Matt Cassel has arrived!

[Box_O_Rocks]

Some men are incapable of saying they are wrong. Something to do with diaper training or breast feeding, I forget which.

Truly sad to read, pattern recognition must not be taught in kindergarden anymore.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Cassel did a ton of things right last night and certainly answered my request that he show he could lead the team down the field when they needed to rely on him to win. He did that multiple times in the 3rd and 4th quarters. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the badly thrown balls that our receivers couldn't get to when they were open. Perhaps my expectations are too high? At any rate, it was a superior performance by Cassel; if only our defense could play as well...

 

[NEPatriot]

Some men are incapable of saying they are wrong. Something to do with diaper training or breast feeding, I forget which.

I hope that i'm wrong. If Pats gets into a playoff as a WILD CARD with a easy schedule OR fails in the playoff, you definitely need that missing breast feeding more than anybody else.

I'll be here to make sure that you eat and drink Cassel's greatness for 5 months. You can COUNT on it.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I have to admit, I was a Cassel basher in the beginning, and was dreaming about O'Connell starting. I must admit my mistake, I am completely convinced about Cassel not only being an NFL QB, but I am convinced he is a GOOD QB ! That performance caused goosebumps. Color me completely impressed !

 

[JoeShmoe]

I just hope and pray now that BB and JMcD open up this offense and make it aerial again .. Cassel has shown he's got it .. and if we can get Watson and Gaffney catching balls then lets go for it the second half of the season rather than try and dink and dunk and grub a ground game out...

..the last 3 or 4 games has shown me you've got to let Cassel make use of Moss and Welker. He's good enough

 

[godef]

Might be worth noting that for our observation, Cassel technically threw 4 TD's. What I mean is the two-point conversion was as good as a red zone TD, performance-wise. I recognize that statistically it's not that, but you can bet that play means no opponent from here on in can count on the run being the play we use to get red zone TD's anymore.

Well... red zone TDs are one thing, 2-yarder are quite another and consitute only a small subset of these, so IMHO I wouldn't agree with you on the technically-4-touchdown thing.

 

[cblesz]

Too bad he can't play in the secondary...

 

[PJM]

I have rarely been happier to be proven wrong. I especially think we should compare Cassel to all the other No.2 QBs who have had to step up this year. The only ones who match up are Kurt Warner (a former league MVP) and kerry Collins (a long time veteran who has been to a superbowl). I honestly cannot blame Cassel for any of the team's losses and he nearly won this game.

I understand the idea of franchising him and then trading him but I'm not sure it will happen. The salary cap hit would paralyze the team in the free agent market until Cassel moved on and there is no guarantee a team would pay the asking price.

 

[Yorkshire Patriot]

Was a really good performance from Cassel, and the best thing is that he continues to improve in every game. Now if we can eradicate the 1 or 2 careless plays in other phases of the game we can definitely make a run deep into the playoffs!

 

[kwf]

Remember that play during pre-season Matt's rookie year when jammed himself into the endzone...It was the play that prompted BB to say it was a little early to be thinking about Canton...he's come a long way....

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The numbers were great, the best # I saw was 18, which is how much this team was down by and Cassel was able to lead us back despite all the miscues by his teammates.

I just wish he got his shot in OT

 

[JR4]

Yes he has ... and he'll only get better

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Just wondering, has anyone ever seen a game tying/winning TD drive in a tougher clock situation? 1:20 left in the game, 65 yards, no timeouts. Add in the false start and it's 70 yards. Aside from a hail mary or fluke type play??

 

[Bella*chick]

Not we all. Nope. Some of us were Cassel supporters the whole time. Some of us were not impressed with Gutierrez.

But yeah, most of YOU trashed Cassel to pieces, and praised Gute, who I'm sure is a nice guy but note that no one picked him up even for their practice squad. Were it not for Brady getting hurt, Gutierrez NFL career would be over.

The ultimate was some maroon who contended that in the end Gutierrez would have a better career than Cassel.

Well, honestly, I don't remember trashing Cassel myself, although it's certainly possible I said something or other less than glowing. But when I say "we all", I'm speaking generally. I don't have the energy/patience to search for the ones who had a different opinion.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

400 passing yards, 3 TDs along with 62 yards rushing. Cassel had a phenomenal game that announced to the NFL world that he has arrived as a starting QB.

Was he perfect? No. He missed a few scoring opportunties on the deep ball. There was one play where he could have taken off and scored himself instead of throwing yet another incompletion to Watson. Is it me or has pass to Watson become almost synonymous with incompletion?

BUT when the chips were on the line, Cassel drove down the field with less than 2 minutes, no timeouts, and laid down a picture perfect pass to Randy Moss to tie the game. That's a hell of a performance for a kid who is essentially a rookie starter.

For better or for worse, Cassel has established himself as 'the guy', the starting QB for the New England Patriots. And the exciting part is that he is getting better every week. He finally had his payoff/arrival game. I can't wait to see what a more confident and mature Cassel can show to us in the remaining games of the season.

Every first year QB has ups and downs. I hope we all remember this feeling when later in the year, Cassel should happen to lay an egg in a crucial game.

How painful would it be if Cassel was the Jets starting QB next season.

 

[Sivy]

Every first year QB has ups and downs. I hope we all remember this feeling when later in the year, Cassel should happen to lay an egg in a crucial game.

How painful would it be if Cassel was the Jets starting QB next season.

who cares, Tom Brady will be back and what the jets do and dont do will not matter.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

who cares, Tom Brady will be back and what the jets do and dont do will not matter.

Yeah, but do you really want to root against Cassel next year on a regular basis?

 

[Sivy]

Yeah, but do you really want to root against Cassel next year on a regular basis?

I like Cassel, I love Brady. If Cassel is a jet, he becomes the enemy. Dosent matter, Favre will be a jet next year anyway, you know he isnt quiting untill he reaches that 300 start mark.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Yeah, but do you really want to root against Cassel next year on a regular basis?

When Matt Cassel leaves town, he will be traded, and not to the Jets. Of that I can assure you.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

A few observations:

- I was one of the ones saying "Oh shut up. He could progress. He could not. We don't know. And no, O'Connell isn't automatically better because he's not on the field."

Yay me. And all the other old farts saying this coaching staff does, in fact, know what it's doing.

- Temper your optimism. Billy Volek passed for 1100 yards in three games and something like 12 touchdowns. Billy Volek, now the starting QB for... uh is he even someone's backup right now?

- On the other hand: "What Matt Cassel just did gives me goosebumps." Holy crap. Zero timeouts, long field, boom boom boom, spike spike spike, they denied him the sidelines, and he did it the hard way, clock-wise. Beyond that his stat-line was great, and God knows what it would have been if the whole Pats team hadn't been channeling the ghost of Reche Caldwell, c 2006. Any way you slice it fantastic game, and my sense is he's really more like this game, going forward, than he is like game 2. Bradyesque effort.

- In the "damned if you do damned if you don't" flip-side department: We hope Brady is back. We pray Brady is back. There's some slight chance that the infection problem IS incredibly bad. Nobody hopes for it. But don't you feel a scosh more secure now than a few weeks ago?

- Oh yeah about our "old slow linebackers"? Not a problem. Very pleased with the growth of Woods, the as-advertised brilliance of Mayo, and the very pleasant surprise of Guyton. Overall it's been a while since a Pats' D was aggressive like last night and it felt GOOD to watch.

- The downside - we're in a playoff dogfight. I like it myself. Win or lose it's been a while since I saw a Pats game I liked as much. Could have done without that ending. But nobody gave up in that game. That's what you watch the games for.