So, About Cassel…

Posted by Adam Hart November 24, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Anybody else remember the preseason? A time when Tom Brady took zero snaps and Matt Cassel made the talk radio lines burn up with anger. Oh, oh! And then remember when nobody wanted him to make the team. Yeah, we were wrong.

The past two games, Cassel has made great strides and proven his worth. Bill Belichick was right to keep him on board. And the team appears to be rallying around him, which is nice.

The big test will be this Sunday, when the Pittsburgh Steelers roll in to town. Mike Tomlin’s defense has not allowed more than 21 points in a single game all season. I’d hate to don those hater pants again, but I don’t see Cassel having the type of success he had against the Jets and Dolphins defenses.

Maybe I’m wrong. After all, Brady tore it up with the passing attack in last year’s matchup (from Fred Kirsch’s post game writeup):

It was all Tom Brady and the Patriots passing attack in this one. Brady spread the ball around and continued his torrid pace towards history. He finished with 399 yards on 32 of 46 passing and 4 touchdowns.

Two of those scores went to Randy Moss who finished with 7 catches for 135 yards. Jabbar Gaffney joined him in the century club with 122 yards on 7 catches and a score while Wes Welker had 9 catches for 78 yards and the fourth Brady touchdown.

So there is the chance that Cassel has a big game on Sunday, as the offense continues to build with the playoffs growing near. Now, don’t get me confused with one of those people who is ready to throw Brady on the scrap heap and move on with Cassel. After two games of dominance against two mediocre defenses (NY and Miami), I’ve heard noise that Cassel is doing things Brady couldn’t, even in his record breaking 2007 season. Somebody throw a bucket of cold water on these people. The kid is much improved, but he’s still no Brady.

That said, one thing that I liked hearing from Cassel yesterday was that he’s not close to where he’d like to be. With an attitude like that, Cassel should continue his improvement. I would say that he could put on a repeat performance of Brady’s surprising (to outsiders) 2001 Super Bowl win, but the Pats defense is a big liability. Too much to overcome, dare I say.