Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesn't matter.

[SteveBsFan]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

The Pats secondary this year is definitely pretty bad, so it's really hard to say if the actual outcomes of the games would be different, but I know it's definitely not as simple as saying 'well Brady would have made this throw and changed this drive'.

Having a QB like Cassel opposed to a QB like Brady makes differences in so many aspects of a game. Here are a few off the top of my head..

1. Teams gameplan and prepare differently now. Now it's a lot easier for teams to prepare for the Pats. Opposing players also go into the week with a new confidence knowing they actually have a really good shot at winning.

2. Cassel throws a ton of short balls, they said something like 80% of his passes were under 10 yards. This allows defenses to creep up closer and closer making it extremely difficult to do anything against them. Defenses are also not scared to play much more aggressive than they would with Brady, so they're swamping the offensive line almost every play. Brady makes a lot of defenses stay honest.

3. A different offensive game leads to a different defensive game. Scoring more puts more pressure on the opposing offense making them try to play 'perfect' which often messes people up. Now they know they can do aggressive things like throwing it deep over and over without the fear of turning it over. Brady makes teams pay when they turn it over, so they take less chances like that.

Also, to a lesser extent and hopefully this one isn't true, players on the Pats lost their swagger. Even when they're driving down the field, the offense looks timid and scared from the QB to the receivers. Moss is dropping balls, Welker is dropping balls. It almost looks like they're already waiting for next season.

I love the Pats, but i'm confident almost everyone on that team saw any chances of winning a superbowl walk away early in week 1. I'll never stop rooting for them even if they lose every game the remainder of my life, but i'm not going to look at the QB situation through rose-colored glasses. Brady is an MVP, future hall of famer, and Cassel is a career backup at one of the most important positions in all of sports. The difference between the two and the importance of the role is a massive change for any team in any sport.

Picture Gretzky in his prime being replaced for some joe shmoe. Or Lemieux, or Jordan or Bird, etc.

 

[dtbrks]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Ever heard of under thrown balls??? Slowing down so jammer and break up the pass is Moss fault? What are you smoking dude?

Yeah lets disregard Cassel missing Moss twice on should have been TDs...and the TE once wide open on the one yard line because he was running around in circles like a scared little girl....

Yes.. If cassel throws that ball 10 yards farther Moss blows by jammer and get's the TD... it was so obvious that he had to slow way down to even try and fool jammer.

 

[WhoaDirty]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Agree 100% and not just because we're both from Alberta.

If you have a QB that enjoys throwing the ball at his Centers ankles every 3rd play, ya, I think our D will be seeing alot of playing time.

Cassel was throwing at the center's ankles because the center didn't do jack tonight and Cassel had defenders in his face.

Brady doesn't play defense. 98 yards in 4 plays on the their first series after half.

While I wasn't entirely happy with Moss' performance, the defenders were either all over him, or played him very well. On that one-hander he almost pulled in, the DB had his other arm locked down - it should have been an interference.

 

[PATRIOT64]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

The difference between Brady and Cassel is simple

With Brady even if the defense sucks like it does they would still have good hopes of winning shootouts like 34-31 or 30-27 ect:

No Brady - no comebacks - easy to understand

This team will NEVER win a game that they are more then 10 or more points behind from - anyone want to bet against this?

 

[WeezyFbaby]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Wow this is a ridiculous post. Did you not see Randy Moss run past both of the Niners best corners on the same play last week? Maybe you missed him run past Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromartie this week?

You lost any credibility with that post. I'd take your own advice and watch some film.

my thoughts exactly. How does he look slow in one on one matchups when hes consistantly getting a step on the secondary. You are talking about the best deep threat the game has ever seen. Your comments are ridiculous. rewatch the game or highlites or something just because a ball is thrown in the general area there are defenders hes not wide open because the ball is ALWAYS overthrown.

YEs Randy Moss is done. 23 touchdowns last year hes done now. he cant run hes a grampa out there like god how dare him only have a 2 step lead on the defender then have to come back on an underthrown ball to stop an interception. god he should just like use his wings and superpowers to fly over the defender and fly into the endzone untouched. cus thats what pro bowlers do. they catch EVERYTHING no matter what. Lets put randy on Defense to cus hes a pro bowler he should be able to do anything better yet put him in at qb so he can throw it in the air then go and catch his own pass.


idiot stop posting

 

[dakevdude]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

The difference between Brady and Cassel is simple

With Brady even if the defense sucks like it does they would still have good hopes of winning shootouts like 34-31 or 30-27 ect:

No Brady - no comebacks - easy to understand

This team will NEVER win a game that they are more then 10 or more points behind from - anyone want to bet against this?

100% Agreed

Give us a QB that's capable of making a comeback...Cassel is worthless...heck i knew we were in trouble when they marched down and went up a TD after that one yard line debacle by the Pats

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter. All I see is threads about Matt Cassel. You think brady would have saved us from the beating we took from miami? Not possible. Think brady could save us from the beating we took from san diego? Not possible.
Yeah, Cassel sucks balls. No question about it. But do you all really believe that a good qb can save you from a defensive massacre? From an o-line that looks like they all got the flu? Hell, even welker is dropping passes, and Bill isnt adjusting.
This entire team has problems. Dont think your hero's return could magically make it all better.

I didn't see the Miami game, so I'll take a pass on that one, and I think that TB would have gotten more out of the Offense tonight no matter what. But, basically, you're right. The O line looked like it was back in the SB, the defense was embarassing downfield (where are the "Dump O'Neal" threads?), there was no running game to speak of, Special Teams were poor at best (our Punter acts like he just nailed the SB when he manages to get one punt inside the 20). The problems go way beyond Matt, but that's far too many complicated thoughts for the Cassel haters to keep in their brains at one time, so they will continue to demand his head on a platter as a cure all for what are actually a whole lot of problems.

 

[WhoaDirty]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

buddy if tom brady were in the game the defense wouldnt be on the field for the entire game and he could actually put up points remember they averaged 34 points last year... that by my count would put us up by 5 not down by 20.

Stupid thread. Mods lock

The Patriots had the ball more than 31 minutes tonight - how do you figure the defense was on the field the entire game?

 

[PATRIOT64]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

100% Agreed

Give us a QB that's capable of making a comeback...Cassel is worthless...heck i knew we were in trouble when they marched down and went up a TD after that one yard line debacle by the Pats

Hell,We were in trouble the moment the Chargers went up 10-0

This team cannot EVER allow a double digit lead on its opponents this year or the game is a loss ..period,end of story

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

It's simple really.

With Brady, this team thinks it can win, and plays that way.

With Cassel they don't, and play that way

Not all the time, but certainly in the Miami and SD game. Our entire team packed it in after the missed TD, except for a 5 minutes garbage time period at the end of the game when SD was already celebrating.

 

[WeezyFbaby]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

The Patriots had the ball more than 31 minutes tonight - how do you figure the defense was on the field the entire game?

How much of that was in the 4th quarter???

 

[D-cleater]

PATRIOTS 64 - I'll take your bet!

The difference between Brady and Cassel is simple

With Brady even if the defense sucks like it does they would still have good hopes of winning shootouts like 34-31 or 30-27 ect:

No Brady - no comebacks - easy to understand

This team will NEVER win a game that they are more then 10 or more points behind from - anyone want to bet against this?

I Will take this bet. I'll bet you $100 straight up.

Just for clarity, we are betting on: IF the team is behind 10 or more points at any point out of the remaining games this season, that they will come from behind and win at least once.

Is this correct? of so, YOU'RE ON. Lets do this.

 

[WhoaDirty]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

How much of that was in the 4th quarter???

SD opened with a 10 play drive, NE followed with a 10 play drive. SD ran 34 plays in the 1st half, NE ran 36. NE opened with a 12 play drive in the 3rd quarter.

The defense wasn't on the field a ton. They played the run well on 1st and 2nd downs, then repeatedly got killed on 3rd and long because they couldn't get pressure and the CBs couldn't cover anyone it seemed.

Is our QB good? No, but you can't blame all the Pats problems on him, we have O line issues and some big problems on D as well.

 

[WeezyFbaby]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

well good point then. I guess it just seemed with the points they were out longer but i forgot the ridiculous amount of huge plays. but in fairness they are out there alot longer in comparison to last year

 

[SeymourTrophies]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter. All I see is threads about Matt Cassel. You think brady would have saved us from the beating we took from miami? Not possible. Think brady could save us from the beating we took from san diego? Not possible.
Yeah, Cassel sucks balls. No question about it. But do you all really believe that a good qb can save you from a defensive massacre? From an o-line that looks like they all got the flu? Hell, even welker is dropping passes, and Bill isnt adjusting.
This entire team has problems. Dont think your hero's return could magically make it all better.

We had plenty of chances to keep pace with the chargers in this game that came down to the difference between Brady and Cassel. Missed throws, bad pocket presence, or the total unwillingness to go anywhere but across the middle were constants in Cassel's game. The protection isn't any worse, Brady can just manipulate the secondary to his liking and get rid of the ball several seconds before Cassel.

Confidence is another issue with this team. If you don't have confidence in your QB, the entire team is affected. The defense gets sluggish because they don't believe in their qb, and players like Wes Welker drop balls because he is amazed it went to him instead of the other team. Just look at the bears last year, the cowboys in 06 before Romo, and the difference between the 05 and 06 ravens.

 

[kbbluepits]

The whole team loss the game. BUT team moral is low because of Cassel.

 

[bostonia3333]

YES, the Pats would likely be 4-1/5-0 with Brady in there. This is an offensive league. I bet Brady puts up 35 pts on SD's defense which was giving the Pats wide open receiver routes all night. Not sure if the Pats win this game with Brady, but I'd bet it be the game of the season, a 35-35 game going to OT. I thought SD's pass rush was below avg last night. Cassel had decent time to throw, he just starts running when he sees a guy in his face. Someone tell him this is the NFL.

I think Cassel should get most of the blame here. As bad as the defense played last night, 17 pts at halftime in SD is what I would have expected had Brady been there. Tell me about a dominant defense in the NFL. There is none. You've gotta have a qb that can stretch the field. I'm not talking 50 yd bombs, just 12-15 yd intermediate stuff is crucial to surviving in a playoff race. We have taken the wonderful things Brady does for granted--it's not just the TD passes, we forget about other things he does--throwing off your backfoot, hanging in the pocket when seeing an ounce of pressure and not just start running, etc.

 

[stcjones]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Yes I do.. at first I didn't think so, but sorry, he is THAT GOOD. He is a game changer, period.
Would they be perfect, no.. but 12-4, yes and superbowl favorite, maybe

I agree.......

 

[Lifer]

Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter. All I see is threads about Matt Cassel. You think brady would have saved us from the beating we took from miami? Not possible. Think brady could save us from the beating we took from san diego? Not possible.
Yeah, Cassel sucks balls. No question about it. But do you all really believe that a good qb can save you from a defensive massacre? From an o-line that looks like they all got the flu? Hell, even welker is dropping passes, and Bill isnt adjusting.
This entire team has problems. Dont think your hero's return could magically make it all better.

Great post! this team has a lot more problems than lsoing Brady.

The defense, which cost us 2 championships at crunch time the last 2 years, is totally overated and soft. They dont run all that well. They look like a team that COULD go 10-6 WITH Brady, butr without him will go 8-8.

They got old fast. sorry, thats what I see.

 

[fumbrunner]

Re: Tom Brady/Matt Cassel. Doesnt matter.

Listen. the difference with Brady is he can move the chains. He keeps opposing teams defences on the field and wears them down that is what gives the pats the edge. We would be 5-0 with him in the lineup. NO doubt. even if the d gives up 30 points with tom and the offense im positive they could put up more

Absolutely, this team has been about sustained drives and controlling the clock, particularly in close games. With Brady, sustained drives are a given. with Cassel sustained drives are the exception.