The New England Patriots entered the 2008 campaign as a strong contender to win the Super Bowl after their devastating loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. However, after a week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, experts, analysts, and fans rethought their Patriot predictions.
Chiefs’ safety Bernard Pollard tackled Tom Brady early in the 1st quarter and Brady was seriously hurt as he did not get up immediately. He had to be helped off the field with the trainer and left the game. The Boston Globe reported that Brady had a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. Brady’s injury requires surgery and he will miss the entire 2008 season. Now it is time for backup quarterback Matt Cassel to step in.
Cassel was a 7th round draft pick in the 2005 NFL draft from the University of Southern California. Cassel is not as polished as Brady, nor is he as experienced as Brady. His college football career consisted of a mere 33 pass attempts. He sat behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, both current NFL quarterbacks. He has not started a game since the year 2000, when he was a senior in high school. Brady was a starting quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1998 and 1999 when he started all 25 games in that span. Brady was a starter for his high school varsity team as well. In Cassel’s NFL career, he has played scarcely. He has only played in 15 games in his 4 seasons with the Patriots and only has 57 career pass attempts.
Many fans and analysts say that Cassel will do a satisfactory job, but there is room for doubt. Analysts say that because of the receiving bunch the Patriots have with Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Jabar Gaffney, Cassel will do fine. But, there is statistical evidence that proves a skilled quarterback makes a proficient wide receiver. Randy Moss is a fine example of this. When Moss played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1998 to 2004, Daunte Culpepper was the quarterback. With Culpepper at quarterback, Moss had 9,142 receiving yards and 90 touchdowns. Culpepper was an exceptional quarterback in those seven years. However, when Randy Moss was with the Oakland Raiders from 2005 to 2006, Moss had a total of 1558 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. The Oakland quarterbacks in those two seasons: Kerry Collins, Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, and Marques Tuiasosopo; none of whom have close the skill level that Culpepper had. Than in 2007 when Moss played with Brady, they accumulated record-setting, single-season numbers with 1493 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns. Now with Cassel at the helm, it seems very unlikely the receiving team will succeed and do as well as they did last season.
Cassel replacing Brady also proposes this question: Where do the Patriots go from here? The Patriot defense did lose Asante Samuel and Randall Gay, who combined for 9 interceptions last season. Teams with pass-heavy offenses, such as the Colts, Rams, and Cardinals, can take advantage of the weak secondary. Their defense is still aging significantly as Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Lewis Sanders, and Rodney Harrison are all old for NFL standards.
On the offense, the Patriots’ running game is weak compared to other NFL teams. Laurence Maroney, LaMont Jordan, Kevin Faulk, and Sammy Morris are not up to par with most NFL starters on today’s game. The offensive line is also getting old and weaker. Matt Cassel was sacked twice in the week 1 matchup against the Chiefs due to the poor job by the offensive line. The Chiefs have a subpar defensive line and teams with strong defensive lines like the Bills, Colts, Jets, and Titans can take advantage of the shaky offensive line of the Patriots. On the other hand, the Patriots have one of the easiest schedules in the entire NFL and that should be a relief for the New England faithful.
Now that has been said, the Patriots’ season could go in different directions. It is critical that they start off well in the next few games with the departure of Tom Brady because Cassel's confidence will be rattled if he begins to struggle. If Cassel handles the pressure well than the best-case scenario is that the Patriots maintain to win the AFC East and have somewhere between 10 and 13 wins without Brady. That would be more than remarkable for a season for a backup quarterback. The worst-case scenario is Cassel flops and the Patriots finish the season with a sub-.500 record. What can be expected? Losing Brady is colossal, especially since he was the league’s most valuable player last season. The chances of going undefeated again are slim-to-none. What will happen is up in the air, but one thing is for sure, and that is the road to the playoffs will no longer be a cake walk for the Patriots without Brady.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
New York Jets vs Miami Dolhpins week 1
The first game of the New York Jets’ regular season resulted in a 20-14 victory over the rival Miami Dolphins.
The Jets scored first on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Jerricho Cotchery on a play action fake. Kicker Mike Nugent missed a 32 yard field goal wide right. Nugent later left the game temporarily with a thigh injury.
In the second quarter, former Jet Chad Pennington led the Dolphins to a 78 yard drive, tying the game with a touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Fasano. The Jets responded with a long drive, but on a 4th and 13 from the Dolphin 22, the Jets did not go with the field goal unit and decided to go for it. Favre broke out of a few tackles and than lobbed the ball to Chansi Stuckey for a sensational 22 yard touchdown. With Nugent hurt, the Jets decided to go for the 2-point conversion. The Jets did not convert and the score was 13-7 going into the half.
In the 3rd quarter, a Brett Favre fumble was a miscue that could have resulted in points for the Jets. The Dolphins failed to capitalize on the blunder and punted it away. On the ensuing drive, the Jets scored a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Thomas Jones. Compared to last season, Jones’ first touchdown came 12 weeks earlier as last season his only rushing touchdown came in week 13, against the Miami Dolphins.
In the 4th quarter, Chad Pennington led the Dolphins to another touchdown drive on an 11 yard pass from Pennington to David Martin. The Jets were close to sealing the game but a penalty on Damien Woody forced the Jets to punt the ball away with 1:56 left. Chad Pennington was 5/7 with 48 yards on the final drive, but a 3rd and 10 from the Jet 18 was intercepted on a breathtaking play by Darrelle Revis as he was held on the play. The Jets downed it to finally wrap up the game.
Brett Favre’s Jet debut was successful with a victory. He went 15/22 with 194 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. Former Jet QB Chad Pennington outmatched Favre as he was 26/43 with 251 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, but the 1 interception. The Jets’ run defense was solid, holding Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown to 47 yards. There were 2 big plays by Miami that would have led to more yards rushing, but they were both called back on tripping and holding penalties. Chansi Stuckey missed his rookie season in 2007 with a foot injury, but his NFL debut resulted with 2 big receptions including a touchdown. Newly acquired linebacker Calvin Pace had 5 tackles and a sack. Teammate Bryan Thomas had 2 sacks and Shaun Ellis also had a sack. Rookie cornerback Dwight Lowery from San Jose State University was superb. He had 3 tackles and also deflected 3 passes, all of which had a great importance.
One thing to worry about for the Jets is the health of kicker Mike Nugent. If his injury is severe than punter Ben Graham would have to be the kicker as well as the punter. Nugent has not been great as his field goal percentage last season was 80.6%, which ranked 22nd in the entire NFL last season.
Laveranues Coles only had 1 catch of 5 yards, and that was the first play from scrimmage for the Jets in the 1st quarter. Tight ends Chris Baker and Bubba Franks combined for 4 receptions for 53 yards. Rookie tight end Dustin Keller from Purdue had a few receptions but were all called back due to penalties.
The Jets will face the 1-0 New England Patriots next week at the Meadowlands. The Patriots won 17-10 against the Chiefs despite losing Tom Brady in the 1st quarter. The Pats held off a late comeback drive by the Chiefs. The Patriots were 2-0 against the Jets last season, winning by scores of 38-14 in week 1 and 20-10 in week 15.
The Jets scored first on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Jerricho Cotchery on a play action fake. Kicker Mike Nugent missed a 32 yard field goal wide right. Nugent later left the game temporarily with a thigh injury.
In the second quarter, former Jet Chad Pennington led the Dolphins to a 78 yard drive, tying the game with a touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Fasano. The Jets responded with a long drive, but on a 4th and 13 from the Dolphin 22, the Jets did not go with the field goal unit and decided to go for it. Favre broke out of a few tackles and than lobbed the ball to Chansi Stuckey for a sensational 22 yard touchdown. With Nugent hurt, the Jets decided to go for the 2-point conversion. The Jets did not convert and the score was 13-7 going into the half.
In the 3rd quarter, a Brett Favre fumble was a miscue that could have resulted in points for the Jets. The Dolphins failed to capitalize on the blunder and punted it away. On the ensuing drive, the Jets scored a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Thomas Jones. Compared to last season, Jones’ first touchdown came 12 weeks earlier as last season his only rushing touchdown came in week 13, against the Miami Dolphins.
In the 4th quarter, Chad Pennington led the Dolphins to another touchdown drive on an 11 yard pass from Pennington to David Martin. The Jets were close to sealing the game but a penalty on Damien Woody forced the Jets to punt the ball away with 1:56 left. Chad Pennington was 5/7 with 48 yards on the final drive, but a 3rd and 10 from the Jet 18 was intercepted on a breathtaking play by Darrelle Revis as he was held on the play. The Jets downed it to finally wrap up the game.
Brett Favre’s Jet debut was successful with a victory. He went 15/22 with 194 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. Former Jet QB Chad Pennington outmatched Favre as he was 26/43 with 251 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, but the 1 interception. The Jets’ run defense was solid, holding Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown to 47 yards. There were 2 big plays by Miami that would have led to more yards rushing, but they were both called back on tripping and holding penalties. Chansi Stuckey missed his rookie season in 2007 with a foot injury, but his NFL debut resulted with 2 big receptions including a touchdown. Newly acquired linebacker Calvin Pace had 5 tackles and a sack. Teammate Bryan Thomas had 2 sacks and Shaun Ellis also had a sack. Rookie cornerback Dwight Lowery from San Jose State University was superb. He had 3 tackles and also deflected 3 passes, all of which had a great importance.
One thing to worry about for the Jets is the health of kicker Mike Nugent. If his injury is severe than punter Ben Graham would have to be the kicker as well as the punter. Nugent has not been great as his field goal percentage last season was 80.6%, which ranked 22nd in the entire NFL last season.
Laveranues Coles only had 1 catch of 5 yards, and that was the first play from scrimmage for the Jets in the 1st quarter. Tight ends Chris Baker and Bubba Franks combined for 4 receptions for 53 yards. Rookie tight end Dustin Keller from Purdue had a few receptions but were all called back due to penalties.
The Jets will face the 1-0 New England Patriots next week at the Meadowlands. The Patriots won 17-10 against the Chiefs despite losing Tom Brady in the 1st quarter. The Pats held off a late comeback drive by the Chiefs. The Patriots were 2-0 against the Jets last season, winning by scores of 38-14 in week 1 and 20-10 in week 15.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Intro
Here's my first blog post. Feel free to comment on them and post your opinions.
By the way, I'm Matt and will be posting mostly about sports.
By the way, I'm Matt and will be posting mostly about sports.
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