New England Patriots, a Season Without Tom Brady?

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.