They all need to step up. That's what they did in 2001. But it didn't happen over night, it was a process. We were 0-2 to start that season, just like we were 0-4 this preseason. After week 10 we went from a .500 team to 6-0 down the stretch. And in the post season we went 4-0. It wasn't always pretty, but it was effective none the less.

Through it all the calls for Bledsoe oddly remained... Luckily Bill wasn't listening.

BTW after 4 years he still persists in spelling his name with one L...

 

[vyrago]

BTW after 4 years he still persists in spelling his name with one L...

How annoyingly mulish of him.

 

[dhamz]

BTW after 4 years he still persists in spelling his name with one L...

Even worse - he insists on pronouncing it "castle" rather than "Ca-sell" like Sam.

 

[spacecrime]

Nobody knows what Cassell can do with real bullets,

You missed a good game last SUnday.

 

[Mack Herron]

You missed a good game last Sunday.

Neither BB nor I will judge him by one game. Cassel will get many games--perhaps the entire season--to see what he can do as the team has invested heavily (time more so than money) in him. It will be interesting to see how patient and supportive you are when he stumbles and team suffers some defeats. We barely made it with Brady his first year, and Cassel is unlikely to be another Brady. In my opinion, he throws into coverage way more than Brady ever did. I hope he shines, but if he does not, most of the people here will become unhinged way before BB does.