I think Peyton used the term “disgusted” when describing his reaction to the game.
Lots of storylines around the AFC!
Brady out, Merriman out…if the Colts were 100% healthy they’d be the clear favorite now. But they’re not. You HAVE TO include Pittsburgh in the discussion as well.
Plus the whole VY thing…totally bizarre.
Kyle Orton doesn’t have the supporting cast that Cassel does. That is until Mr. Moss decides to take his ball and go home. I give that about 4 weeks. The defense will be what keeps this team in games.
Bill Simmons’ mailbag re: Brady:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080909
I cracked up the most with the question about transferrinig injuries.
I agree that the weapons surrounding Cassel are considerably better than Orton’s. But Cassel himself, I don’t think, is as good of a QB as Orton. (which really isn’t saying all that much).
But NE’s defense is old. They’re good, but I don’t think they’re as dominant as some people lead me to believe.
No offense but how could you POSSIBLY say this? Unless we went to his high school or saw the rest of Sunday’s game, we’ve NEVER seen this guy play. EVER. The Pats took Brady after he was an also-ran at Michigan (if you seriously say you liked Brady more than Henson at Michigan, you’re a liar) and after a few years in that system, Brady became a megastar. Cassel has had a few years in that system…why can’t he do the same? One of his first passes in that game in Week 1 was a 50-yard bomb from his own endzone to Moss…has Orton done that ever?
Not to mention it’s not like this kid came from some nobody college. He was a backup at USC!! USC only gets four and five star high schoolers…even their backups are four or five stars. Now I agree that those ratings are mostly crap but to be at USC you clearly had to have talent. Not to mention that some QBs finally “get it” at different levels of their career. Maybe he’s just a slow-comer and needed some time. Tony Romo wasn’t good enough to even go to a Division I school out of high school…but look at him now. And we’ve all heard about how Kurt Warner was bagging groceries and then became the Super Bowl MVP a couple years later. I’m not saying that Cassel will be anything like those guys but to immediately dismiss him even though we really haven’t seen any of him is ridiculous, especially in a great system like the Pats.
Look, if there’s anything we know it’s that success in college almost NEVER guarantees whether a guy will be good or bad in the pros. Look at all the starting QBs in the NFL…how many were really highly touted coming out of college. There’s a few like Peyton or Carson Palmer but a large majority are not. Heck, the San Fran/Arizona game featured two Division II QBs playing each other who had supplanted the highly-touted Alex Smith and Matt Leinart at QB.
And if ya’ll are wondering, EIGHT of the 40-something Super Bowls have been won by backup QBs. I was reading Gregg Easterbrook from ESPN and he put together this list. Again, I’m not saying that Cassel is winning any Super Bowl but it’s not like it’s never happened before…heck, Brady himself is on this list.
Strangely, I think he forgot the UNDEFEATED 72 Miami Dolphins who also lost Bob Griese in Week 5. THEY WENT UNDEFEATED WITH A BACKUP QB!
Again, I’m just saying there’s history on Mr. Cassel’s side here…
Stevo
^Well put.
You stay classy Pittsburgh:
http://www.believemerch.com/product/bernard-pollard-fan-club-white-tee
It’s pretty easy. I just think it, then type it.
Kyle Orton is a better QB than Matt Cassel.
See how easy that was?
Yes. In one of his first games as a rookie starter for the Bears he had a 54-yard completion at Detroit in October of 2005. He had a 10-5 record that year as a starter…and of course also the lowest rating in the league for QBs that qualified.
You forgot to mention that while Warner was bagging groceries he was also lighting up the AFL.
OK, let’s look at the starting QBs and see how many were highly touted coming out of college:
Cutler
McNabb
Rivers
Brees
Roethlisberger
Rodgers
J. Russell
Manning
Manning
Pennington
Young
Flacco
Palmer
That’s 13. About 40%. So you were correct there.
But the ones who ARE highly touted usually stick around for awhile. If you want my opinion, I’d venture to say that the Pats will bring in a replacement for Cassel before the year’s out, because they will be toiling around the .500 mark. They didn’t work out Rattay or Simms out of respect for Cassel to see if he can do anything in the next few weeks.
Yeah…Stevo and whoever else thinks New England still has a dog in this fight is kidding themselves. It was almost laughable to hear your (no offense as I respect your sports knowledge) talking up Cassel’s 50 yard pass to Moss. Dude who can’t do that. Let alone against Kansas City, who could possibly be the worst team in the NFL before it’s all said and done. Didn’t Randall Cunningham resuscitate his career throwing jump balls to a young rookie in Minnesota?
New Engalnd might win some games here and there, but I don’t think they’ll even make the playoffs. If they do…I’d be more impressed at that than anything else that Belichick as pulled off. Now granted they have the easiest schedule in the NFL based on records last year, but I still don’t see it happening.
There’s a reason why teams like New England has a backup QB like Cassel and the Colts have Jim Sorgi as there backup. They have the best QBs in the game and if either one of them goes down there individual teams are screwed. Belichick’s not going to say this, but it’s true. Look why get a good backup when you have the best QB’s in the game. In the age of the salary cap, you look to fill out your roster as prudently as possible…so why would Indy or New England invest much in a backup QB.
Now I think Cassel will have some numbers as he has some serious weapons around him, but have you ever watched this dude in the preseason the past 3 years. Dude is awful. Hey I could be wrong as I have been before…I know it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
And that’s why they play the game! Is it sunday yet?
You can say it but it doesn’t make it true. But, very well…I worded that wrong. Silly me.
Doesn’t this kind of support my point? Orton was a bad QB on a good team and they still made the playoffs. If Cassel is even remotely competent (and will likely be better than Orton who, by the way, was benched for the playoffs) then what does that tell you?
Besides, that was against the Lions and you know all stats against the Lions should be thrown out. ;D
I doubt they didn’t grab them out of respect for Cassel. They did work him out because you’re supposed to have three QBs on the depth chart and they have two. Besides, Simms went to the Tennessee Titans likely because he probably feels he has a better chance of starting there than the Pats. Which implies two things…either Simms was so crappy the Pats didn’t want him or he was told that Cassel is the guy and Simms has no chance of becoming the starter unless Cassel is hurt. Why would someone want to be on the Titans instead of the Pats unless it was one of those two things?
And I HIGHLY doubt that the Pats will be looking for someone before the year is over. Cassel has been with the team for years and knows the system as well as Brady. He knows all the plays and the check-downs and such of what is actually a very complicated system. You can’t just bring in a hack off the street and run that shotgun spread, especially since so few NFL teams use it.
Yes, that sounded lame I agree but my point was Cassel had JUST had come into the game and the Pats coaches had enough confidence in the kid to call a 50-yard bomb from his own endzone which could easily result in an INT or a safety. I mentioned it because showed that the coaches DO have confidence in him to do what they need done. And, let’s be fair, the KC defense is NOT that bad. A majority of opponents only scored in the 20’s as Herm Edwards teams always have solid defenses…it’s their offense that is horrendous and loses them all those games.
I don’t see why they can’t win that division. I don’t buy Buffalo quite yet, I definitely don’t buy the Jets (outside of last year, it’s not like Farve was making the playoffs every year plus they almost lost to Miami) and I certainly don’t buy Miami. Plus they get to play the horrendous NFC West (Cards, Niners, Rams, Seattle who are ALL a disaster right now aside from maybe the Cards) and the equally disasterous AFC West. Combine that and they could certainly win the division. Now, I’m not saying they’ll win anything once they get there, but they’ll be in it. This is a team that went 18-1 last year. You REALLY think they’ll have a 10-win swing based on just losing the QB?
What’s the OTHER constant that the Colts and NE have shown? AWESOME Offensive Lines!!! I’ve banged on that point on here before…you can have the greatest QB ever but if you don’t have a great offensive line, you’re going nowhere. Both the Colts and Pats have the best O-Lines in football so they can put less-touted QBs behind them and have success. Not to mention that both the Pats and Colts have been drafted no-name and unknown players and turning them into pro-bowlers for YEARS now. When it comes to grabbing players they’ve been far and away the best teams in the leagues…and this is despite the fact that they’ve been selecting at the bottom of the draft almost every year. Put Brady and Peyton on the Lions and see how’d they do with that pathetic O-Line. Kitna passed for 4,000 yards last year and the year before and where did it get him? Nowhere. It’s ALL about the O-Line. Cassel’s got the team around him that can give him success…simple as that.
Stevo
I suppose there is a real possibility the Colts could lose to the Vikings, dropping them to 0-2. The last time the Colts opened 0-2? (I had to look this up)…1998, Manning’s rookie year.
meh I doubt the Vikes will win
maybe, but I wouldn’t put money on them.
luckily Belichek had enough video space left over from spygate to catch the whole procession on tape!
Just got a ticket to tomorrow nights game… in the Dawg Pound!
Woohoo!
Eff the Squeelers.
Nothing more pathetic than Browns fans. Or Cleveland fans in general. The reason they are pathetic is they truely believe their teams can win!
At least here in the D we are realistic!
They should switch “dropping the kids off at the pool” to " takin the browns to the super bowl"
Go Lions!
::tips hat::
::woohoos::
this was the coolest thing that Browns fans ever did!
[flash=350,287]http://www.youtube.com/v/cuaklgIa3vM&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]
bud lights to the dome, I luv it!
Wow…The Colts stole won in Minnesota. Gotta give credit to the Colts D for keeping the boys in blue in the game. 5 FGs is all they gave up…granted they gave up alot of yards on the ground to AP, but no TDs. A makeshift line somehow was able to protect Manning. After today the Colts startging LT, LG, and C are all injured. Yikes. Well we always seem to make things interesting. Also Sanders came out of the game late…hopefully he’s alright.
It’s amazing how good Minnesota would be if they just had a decent QB. I know they want to give Jackson time to develop, but wouldn’t Frerrote be perfect for that role?
bleh