Peter King: Brady vs. Cassel first six games

[Rob0729]

In King's MMQB Tuesday edition, Peter King compared Brady and Cassel over their first six starts and the numbers show not a lot of difference between the two. Yes, Brady averaged .67 more TDs a game, but he also passed 24 more passes than Cassel.

Yes, as King pointed out there are still some problems with Cassel's game, but many are correctable.

Matt Cassel doing OK for Patriots, more reader mail - Peter King - SI.com

 

[JSn]

Yes, the comparison is totally fair, but the flood of screamers will arrive in this thread any second anyway.

 

[Nunchucks]

I don't see how the comparison is fair. Cassel has Randy Moss (possibly the greatest receiver of all time) and Wes Welker (Troy Brown).

Brady was a game manager that first year, but he also came out and won games. Hopefully we see that from Cassel furher in the season (though I pray he doesn't have to).

Brady showed a pocket presense and the ability to find the open guy in those early days. He was reading defenses pretty well, hence the reason the short passing game worked so well, even when teams stacked the box.

 

[D-Money]

You would think that Cassel will get comfortable with each start, we will see.I am liking the fact that he is looking for Moss more now.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Yes, the comparison is totally fair, but the flood of screamers will arrive in this thread any second anyway.

Wrong...took all of 5 minutes.

 

[JSn]

Wrong...took all of 5 minutes.

I underestimated their willpower.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I stole this analysis from the Colt forum

Matt Cassel (HOF)?

Cassel '08
6 games so far
110/166 (66.3%) for 1095 yards (9.4 YPA), 6 TD (5.2%), 4 Int (3.6%), 3 Fumbles
Extend to 16 games
293/309 (66.3%) for 2920 yards (9.4 YPA), 16 TD (5.2%), 11 Int (3.6%), 8 Fumbles

Brady '01
15 games
264/413 (63.9%) for 2843 yards (6.9 YPA), 18 TD (4.3%), 12 Int (2.9%), 12 Fumbles
Extend to 16 games
281/441 (63.9%) for 3032 yards (6.9 YPA), 19 TD (4.3%), 13 Int (2.9%), 13 Fumbles
__________________

 

[DefenseRules]

I honestly don't understand this OBSESSION with comparing Cassel to Brady. I really don't. Is it so wrong to let Cassel become his own QB in peace?

 

[JSn]

I stole this analysis from the Colt forum

Matt Cassel (HOF)?

Cassel '08
6 games so far
110/166 (66.3%) for 1095 yards (9.4 YPA), 6 TD (5.2%), 4 Int (3.6%), 3 Fumbles
Extend to 16 games
293/309 (66.3%) for 2920 yards (9.4 YPA), 16 TD (5.2%), 11 Int (3.6%), 8 Fumbles

Brady '01
15 games
264/413 (63.9%) for 2843 yards (6.9 YPA), 18 TD (4.3%), 12 Int (2.9%), 12 Fumbles
Extend to 16 games
281/441 (63.9%) for 3032 yards (6.9 YPA), 19 TD (4.3%), 13 Int (2.9%), 13 Fumbles
__________________

That's pretty interesting, but I don't trust extrapolations of data in this league.

 

[JSn]

I honestly don't understand this OBSESSION with comparing Cassel to Brady. I really don't. Is it so wrong to let Cassel become his own QB in peace?

The thing is, these comparisons make it easier for us as fans to feel good when Cassel steps on the field. It also tell show smart Bill and co. are.

We could compare him to lot's of QB's, but NE is a pretty unique animal and we want to hold him to the standard of excellence we're used to.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. We're not asking him to be Brady, we're asking him to be another unheralded monster QB coming outta New England. I'm good with that, personally.

 

[RodThePat]

Yes, the comparison is totally fair, but the flood of screamers will arrive in this thread any second anyway.

Brady was in his second year and inherited a team that went 5-11 the year before and was heading towards a top 10 pick in the draft with Bledsoe. Cassel got his chance in his fourth season in a team that was 2 minutes away from a perfect record in 07. I don't really see how the comparison is fair.

I'm not bashing Cassel, I think he will get better and has shown some promise, but right from the get go you could see Brady had something. Of course, we didn't assume he would become arguably the best QB in history just by watching his first six games, but he had some special qualities aside from managing the game. He almost single handedly won us that game againts San Diego in what? His third start?

Cassel can lead this team to the playoffs with a slight improvement in his game, but we just really can't compare his start to Brady's beacuse the circumstances are completely different.

 

[Deus Irae]

Since people are comparing the numbers.... here's some data from Pro-Football-Reference.com

Brady was sacked 41 times in 2001.

Brady finished the season with a passer rating of 86.5.
Cassel currently has a passer rating of 86.8

Brady finished the season with an int% of 2.9
Cassel currently has an int% of 2.4

Brady finished the season with a YPA of 6.9
Cassel currently has a YPA of 6.6

Brady finished the season with a 63.9 completion%
Cassel currently has a 66.3 completion%


Cassel is not Tom Brady, but you people constantly bashing the guy have really got to start thinking before you post. He's got the team to 4-2, and that's the 4th best record in the conference.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Brady was in his second year and inherited a team that went 5-11 the year before and was heading towards a top 10 pick in the draft with Bledsoe. Cassel got his chance in his fourth season in a team that was 2 minutes away from a perfect record in 07. I don't really see how the comparison is fair.

Umm... if Cassel leads this team to a record of 6-10 or better, can we then say Cassel > Bledsoe.

 

[tombonneau]

2001 vs. 2007 Pats teams are apples to oranges; however, I'm a Cassel supporter and really don't understand all the screaming and hair-pulling over his performance.

The fact of the matter is the way the defense played this team would very likely have lost to Miami & SD anyway. Sure, they would have put up 24 or 28 points, but they still would have lost.

The only thing that concerns me is that some point this season (most likely the playoffs) the team will have to win BECAUSE of Matt Cassel, and I'm not sure he is there yet. But hopefully by December he will be.

 

[Clonamery]

Cassel is not Tom Brady...

Doggone it, I was hoping for some miracle transformation like those Chia Pets where you just add water and POW!, instant Tom Brady.

 

[Rob0729]

I honestly don't understand this OBSESSION with comparing Cassel to Brady. I really don't. Is it so wrong to let Cassel become his own QB in peace?

My point of posting this isn't because I wanted to really compare Cassel and Brady, but to point out that Cassel may be getting a lot of unfair criticism. Cassel isn't Brady and never will be, but his start isn't significantly different than Brady's except Brady never got the piling on that Cassel gets.

 

[DefenseRules]

The thing is, these comparisons make it easier for us as fans to feel good when Cassel steps on the field. It also tell show smart Bill and co. are.

We could compare him to lot's of QB's, but NE is a pretty unique animal and we want to hold him to the standard of excellence we're used to.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. We're not asking him to be Brady, we're asking him to be another unheralded monster QB coming outta New England. I'm good with that, personally.

Sorry, I'm not going there. I think it's unfair to Cassel. I stopped comparing him to Brady a long time ago, because HE IS NOT TOM BRADY. I'm judging Cassel on his own play and abilities. Maybe that sounds old fashioned, but that's me.

 

[QuinielaBox]

Cassell is not as good as Brady at making on the fly adjustments. He will improve as he gets more experience. The team will have to take some more losses and learn.

I think he will be pretty good. I'm not expecting a Super Bowl appearence this year but I wasn't expecting one when Brady replaced Bledsoe back in 2001.

 

[upstater1]

Here's how tired I am of the Brady-Cassel comparison:

I was more interested in the Spygate mail at the end of the column:

• A PATS FAN IS FEELING VENGEFUL. From Kevin Hazzard, of Woburn, Mass.: "Where are the stripped draft picks? Where's Arlen Spector? In a story on SI.com, Packers player Ruvel Martin was quoted while speaking about Brett Favre possibly giving inside information to the Lions as saying: "In my opinion, there's not too much you can gain. You can give them our hand signals, [but] those are on tape already. If we find out you've got our hand signals, we try to find a way [around it]." If, as the Patriots found out, taping other teams' hand signals is illegal, then why are the Packers signals already on tape? Is this the admission that other teams, including the Packers, were/are doing the same thing? How does Ruvel Martin know that the team's hand signals are on tape? Has he seen this? ''

Kevin, one of the first places where the Patriots were suspected of taping opposing coaches' signals was Lambeau Field in Green Bay in 2006. I took Martin's comments about signals being on tape already to mean him referring to the Pats allegedly taping the Packers' signals. I haven't heard of any other teams having taped opposing signals, not to say it hasn't happened.

I wrote to King:

Peter, I didn't understand your answer about Ruvel Martin's comment about hand signals on tape. He said, "Our hand signals are on tape already," so there's not much to be gained by someone giving inside info on the Packers. You wrote that he was referring to the Patriots taping signals. With all due respect, what you wrote makes no sense. The Patriots aren't playing the Packers. Why would Martin make that comment in reference to the Patriots? I don't understand what you wrote. Are you saying the Patriots passed around videotapes of the Packers to other teams?

Furthermore, there's a John Clayton article about the Dolphins taping the Patriots' signals and stealing them. The article is from 2006, and the NFL's Steve Alic is quoted in the article as saying, "That's football."

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I think people tend to forget that Matt is our.... backup QB playing this year. TB will be back next year as our starter. MC is the backup. Here is the one stat that matters:

MC 4-2 .667 win percentage

Avg backup QB expectation 8-8 .500 win percentage.

How about comparing MC to the rest of the league backups?

Call me a homer but MC doesn't compare to TB. OTOH, from my perspective, nobody else compares to TB.