Has Brady Been Bledsoed?

To answer the question in the title of this post...of course not, are you insane? There is no one, anywhere, that can beat out Tom Brady for a starting job, but even with that being true I'm sure we are just mere hours from the start of people going completely insane about the abilities of one Matt Cassel.

Now before you get the wrong idea, I really like this kid. He came into a near impossible situation. Everyone expected him to fail and he plays for a franchise that expects nothing less than perfection every time they step on the field. He hadn't started a game since high school as we were told by ESPN and their crack research team 1000 times, and yet through the pressure and the lack of experience he has become quite a serviceable quarterback. As a matter of fact, with back to back 400 yard games you can make the argument he has been more than serviceable. But not so fast my friend....

I will admit, i loved watching Cassel today as he amassed a ton of yards and threw 3 TDs to Randy Moss, who reminded me today why he is far and away the best WR in the game. I won't tell you the kid can't make the throws, he can, but lets face it, what reasonably talented quarterback couldn't throw to these guys. When your second option is Wes Welker you have a pretty good team. And when your other options behind Welker and Moss include Kevin Faulk, Ben Watson, Jabar Gaffney and Sammy Morris you've got one hell of an offense. And when you protect it all with a stout offensive line it gets all the better. What people are undoubtedly going to forget is that this team went 18-1 last year on the strength of the most prolific offensive attack EVER!

Cassel is going to finish the year out strong. He is proven he is accurate, has a strong arm and is surprisingly mobile. He has handled immense pressure and scrutiny and deserves the starting job he will undoubtedly get next year for whatever team ponies up the cash, but lest not go crazy and start calling this kid the heir apparent. When he is throwing to a double covered Calvin Johnson and NO ONE ELSE I doubt the 400 yard, 3TD, 0 INT games are going to be quite so frequent.

Even within the last two games, signs can be seen that Cassel has a lot of growing left to do. He missed Randy Moss on two sure fire TDs against the Jets. the first of which he threw about 20 yards past him. And this week, several of Cassel's biggest plays were screens to Welker and Faulk, and several big hook ups went to wide open receivers.

I don't want this to sound too critical. I like Matt Cassel. I think he is a very good young player and I'm hoping that he can take the Patriots on a run deep into the playoffs this year. I think he will get a starting job elsewhere and will have a good chance at succeeding if there is any talent around him. I just think its important to remember that its one thing to get great performance out of a Cadillac its quite another to get it out of a Ford Focus. (HAHA, isn't that perfect for Detroit?)