So, we have one of the best teams of all time. We will reduce the offense to what Cassel can handle (reduce the number reads etc.), count on the defense and ST's to win games, and hope. In short, we'll make believe that this team is as weak as the 2001 team, and hope that Cassel performs as good as Brady in 2001.
Personally, I think that this a great misuse of talent. And no one is saying ANY veteran is better than Cassel. We don't know who would be best. Our best guess in Garcia, who the vast majority of posters indicated in a recent poll would give us a better chance to be deep in the playoffs tha Cassel.
And BTW, we can spend the next offseason speculating on when Brady will be on the field and when he will be 100%, counting on Gut and O'Connell if Brady isn't ready, and calling ourselves unlucky beacuse we couldn't deal with a situation that was foreseeable for a full year.
Exactly what do I take from a straw poll indicating people want Garcia? Are any of those opinions polled coaches, scouts or GMs in the NFL? Even if it the response is unanimous, it does not make the statement credible. If those polled have actual football experience other than watching NFL football, playing fantasy football or running a Madden NFL franchise, it might add force to your position. Just like politics, expect a serious result shift and numerous mea culpas if Cassel puts points on the board.
So you have no answer to the questions (other than, I am assuming, Garcia is a viable veteran QB despite the fact he wants to be a starter, not a backup, and has not accepted he is a backup QB and would willingly take a pay cut to serve in that capacity. I am also assuming you conclude he is good to go immediately and will take over as starting QB Cassel will infer from Garcia's hiring he is done and incapable of leading this team) and somehow assume my contrary position to yours means we dumb down the offense. I did not say that, nor did I come even close to implying that.
I still believe we can win with this team as is and am not freaking out over a bad loss. Cassel knows the plays, but needs to gain experience and develop as a starter. So would anybody injected into this system after Brady. He may get the Eli Manning treatment during which experienced players like Shockey pushed him around but that can be fixed through positive performance and doing his job. Experience will build confidence, so what you have seen may not be the same as the finished product on the field as the season progresses. That is why fans put a vote of confidence in Belichick's talent assessment and have some faith that his actual NFL experience may afford him a greater insight than armchair quarterbacks who have never experienced NFL practices or game planning.
What I said is Belichick will learn more about Cassel's response to situations, fix what can be fixed and select an offensive scheme that works best with his abilities from the full playbook (not the 30% the veteran Garcia would run for most of the remaining season). The offense could be fully functional circa-2007 and doesn't have to be an offense circa-2001.
The guy has an 87 QB rating, which by most accounts is decent, but all the negative opinions seem to dump fault on him that the team is not getting in the end zone. Why exactly is that? Are the running backs tearing it up right now? No. Is the offensive line giving him sufficient time to throw deep? I saw one opportunity he missed last game. Should Moss have caught that pass up the middle, whether the miss was alligator arms or not seeing the ball? Yes. Have there been drops? Yes.
So clearly Cassel is responsible for this offensive malaise, and the panacea for all the Patriots offensive woes is a different quarterback. Because change is good, even if it's for the sake of change. Because winning 67% of games played is bad (dismiss that statistic based on strength of schedule, but project out the fact that most of the teams on this schedule blow in strength of schedule terms) and we couldn't possibly do worse with a replacement. Because guys like Jeff Garcia are known for leading teams to the promised land (2-4 in the playoffs in his 10th season, but let's credit him with the victories and crappy supporting staff for the losses) and promoting team harmony so we will get the offense on a united front by bringing in outsiders.
So is my Cassel choice based on some theory to let the defense win it? No. Will any QB available save a defensive meltdown like we saw last week? No. Do I expect Cassel and the offense will improve over the season? Yes. Do I expect it will be as proficient as the Brady-led offense last season? No. Will any change other than cloning Brady and implanting 7 years of experience with the offense into memory achieve that result? Not even close.
