Patriots Football

Chuck Berkley asked:


Matt Cassel did just enough in his first game as Tom Brady’s substitute, but it helped that the Jets and Favre did very little to take advantage of his innocence, bottom line, there was no excuse for the Jets to lose this game.
We said it, we wrote it and we predicted it!! “Matt Cassel ready to rumble!” And not only did he roared, he did a respectable job of making good decisions. He didn’t put the team in any bad situations and made some clever positive plays. He managed that 19-10 score against the Jets on Sunday like a champ!!

Cassel has plenty of talent around him and he has a career 61.4 completion percentage (although, to be fair, he’s only thrown 57 passes in his NFL career), but it’s hard to say much about his football IQ given his restricted playing time. Even if he’s not able to oversee information as quickly as Warner or Brady, he does have one thing going for him: understanding with the offense and why not? He has been watching and reviewing for years. To be more honest about the situation and game facts, there’s a difference between knowing where to go with the ball during no-pressure practices and being able to imitate that in high-stress game conditions.

The first half wasn’t exactly the best football you’ve ever seen, but the Pats did enough to walk into the locker room with a 6-3 lead. Though the second half wasn’t much better-looking, Brett Favre showed why you have to limit your excitement when he hits on fear in the end zone, because he’ll follow that up a week later with a poor, poor decision that leads to an interception (this one by Brandon Merriweather), an interception that essentially loses the game. We said it and it happened.

Favre’s interception led to the Patriots’ best drive of the game, resulting in a Sammy Morris touchdown and the invigorating Pats immediately followed by forcing a three-and-out and kicking a field goal. Though the Jets answered with a touchdown of their own, it wasn’t enough.

Honestly, there was no justification for the Jets to lose this game. Favre was hired to make a difference and he simply didn’t do that. While the Jets’ defense did a good job for the most part of making the Patriots chip for yards and settle for field goals, the offense should have been able to perform better against an elderly, soften defense and whether it’s fair or not it’s on Favre to make that happen. We will give him some time and write an article on Brett in a couple of weeks.

Now, for the next games, will Matt Cassel be able to change a play at the line of scrimmage based on the defense? Identify the open receiver? Get him the ball before getting smoked by a linebacker? We have many, many questions, and bottom line is…we are not talking about field experience, who slept better Sunday night, Matt Cassel or his conscience? We believe his heart!!



SANFORD

Chuck Berkley asked:


Not only did Matt Cassel played a good game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday November 23rd, but became the first quarterback ever in the Patriots history to post 415 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Perhaps the Miami Dolphins had a hard time trying to figure out Matt Cassel’s game plans or maybe they were thinking of another easy defeat (Dolphins beat the Patriots 38-13 two months), but they forgot that Matt Cassel has become a serious QB lately and the 48-28 on the Patriots favor, left no doubt about it.
It’s funny how a team can become so predictable, thus copying line ups or imitating single wing formations; this is totally legal on the NFL, but risky and the Miami Dolphins learned it the hard way.

Now, the tactical story of this season’s game two, among these AFC East rivals, was driving the receivers one by one and finding the middle ground tactic to protect Matt Cassel; something the Dolphins were not expecting and betrayed their middle defensive display.

I’m not saying Matt Cassel imitates the same plays Tom Brady use to, and hearing the Medias comments of a “respectable reproduction of Tom Brady” is out of the question, because Cassel has shown everyone what happens when you have a good defense and an outstanding offense…great passes and touchdowns.

This was Matt Cassel’s second 400-yard game, in which he even showed tempo while running for the end zone and the three touchdowns passes all to Randy Moss put a good statement on the book; excellent communication.

New England’s non-stop effort was worth praising, scoring on similar plays on the 4th quarter and if it wasn’t for some first-half touchdowns on 2 turnovers, the Patriots would have taken a drastic 30 point lead by the end of the game.

Frustration invaded the field; the Dolphins could not make the end zone or the side line, time after time the Patriots massive attack line kept pushing backwards. In the second half they even tried to change the spread passing, but with a team like the Patriots you should never change the tactical review, especially when you have only achieved 30 yards in 8 formation attempts.

Again, Matt Cassel was not taking attitude from no one, he became THE QUARERTERBACK on the field, and the team provided a good scheme; from that point on he could spread the wide receivers. Every player in the Miami Dolphins team was aiming for the pass catchers and totally forgot that the one man team was the undercover agent, in that case Matt Cassel.

Based on season 2007-08 performance, the Miami Dolphins should be happy with the 6-5-0 this season and to be honest, they do not have what it takes to be in the playoffs.

With all of his efforts and sacrifices, Matt Cassel has over performed this season and he ius a quality QB for any play off team; perhaps he finally set a record in the New England Patriots stat book that Tom Brady does not own or contributed too.



DENIS

ajstubs120 asked:

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ANGELO

babyraylewis asked:

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HARRISON

dcunningham1261 asked:

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RICK

William Bishop asked:


The New England Patriots probably have one of the best chances to win the Super Bowl this year than any other year. There three super bowls came when they were not even recognized as one of the best teams in the league. It will be interesting to see if they can really live up to all the hype of winning this season.

Adding good receivers is like Randy Moss, Dante Stallsworth, and Wes Walker made this offense more scary then it already is. They will not have inexperienced wide receivers dropping the ball in the end zone like in the AFC championship. Now if they could only teach their offense of line to block like the Colts offense of line they would be unstoppable. Peyton Manning gets about 10 seconds to make a decision to Tom Brady’s three or four seconds. Yet, Tom Brady has three super bowls, two more than Peyton Manning, and just as good statistics.

They also added a great linebacker. This is a huge upgrade considering that they have one of the oldest groups of linebackers in the league. Thomas is a huge add-on and fits right in to the Patriots 3-4, 4-3 defense. Teddy Bruschy never has been the same since his heart surgery but knows how to run the defense well enough to be an impact on the game. For Verlander, he will be able to play the right position unlike last year when they were low on linebackers. Him being able to play his normal position is actually like an upgrade.

Rodney Harrison will also be back in their secondary. I say this with nervousness considering he usually plays until the 16th week and then gets injured for the playoffs. He really does make a difference because he is such a dirty and hard-hitting player. He will make a Quartererback think twice after he hits them. The only problem with their secondary is that Asante Samuel is holding out still. They went out and got a cornerback from the Chicago Bears, so I’m guessing that they are not going to give in to his demands anytime soon.

The Patriots are going to put up a fight all year. The Colts should really watch out for this highflying team that looks to dominate the league. Not only the Colts though, but everyone in the entire league. I predict that they will go twelve and four, easily.



CLEMENT

Dac024 asked:

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JAMEL

Chuck Berkley asked:


Around a week ago (Isn’t Matt Cassel supposed to be getting better?), I made it clear that it was still to early in the season to criticize a player or even a team, in particular the Patriots performance against the Chargers (30-10) on October 12th, which left most of the people wondering if a team’s game strategy should depend only on one man: a quarterback.

I also wrote about giving Matt Cassel two more games to prove why he was the best choice to substitute Tom Brady, who by the way is taking a while to heel. Well, all in said, Cassel made history against the Broncos on October the 20th (41-7) and guided the Patriots to a 5-2 season record against the St. Louis Rams (23-16) on Sunday October the 26th.

Matt Cassel took his self-assurance and put it up all the way through the game. Not only was Cassel confident during the game, but he was also focused on what he was doing while carrying the ball. Even after being at the back in the fourth quarter, Matt managed to make a great play and stood out for his team; Kevin Faulk made a fast move on the linebacker and catch bullet pass by Matt.

The offense learned their ways based on the Broncos game and they did a flawless job, Matthew had a brick wall around him during the entire game _just unbelievable_ he was able to move and pass sideways, carry thru one, two and even three powerful defenders.

Matt Cassel has been playing a little independently all through the year. From time to time the score doesn’t reveal that, but he is frequently making the effort and he is always trying to improve. In fact, until the past two games we’ve seen a different Matt, more grown-up and really paying attention to his teammates and coach.

Why was this game so important for Matt Cassel and the offense? I have many reliable assumptions, but the only one that makes plenty of sense, is the fact of being left behind with a little time for a come back. As a result every single man on the New England Patriots took a step forward. And believe me that it was a big challenge for this offense to confirm, that even under stressful games, having faith on the quarterback leads to victory.

I could tell by the results of the game that Matt Cassel has stepped up with the offense during practice the last two weeks. On every move he made, he had enough time on his reads and on one of those as a matter of fact just took off and run, now that’s self confidence.

Not only are the New England Patriots with a (5-2) record on the board, but after 4 years on the bench, Matt Cassel is achieving what few quarterbacks have done on the NFL… making the coaching staff believe in miracles in the middle of the season.



MARTIN

Chuck Berkley asked:


NFL’s 2007 Most Valuable Player to miss the entire 2008 season after knee injury – Matt Cassel ready to rumble!

We are not doctors and we cannot predict the future, but we have been putting it on paper all year long; “If the word injury was to be found in the dictionary, some definitions will include ankle, hamstring, knee, foot, concussion and finally: NFLs worst nightmare!!

Can a single injured player affect odds, stats, standings etc… in the entire sports industry? Well, after Tom Brady’s casualty on Sunday the 7th, some teams are breathing better and others are holding there gasp.

Coach Bill Belichick has a lot to think about these coming weeks. Perhaps, just finish the job and that reality doesn’t change, Brady played one position and he played it very well.

They have somebody else playing that position now, Matt Cassel. Cassel, who guided New England to its 20th consecutive regular-season victory after Brady was hurt, will start Sunday at the New York Jets. It will be the first significant start since high school for Cassel, who backed up Heisman Trophy winners; Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal and spent the last three years holding a clipboard for Brady. We know for a fact Matt Cassel will not try to be Tom Brady on the field, he is a professional football player with a define role.

Brady took the Patriots to three NFL titles since 2001 and led them to a flawless record in the regular season last year, before a loss in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants denied them of a fourth championship and an exceptional 19-0 season. They had been sympathetic to return before Brady’s injury.

Even without Brady, the Patriots stay a team stocked with veterans in a average division and with one of the most successful coaches in NFL history.

Governance on this team will take care of itself. We expect Cassel to do his job and that is the same thing he expects from his team members. There is nobody on this team that we don’t have confidence in, there is no better mentor than Tom Brady.

The Patriots have just two quarterbacks on the roster: Cassel and rookie Kevin O’Connell. Matt Gutierrez, who signed as an undrafted free agent before the 2007 season and has thrown one career pass, was released in the final cutdowns before the season. Belichick denied media reports that out of work quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay were headed to Foxborough to take physicals or to audition.

The last few years, Cassel has not been getting enough reps with the first team to get used to everything they use on offense, so they must streamline the offense for him. We imagine that the Patriots won’t get into an explanation of their plays, but will just have fewer that they will use with Cassel. They will start working on what kind of plays they believe he likes or can throw on third and long, on shorter routes and down at the goal line.

After so many years watching and reviewing, Cassel knows the offense. It is just that he has not been working with the first-team offense, but watching Brady at short distance the past seasons, has created a student role, who must act as teacher on the field.



RORY

Stephen Lars asked:


The Patriots became the first NFL team since 1972 to end a regular season totally unbeaten after their a final score of 38-35 over the New York Giants; meantime, the Red Skins classified to the playoffs saving a spot in a season that seemed lost a month ago.

Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady showed enthusiasm with the fact his team will become the first team unbeaten in 35 years to finish a regular season 16 games straight. Now, the New England will seek to extend that luck during the post-season and culminate with the Super Bowl triumph.

“We have managed to finish unbeaten”. It was a strange game. It did not mean a lot for none of the other teams (already classified to the post-season), but it had a great importance for us”, affirmed Brady.

Saturday’s triumph needed a great recovery of 12 points which was done by Brady who beat an internal record of earned games in a row.

“Finishing unbeaten the regular season is an admirable achievement”, indicated the 1972 Miami Dolphins Coach, Don Shula.

Nevertheless, the Patriots’ unstoppable march can only lead to a Super Bowl victory. If they achieve it nobody will be able to snatch them their place as the best team of the league.

On the other hand, on Sunday in Landover, Maryland, the Red Skins classified to the post-season by winning the game 27-6 over Dallas Cowboys; it was a special moment as they remember the one player who recently died.

Additionally, the group managed to classify as the National Conference best team with the better performance quarterback and with the most evasive runner. The Cowboys gave rest to all the players that could be in doubt by injuries, as they would play locals during all the National Conference playoffs.

Despite the use of the Cowboys’ healthy holders, they were seen in disadvantage for 20-3 when Brad Johnson replaced quarterback Tony Romo almost by the end of the third time.



SHERMAN