 |
| Doug Benc / Getty Images |
| Matt Cassel is making the most of his opportunity to start for the Patriots. |
MIAMI -- If the New England Patriots' season wasn't over on opening day, it ended, theoretically, several times since.
Matt Cassel? Please. What in the world was he going to do to plug the one hole in the Patriots' lineup that couldn't be plugged? Hadn't he performed poorly enough in the preseason to cut himself? Didn't the so-called "geniuses" who built the NFL's reigning dynasty leave themselves without the most crucial backup plan of all?
It was supposed to be time for someone else to take charge of the AFC East. Hello, New York Jets. Even the Dolphins and Bills would have something to say about what the division would offer to the playoff field. The Pats? They'd simply have to wait and hope that Tom Brady's injured knee (not to mention season-ending injuries to other players such as Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, and Laurence Maroney) got well enough again for them to make another run in 2009.
| |||||||
| Consecutive 400-yard games in NFL history | |||||||
| Quarterback | Yards | Date | Yards | Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Cassel | 400 | 11/13/08 | 415 | 11/23/08 | |||
| Billy Volek | 426 | 12/13/04 | 492 | 12/19/04 | |||
| Phil Simms | 432 | 10/6/85 | 513 | 10/13/85 | |||
| Dan Marino | 470 | 12/2/84 | 404 | 12/9/84 | |||
| Dan Fouts | 444 | 12/11/82 | 435 | 12/20/82 | |||
Or maybe not.
Riding high on the wave of a four-game winning streak, the Dolphins were geared up to deliver something along the lines of a knockout blow to the Patriots, whom they had already soundly beaten in Foxborough, Mass., two months ago.
There was only one problem with the plan: No one expected Cassel to play like the quarterback that he supposedly had no prayer of sufficiently replacing. Or, at least, no one thought he would have a second successive 400-yard passing game, something only four other NFL quarterbacks have ever done.
"He did a good job today," Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell said of Cassel throwing for 415 yards to go with three touchdowns to Randy Moss in the Patriots' 48-28 victory. "Over the course of these couple of weeks, he's learned how to read defenses better. You've got to take your hat off to the guy. He's done a good job and executed."
"Matt's playing some hellified ball," Moss said. "He's stepping up and we're behind him."
Yes, that is Cassel, in merely the 10th start of his NFL career, joining Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Phil Simms, and Billy Volek in the back-to-back 400-yard club. Even Brady has only had one 400-yarder, and it did not come while he and the rest of New England's offense made all of that history last season.
The Jets (8-3), who have a one-game lead over the Patriots (7-4) in the AFC East, might have made a case to be regarded as the best team in the conference after pounding the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Nashville. The Bills (6-5), with Trent Edwards finding his confidence in Kansas City, could still be a factor in the wild-card race. The Dolphins (6-5), too.
But the greatest fear of everyone outside of New England, that the Patriots just might rise from the dead and be a prominent factor in yet another postseason, could very well come true. If they do, Cassel will likely be the prominent reason.
Just as with his predecessor, the Patriots found Cassel in a place where successful starting quarterbacks aren't supposed to be found. Brady was the 199th overall choice of the 2000 draft, and a lot of people called Bill Belichick and Pats personnel chief Scott Pioli lucky. In 2005, Cassel was drafted 230th overall.
What should we all say now? That maybe the Patriots' decision-makers knew what they were doing all along? That maybe there really was a legitimate backup plan for the unthinkable? That for the $520,000 the Patriots are paying Cassel, they might be getting the steal of steals (until, of course, he becomes a free agent after the season)?
Cassel couldn't have looked much more comfortable than he did against the Dolphins. The Patriots gave him a perfect scheme from which to work by spreading their receivers, often in five-wide looks, and putting Cassel in the shotgun formation to survey the coverage. With the Dolphins focused on single-covering all of New England's pass-catchers, they weren't able to get any pressure on Cassel. The only way that would happen was through blitzing, and the Dolphins aren't much of a blitzing team.
Watch NFL Network's 2010 Pro Bowl selection show on Tuesday, Dec. 29 to see who made the cut. More ...
|
So for much of the day, Cassel would catch the snap and, with ample time, simply pick and choose where to throw the ball. Just like Brady, he threw most of his passes toward Moss and Wes Welker, who each caught eight passes.
Although he admittedly has just gotten used to the speed and complexity of NFL defenses, Cassel looks as if he has developed the sort of timing and rhythm with his top two targets that Brady enjoyed.
"I think Matt's getting in a comfort zone," Moss said. "And at the same time that he's getting in his, we're getting in ours."
Belichick is beyond the point of worrying about whether Cassel has what it takes to carry the Patriots as far as they would like to go. He doesn't have any concerns about the starting job being too large for him to handle. He simply expects Cassel to do exactly what he has done over and over this season -- grow and improve.
"Matt's a confident guy," Belichick said. "He's a good football player, and every time he walks onto the practice field or into a meeting, (or when) we're in a game, he just keeps learning and keeps improving."
Rebounding as well as he did against the Dolphins from the Week 11 loss to the Jets was a major step in his development.
"I think that you just become more comfortable as you play," Cassel said. "As much as you want to say that you're ready and that you've stepped on the field ready to go, the fact of the matter is that it takes you a little time to adjust to that game speed. So now I feel like I've gotten a few games under my belt, I feel more comfortable out there."
That is not good news for the rest of the AFC East … or other teams in playoff contention.
Have a question for Vic? Send it to AskVic@nfl.com, and the best ones will be answered on NFL.com.
View all comments >>