I'm still proud of Cassel

[MoLewisrocks]

Can't say I'm too proud of him today. He mentally imploded after one bad call. Maybe he could have recovered from that, but the next play he threw a pick and any confidence he'd built the last two games was gone.

Yeah, the defense imploded, but I'm willing to treat that as an anomaly based on the weird playcalling from Miami. They still should have stopped it (or at least been able to slow it down) but there was at least a plausible reason for it. Cassel lost it mentally, and physically any pass he attempts longer than 7 yards is more likely to be picked off than caught. The rest of the team is too good to wait for his balls to drop.

Aside from a pick born of frustration that still had to be returned 77 yards to score off of, and a later fumble also born of frustration when the game in hindsight was well out of hand, I thought one thing we learned about Cassel today is that while he's cautious he's also resiliant and regained his poise while those around him and on his defense never seemed to manage to. He and Hobbs were the only two players who really came to play consistently today. Welker showed up at times, as did the RB's and Gaffney showed late. The rest of the team and it's coaching staff was MIA against Miami.

 

[thunder509s]

How come nobody is bringing up all the games where Tom Laid a big fat egg. How bout' the Miami game a few seasons ago where we blew an 11 point lead with 4 minutes left.

Does anybody remember Tom getting smacked and throwing the game winning interception right to Miami. Huh??? Anybody????

Give the Kid a chance. My God!!!! Don't measure our success off of last season!!! Think about all the preceeding seaons before that. Tom didn't achieve true greatness till his 3rd starting season!!!!

Sure we won the SB in 01' but, remember, didn't make the playoffs in 02'. Does anyone remember???

HUH??? ANYONE????

 

[edgeofepic]

I don't blame Cassel for the loss. However, if the Pats find themselves later in the season with a mediocre record and no realistic chance of doing anything in the playoffs I say you give O'Connell the rock and let him play out the rest of the season. If there is a future beyond Brady it's O'Connell, not Cassel.

 

[wahwho]

How come nobody is bringing up all the games where Tom Laid a big fat egg. How bout' the Miami game a few seasons ago where we blew an 11 point lead with 4 minutes left.

Does anybody remember Tom getting smacked and throwing the game winning interception right to Miami. Huh??? Anybody????

Give the Kid a chance. My God!!!! Don't measure our success off of last season!!! Think about all the preceeding seaons before that. Tom didn't achieve true greatness till his 3rd starting season!!!!

Sure we won the SB in 01' but, remember, didn't make the playoffs in 02'. Does anyone remember???

HUH??? ANYONE????

Yeah, I remember. But that's not the point. I don't care if he'll be Tom Brady in two years, by then the real Brady will be back. Cassel will either show some development this season and leave in free agency or stink and be out of the league...developing Cassel over the course of the season does nothing for the Pats. They need somebody who's capable of being a starting NFL quarterback now. Where they find him, I don't know, but Cassel isn't it.

 

[swheeler23]

How come nobody is bringing up all the games where Tom Laid a big fat egg. How bout' the Miami game a few seasons ago where we blew an 11 point lead with 4 minutes left.

Does anybody remember Tom getting smacked and throwing the game winning interception right to Miami. Huh??? Anybody????

Give the Kid a chance. My God!!!! Don't measure our success off of last season!!! Think about all the preceeding seaons before that. Tom didn't achieve true greatness till his 3rd starting season!!!!

Sure we won the SB in 01' but, remember, didn't make the playoffs in 02'. Does anyone remember???

HUH??? ANYONE????

Come on. People remember Bradys bad game but look at all he has done good. Comparing Cassel to him makes no since. Brady playing bad is just a bad game he has proven he is a winner.
Having said that Cassel did not lose this game. The defense sucked.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Cassel is not the man

Sorry Cassel lovers .... this on is on your guy!

The D came out flat ... why? my guess is Cassel lost this team
in practice. No one will admit it but I bet there is more than one
guy on that defense that thinks ..." live to fight another year"

Your QB has to inspire confidence on only on offense but on defense.
There is a reason Moss looks off his game ... why the Oline is not
blocking as well as it did for Tom ... why the D looks lethargic at times ..
... my bet is it's a loss of confidence in the new leader.

Cassel looked over his head today ... bad throws ... bad decisions ...
... too slow finding the open guy. He should have had at least 2
more ints. He is too easily read and the fins figured it out.
.... just bad .... PATs are in big trouble.
They better trade for a QB if possible.

That's crap. Cassel is a backup QB stepping in for a HOF'er. One who apparently lost his team on a number of occasions including his second start as a backup and his first start after a 9-7 2002. We won two superbowls in the aftermath of those losses. Moss looks off his game either because he's injured or because he's being a baby and not a leader. Leaders step up like Boss did in regulation or Toomer and Burress just did for Eli in OT...

It's a shame it only costs eighteen bucks to be a VIP here...

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Whoever said it was the same playbook is fooling themselves, or us. Where are the intermediate and long throws? The only pass play I seen over 15 yards should of been picked off. No TE down the seam, no play action, no slants...

nadda.

The D was flat to boot.

 

[mossisboss]

Cassel is done.

Belichick needs to find a vet QB over the bye. Trade for Jeff Garcia or coax Daunte Culpepper out of retirement.

There no way we will go to the playoff this year with Cassell. The whole team stunk today. BUT Cassell has stunk all 3 weeks, while the D has stunk only this week only. Belichick will fix the defense, but nothing's going to fix Cassell.

 

[Carpentier]

Matt Cassell is the answer if you need only 17 to 19 points per game. Two or three fg plus a td is all he can give you. If you need more than one td he is not your guy.

 

[emoney_33]

Whoever said it was the same playbook is fooling themselves, or us. Where are the intermediate and long throws? The only pass play I seen over 15 yards should of been picked off. No TE down the seam, no play action, no slants...

nadda.

The D was flat to boot.

I can't tell if it's Matt having a lack of confidence in himself to hit the longer throws, the coaching asking him to keep it short, the way the defense is playing the deep stuff, the OL not giving Matt a lot of time or a combination of it all. I believe we will start seeing a more open offense, and I can't wait to see some more deep attempts. But first things first, get the OL to block more consistently.

 

[mossisboss]

Re: Cassel is not the man

That's crap. Cassel is a backup QB stepping in for a HOF'er. One who apparently lost his team on a number of occasions including his second start as a backup and his first start after a 9-7 2002. We won two superbowls in the aftermath of those losses. Moss looks off his game either because he's injured or because he's being a baby and not a leader. Leaders step up like Boss did in regulation or Toomer and Burress just did for Eli in OT...

It's a shame it only costs eighteen bucks to be a VIP here...

Stop making excuses for a QB who had never started a QB in college. We saw last year what Cassell was made of when relieving Brady in a blowout win vs these same Dolphins. He sucked this preseason, and we still haven't cracked the 20 ppg barrier this season.

 

[thunder509s]

Yeah, I remember. But that's not the point. I don't care if he'll be Tom Brady in two years, by then the real Brady will be back. Cassel will either show some development this season and leave in free agency or stink and be out of the league...developing Cassel over the course of the season does nothing for the Pats. They need somebody who's capable of being a starting NFL quarterback now. Where they find him, I don't know, but Cassel isn't it.

That's the entire point!!! Tom came in for Drew back in 01' and everyone was saying the same about Tom at that point!!!

He's not Tom! I get that! But also remember Tom wasn't Drew either!

GIVE THE KID A CHANCE!!! Tom's a proven winner after 7 seasons! This is Cassels 2nd start and 3rd game. For crying out loud we're 2-1! Better than some other teams with proven starting QB's!!!!! What more do you want!!! It is what it is!!! Get over it!!!

 

[Patty_Patriot]

I agree Cassel has been put in a difficult position and has done well considering. Brady has had some just as bad, if not worse games.

Belichick has proven time and time again he's not afraid to do what is best for the team, even if it's not the most popular decision. I remember being angry about Milloy and Vinateiri, just to name two. If he didn't think Cassel was the best person to be starting right now, Cassel wouldn't be starting and if he thought O'Connor would have been better than Cassel, I'm sure he would have had Cassel pulled earlier.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I don't blame Cassel for the loss. However, if the Pats find themselves later in the season with a mediocre record and no realistic chance of doing anything in the playoffs I say you give O'Connell the rock and let him play out the rest of the season. If there is a future beyond Brady it's O'Connell, not Cassel.

I agree with you based solely on things like age, contracts, etc. Regardless of what Cassel does this season, no matter what his ultimate record, I don't see him here next year.

 

[MassPats38]

Anybody remember the 31-0 beatdown at the hands of the Bills in 2003? Brady threw 4 picks and all the chicken littles were screaming the "sky is falling" on the Patriots. The team went on to thrash the Bills by the same score and win the championship. It's one game people, and one data point is not a trend. I would recommend reserving judgment until they actually lose a second game.

Anybody who thought Cassel would walk in as a new QB and be lights out on offensive performance is delusional. He is a work in progress. There was no way he could win this game. As badly as the defense played today, I doubt Brady would have been able to make up for the deficiencies as a whole. Special teams played well, offense and defense stunk on ice.

The team came out flat and lost badly. The Dolphins looked like the Patriots did playing the Dolphins last year. I will not read anything else into this but a flat performance and a miserable show. They were not going to go undefeated this year. The losses will come, I just wish it wasn't at the hands of a team with Joey Porter on it. That fact stings a bit more than a typical loss would.

 

[nORRis8]

Re: Cassel is not the man

Heard a rumor this morning on the ESPN pre-game show that the Bucs were in contact with the Pats after Brady was injured to see if they wanted a trade for Jeff Garcia.

Found a web-site as well that mentions perhaps that the trade may involve a 5th round pick from the Pats.

 

[emoney_33]

Anybody remember the 31-0 beatdown at the hands of the Bills in 2003? Brady threw 4 picks and all the chicken littles were screaming the "sky is falling" on the Patriots. The team went on to thrash the Bills by the same score and win the championship. It's one game people, and one data point is not a trend. I would recommend reserving judgment until they actually lose a second game.

Anybody who thought Cassel would walk in as a new QB and be lights out on offensive performance is delusional. He is a work in progress. There was no way he could win this game. As badly as the defense played today, I doubt Brady would have been able to make up for the deficiencies as a whole. Special teams played well, offense and defense stunk on ice.

The team came out flat and lost badly. The Dolphins looked like the Patriots did playing the Dolphins last year. I will not read anything else into this but a flat performance and a miserable show.

I cannot wait for the 2nd Miami game now. That will be one helluva game, hoepfully all these chicken little ****s will be long gone by then.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: Cassel is not the man

Heard a rumor this morning on the ESPN pre-game show that the Bucs were in contact with the Pats after Brady was injured to see if they wanted a trade for Jeff Garcia.

Found a web-site as well that mentions perhaps that the trade may involve a 5th round pick from the Pats.

Let me remind you of the end of the Patriots' mission statement:

that consistently competes for championships.

Consistently doesn't mean they're going to win every year--or even that they're necessarily going to make the playoffs every year. What it does mean is that they want to win now and win later--but that they're not going to sell the farm to win now.

Am I certain Garcia or another vet won't be coming to Foxboro? No. But I don't think it's very likely, either.

 

[newton_tom_cat]

i guess you were proud of bill buckner too?

 

[fumbrunner]

after last week's game, I said I'd reserve judgement on cassel until I saw more. I still say that after this game. True, he did not look good, but we need to expect that he will have games like this. Hopefully he has more good games than bad.