Comparisons for Cassel

By Os Davis  |   Friday, September 12, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

New England Patriots
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“The only imperfection in the otherwise flawless game of football, according to [Vince Lombardi], was the excessive importance of the quarterback.” – Bart Starr: When Leadership Mattered</i>">– Bart Starr: When Leadership Mattered.

“I still like our chances.” – Tom Brady, on Tuesday

Vince – wherever he is – has to be loving the Matt Cassel story. Indeed, the 2008 New England Patriots (version 1.1) are a team that, if not for playing its home games so damnably far east, could be described as a group molded in Lombardi’s own image: A fundamentally sound bunch of replaceable players with few jokey camera flash-loving types, a cool-headed team led by a cold head coach as stoic as he is unapproachable. A squad for whom the drive to win is the only thing.

Commentary: But there is only one question on the minds of anyone to any degree in-the-know on the NFL, and intriguing it is that the Patriots have been written off by innumerable sources in innumerable places because of that sole question mark.

What about Matt Cassel?

As corollary, we should consider today’s NFL, nearly four decades removed from Lombardi’s time; interestingly enough, while playing styles are at their pass-happiest (imagine a shotgun spread in the '60s!), a weakness at that excessively important position of quarterback is more easily covered for than ever.

Just off the top, the post-1980 years have seen Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams and Jeff Hostetler win Super Bowls while Dan Marino and poor Jim Kelly could not. Stan Humphries led a San Diego Chargers team that had Junior Seau preaching defense first to the Super Bowl while Dan Fouts with his all-star receiver corps and little else never played in the big game. And then there was that direct battle between a QB whose career was mostly mediocre besting a record-breaking alpha-male gunslinger in the big game (no, silly, not last year; we're talking XXXVII).

You want some models for Cassel and the 2008 Patriots?

Try these:

• Trent Dilfer and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Starting in just eight regular-season games for the Ravens, Dilfer nevertheless posted a 7-1 record while compiling a mighty 76.60 QB rating. How? Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes running up an insane 2,469 combined total yards (1,952 rushing). And that monster defense, which had actually been second best in the league in yards allowed in the 8-8 season of 1999.

• Rex Grossman and the 2006 Chicago Bears. We all know about Tyrannosaurus Rex and the havoc he wrought in Chicago. But with a relatively easy schedule, a hustling defense that ranked No. 2 in interceptions and No. 1 in turnovers, and killer special teams, the Bears still managed to win 13 games and thus host throughout the playoffs, getting them into the Super Bowl.

• Drew Bledsoe and the 2001 New England Patriots. The irony here is thick, eerie and well-reported. Let’s just say that in a decade dominated by amazing Patriots feats, to have Cassel morph into Brady would be the ultimate in NFL achievement in Lombardi’s imagined estimation, and proof that Belichick’s system is almighty regardless of player.

Even the excessively important quarterback.

Fan pulse: There’s a vocal minority (heck, they may be majority) in Patriot Country publicly displaying a decidedly sangfroid attitude; check out this piece by Kevin Rosseau of PatsFans.com urging New England loyalists to just chill, dude.

Meanwhile, though it appears PatsFans forums go relatively ignored and unposted upon these days, a particularly active thread is all about speculating the 2009 draft; this is clearly the nervous contingent speaking.

Fantasy Football Impact: Most of this fantasy owner’s Patriot player-by-player fantasy analysis (read: guesswork, mostly, and self-loathing 'cause I took Laurence Maroney too high) is here. Sorry about Brady, y’all who owned him; I’m happy with my Tony Romo and Ben Roethlisberger. Let me know how that Matt Cassel waiver-wire pickup worked, will ya?
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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