What if the Patriots had made the playoffs under Matt Cassel?

[ctpatsfan77]

In the 2008 Week 11 game against the JEST, Cassel became the first QB to throw for 400 yards and rush for 60 in the same game. He tied that game on a fourth-down throw to Randy Moss after leading a textbook two-minute drive.

Unfortunately, the defense didn't hold, and the JEST kicked a FG to win that game. Ultimately, the 11–5 Patriots became one of the only 11-win teams to miss the playoffs.

How differently would things have turned out if they had won that game? They would've been 12–4, and the 3 seed in the playoffs. Moreover, at that point, Cassel looked like a top 5 QB after thrashing the Raiders, Cardinals, and Bills. While I doubt they would've won the Super Bowl, I think it's reasonable to think they might have won at least one playoff game.

So, either way: how differently do you think Pats history (including his trade value, which teams might have wanted him) turns out if he makes the playoffs, or wins a playoff game (or, if you really want to go there, somehow won the SB)?

 

[TheRainMaker]

They would've had the Ravens at home. Given what happened in 2009, they probably lose at home. Had they avoided the Ravens, I think they would've made some noise, make it to the Divisional and put up a better fight against Pittsburgh.

 

[TheRainMaker]

The Pats lost to Pittsburgh from dumb turnovers in the rain that can be corrected, but went on a 4 game winning streak beating the crap out of the NFC Champion Cardinals.

Had the Pats won the Super Bowl, what do they with Tom Brady coming off of a torn ACL....

 

[VectorPrime]

The Steelers would have stomped them again.

 

[Deus Irae]

1. They'd have lost in the playoffs.
2. The "Trade Brady" thread would have been marginally less insane.
3. They might have gotten a little bit more for a Cassel trade.
4. Everything else would have remained the same.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

They wouldn’t have gone far.

That secondary was bad. Hobbs was the #1 and hes a 2 at best. Behind him were a bunch of jags.

Vrabel and bruschi were shells of their former selves. Adalius and rodney went down for the year midway through.

It was a masterful job by bb and jmd the team went 11-5, and a weaker schedule.

 

[Triumph]

Trade Brady?

 

[sb1]

That team was fun to watch in December and starting to play their best football of the year. But the secondary wasn’t good enough for the team to go too much further imo. That would have still been a problem if TB12 was playing.

I think they still trade Cassel but they get a lot more back.

 

[sb1]

They wouldn’t have gone far.

That secondary was bad. Hobbs was the #1 and hes a 2 at best. Behind him were a bunch of jags.

Vrabel and bruschi were shells of their former selves. Adalius and rodney went down for the year midway through.

It was a masterful job by bb and jmd the team went 11-5, and a weaker schedule.

Deltha O’Neal was our top corner that year I think?

 

[Pape]

We could have gotten a first instead of a second for MC...

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Deltha O’Neal was our top corner that year I think?

He was right after ellis , either him or jonathon wilhite i think (yikes!). That was probably our worst secondary ever, even worse than the 2011 version. Thats hard to do

 

[SHOWTIME15]

They wouldn’t have gone far.

That secondary was bad. Hobbs was the #1 and hes a 2 at best. Behind him were a bunch of jags.

Vrabel and bruschi were shells of their former selves. Adalius and rodney went down for the year midway through.

It was a masterful job by bb and jmd the team went 11-5, and a weaker schedule.

As Bill said, we couldn't beat any of the top teams that year, so it would likely have been a one-and-done in the playoffs...

2008 was a remarkable coaching job by BB. With Brady hurt in week 1, the entire team could have (and should have) imploded. They could have made every excuse in the book to give up on their season, but thanks to Bill they made a playoff push and for that they should be proud.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

As Bill said, we couldn't beat any of the top teams that year, so it would likely have been a one-and-done in the playoffs...

2008 was a remarkable coaching job by BB. With Brady hurt in week 1, the entire team could have (and should have) imploded. They could have made every excuse in the book to give up on their season, but thanks to Bill they made a playoff push and for that they should be proud.

In an odd way that was a fun year. Sorta like the Cam season. We weren't the juggernaut but they fought their asses off.

 

[sb1]

As Bill said, we couldn't beat any of the top teams that year, so it would likely have been a one-and-done in the playoffs...

2008 was a remarkable coaching job by BB. With Brady hurt in week 1, the entire team could have (and should have) imploded. They could have made every excuse in the book to give up on their season, but thanks to Bill they made a playoff push and for that they should be proud.

Helps to have both a very easy schedule and the same offensive weapons who went undefeated the season before minus the quarterback. I don't think Bill had much to do with that.

 

[Bruins29]

Well as far as season endings go
2005 was disappointing
2006 was really bad
2007 was catastrophic
2008 a lone small bright spot where you could watch in peace and just say nice job at the end of the season.
2009 no show in the playoffs
2010 Alge Crumpler
2011
2012/2013 Ravens stuff was almost tolerable.

There was a cluster of years where being a Patriots fan was just ulcer inducing. 2008 was actually a nice break from it because once Brady is back you know that the whole season hinges on every play because of the margin for error.

 

[ashley]

Helps to have both a very easy schedule and the same offensive weapons who went undefeated the season before minus the quarterback. I don't think Bill had much to do with that.

I think if we had any other coach, the team is lucky to win 7 games.

 

[tasmlab]

As Bill said, we couldn't beat any of the top teams that year, so it would likely have been a one-and-done in the playoffs...

2008 was a remarkable coaching job by BB. With Brady hurt in week 1, the entire team could have (and should have) imploded. They could have made every excuse in the book to give up on their season, but thanks to Bill they made a playoff push and for that they should be proud.

IIRC, instead of the tough "do your job" or "no days off" message, the saying that year was something like "have fun".

 

[archstanton543]

He was right after ellis , either him or jonathon wilhite i think (yikes!). That was probably our worst secondary ever, even worse than the 2011 version. Thats hard to do

Wait til you see the 2022 secondary.

 

[sb1]

Well as far as season endings go
2005 was disappointing
2006 was really bad
2007 was catastrophic
2008 a lone small bright spot where you could watch in peace and just say nice job at the end of the season.
2009 no show in the playoffs
2010 Alge Crumpler
2011
2012/2013 Ravens stuff was almost tolerable.

There was a cluster of years where being a Patriots fan was just ulcer inducing. 2008 was actually a nice break from it because once Brady is back you know that the whole season hinges on every play because of the margin for error.

I wasn't that disappointed in 2005 I knew they weren't good enough and didn't expect them to threepeat especially since they were in Denver.

2006 was a kick to the gut. Couldn't sleep. 2007 well you know. The less said the better.

I actually enjoyed the 2008 season. Still annoyed at Favre having a stinker in the final week of the season against a team we needed to lose to get in. Just like he did in 2002, it was almost deja vu. Great timing BrINT.

2009 was the first time I wondered if that was the end of the dynasty and boy was I wrong. The "0 titles since spygate" thing was running strong and it was getting tiresome.
2010... SMH

2019 I was just sad. Felt like the end of the road for the Patriots and maybe for a while. Didn't think we'd be slowly trending back up so soon like we seem to be now, can't wait to see what happens this year.

 

[archstanton543]

Also, I know it's the doldrums of the NFL year but why are we talking about this? It's ancient history at this point.