2 comments We Didn't Listen!

Hindsight truly is the friend of the sportswriter isn't it?

Reggie Bush isn't an every down back!

Rasheed Wallace is a great pickup for the Pistons!

There were all kinds of problems with that Yankee lineup!

But this, this may take the cake.

Patriots weren't prepared for an injury to Brady

not like Alex Marvez. Get ready kids, for the broken record from Marvez "the Pats need a better backup QB", I know, I know. He's always on about this for years. All he could say in the pre-season. I guess now he's finally vindicated huh?

They were the NFL's version of the Flying Wallendas, but the New England Patriots never should have performed their death-defying aerial act without a net.

...playing football?

Keeping a starting quarterback healthy is an offense's most difficult high-wire trick...

enough.

and New England couldn't execute it. The Patriots now look like clowns for not having a better backup plan in place behind Tom Brady, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Sunday during his 2008 debut against Kansas City.

Matt Cassel? Kevin O'Connell? Potential free-agent acquisitions like Chris Simms and Tim Rattay?

All are sideshow attractions compared to Brady, the star of the league's best passing game.

no shit Sherlock. Jesus Christ, enough with the circus shit man, it's not working for you, OK? Once may be kind of cute, this is just irritating. Trust me, I assure you, no one thinks this is clever, and everyone, everyone knows that Matt Cassel is not nearly as good as Tom Brady. Your message has gotten out - Brady > Cassel.

Blame this on New England's ringleader...

WE GET IT - CIRCUS. VERY CLEVER.

For a head coach who pays so much attention to detail, it's unfathomable that Bill Belichick would leave himself susceptible to getting trampled by elephants.

fuck it, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - you could say no amount of acrobatics can get the Patriots out of this one! Oh yes, I am better at anything you can ever do Alex Marvez.

The 2007 campaign should have inspired Belichick to seek a proven upgrade behind Brady this off-season. There were 64 different starting quarterbacks around the NFL, the highest total in a non-strike year since the league adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978.

The trend shows no signs of reversing. Two other battered first-stringers besides Brady (Kansas City's Brodie Croyle and Tennessee's Vince Young) are already out for this week's games.

Expecting a starter to remain injury-free for an entire season — let alone string together 129 consecutive career appearances a la Brady — is unrealistic. Such is the punishment being inflicted by blitz-crazed defenses.

I don't think many people would disagree with this, but it's not the point at all. People aren't cut because Tom Brady is injured. People are cut up because Tom Brady is injured for the whole season. Big difference. If you asked 10 football fans "will Brady miss a game or two this year?" I think half woud be willing to say yes. That's not the issue, and it, by the way, it would leave New England's reputation as the best team in football entirely unscathed. Expecting Brady to leave, never to be seen again in the first quarter of week one, is absolutely ridiculous, no team can plan for that, nor should they.

The Patriots were one of nine teams last year that never had to deal with the issue. Brady was truly Tom Terrific, throwing an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes en route to winning the league's Most Valuable Player award.

in other words, on the list of teams who need to worry about the status of their backup QB, let's say it starts with like, Carolina, maybe Philly, Norleans, etc. New England were pretty much at the very bottom of that list.

But in a season where New England came within four points of the league's first 19-0 record, backup quarterback play was one of the few signs of imperfection.

Cassel threw only seven passes while mopping up in three games, all of which were lopsided Patriots victories. Yet his performance during a 49-28 victory over Miami should have prompted Belichick to at least seek better competition — if not an outright upgrade — for the spot. Cassel was so dreadful in his one series, misfiring on one pass and seeing another intercepted and returned for a touchdown, that Belichick reinserted Brady into the game.

oh don't remind me! We all remember the reams and reams of stories on this Matt Cassel performance. The media was glued to it. Alex Marvez clearly was - maybe the most important series of 2007? Apparently. The Giants gameplan in the Superbowl? Get to Matt Cassel, bull rush the bench if neccessary - it's the only chance.

Cassel was just as shaky this preseason when he substituted for an injured Brady (foot). More was expected. The Patriots had spent the previous four seasons trying to develop Cassel into more than a clipboard holder — a role he held in college at Southern California as a backup behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

how could he be "more than a clipboard holder"? Were they going to stage a tryout for the role? See if he could outplay Brady? What could New England have possibly done to make him more than a backup? Seems to me they've done as well as they could, have him there, learn the complicated, pass heavy offense, gel with the team, coach et al.

Alarmingly, the other options were worse.

Matt Gutierrez was waived after failing to best Cassel as a second-stringer. O'Connell — chosen in the third round of this year's draft as a response to Cassel's 2007 struggles —needs more time to develop. And unlike in previous years, there were no proven hands like Vinny Testaverde or Doug Flutie in Patriots training camp.

Belichick was taking Brady and his health for granted. That changed Sunday when Brady crumbled to the Gillette Stadium turf with torn ligaments on a low Chiefs hit.

he was surprised, and let's pretend we pump you full of truth serum, so were you.

Cassel guided a 17-10 victory in relief, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown. But with New England entering as 16-point favorites, oddsmakers felt the Brady-led Patriots shouldn't have needed a goal-line stand to keep the game from going into overtime.

...but it wasn't Brady. That's the whole point of the article right? It was someone else. So, that expectation was artificial. Because the Patriots are worse without Brady. I'll repeat, Brady>Cassel, if that is your point, well done, brave soldier! We understand now, we were all like "maybe this Cassel guy is better than Brady!".

In his defense, Cassel should improve as he receives practice snaps with the first-team offense — snaps that had been reserved for Brady. Cassel still has two of the NFL's top wide receivers (Randy Moss and Wes Welker) to work with.

Plus, Belichick has experience in maximizing the skills of an unproven starter. The same doomsday scenarios that are being floated now were there in 2001 when an unproven Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe. Brady shocked the NFL and led New England to the first of three Super Bowl titles this decade.

why would that have anything to do with this? What about when Drew Brees went down in San Diego and they were much worse? Or Marc Bulger in St.Louis? Or a billion counter examples that is the very reason the Brady story is noteworthy. Anyway, aren't we drifting away from the central and complex point of Brady>Cassel? I don't think I'm convinced yet.

But even Belichick admits the difference between now and then is like comparing "apples to grapefruits." Not only can Cassel be judged from his previous body of work, New England's 2001 offense was designed to emphasize the run and take pressure off Brady. The Patriots might not be able to pull off the same overhaul with the unit so reliant on Brady's passing brilliance.

point - counterpoint. With Alex Marvez and...Alex Marvez.

And then, with one final sweep of stupidity, we realise that Marvez has been totally wasting our time, that this is some draft or stream of consciousness piece and the initial point, that they should have gotten a better backup is ridiculous.

A more talented Patriots team probably won't be that bad, especially with the luxury of facing the NFL's easiest schedule based on 2007 records. New England also could pull off a surprise trade, although trying to land a talented veteran backup like Houston's Sage Rosenfels or Washington's Todd Collins would come at a steep price. Pursuing younger options like Brady Quinn and Leinart seems even less likely. Both players — and their salaries — wouldn't fit into long-term plans with Brady set to return in 2009. The Patriots had only $3.2 million available under the 2008 salary cap before Brady's injury.

right, so pursuing a "proven" backup would be a waste of money, time, and would not fit into the plans, also, they'd have to learn a complex system on the fly, plus, Matt Cassel wasn't bad last week, plus they also have a lot of good players still which means they are still probably a playoff team, plus...

For at least the short term, Cassel is the only viable option under New England's big top. That makes expectations of another Super Bowl run as fleeting as the circus that packs its tent for the next town.

shitty, beaten-into-the-ground metaphors.