Are Pats Terrific Without Tom?

Posted by Mike Giardi September 7, 2008 at 10:41 pm

A huge blow to the Patriots title hopes today with news that Tom Brady has suffered a severe injury to his left knee. Several outlets reporting that Tom Terrific has torn his ACL, which means his season is - barring a miracle - over.

As I was driving home from the game, still not sure what the news would be regarding Brady, I was thinking how lucky we’ve been to witness his rise from 6th rounder with an outside shot of making the team to a 3-time Super Bowl-winning QB and reigning NFL MVP. I can’t think of any athlete that I’ve covered that I have enjoyed watching more. He makes good teams great, and great teams special. There are few you can say that about.

His absence was noticeable today, as you would expect, and I’m saying that while acknowledging that Matt Cassel wasn’t all that bad. But I tell you where I notice the biggest difference: accuracy. Brady puts the ball in the right spot consistently; Cassel, despite hitting 13-of-18, doesn’t.

After that 98-yard drive for a score, the Pats had two poor offensive possessions and Cassel takes a lion’s share of the blame. He missed David Thomas on a crossing route on the first of these series, instead choosing to go deep down the sidelines to Randy Moss. Two problems with that. One, Moss was doubled. Two, he threw the ball toward the middle of the field, helping bring the safety that much more into play.

On the following set, Cassel should have been picked off by Patrick Surtain. The 4th year signal caller had locked on to his receiver (memory fails me on who it was) and Surtain just baited him, pretending to play off before jumping the route. It clanged off his hands, which was a lucky break but one that will get scrutinized in films. Finally, in the second half, Cassel could have hooked up with Wes Welker on a touchdown, but instead of throwing the ball toward the sidelines, he threw the ball back to the inside. That negated the step Welker had in single coverage. In fact, the closest to catching that ball was the DB, not Wes. Obviously, Cassel will have to make better throws, or the Pats highly skilled outside threats will be negated by his inability to get them the ball. Just another reason to miss Number 12.