Between Elsewhere and Here

Pats @ Jets Recap: Me Cassel es su Cassel


As I mention below, I was very excited about this game. But why? That was the question I was asking myself since Monday afternoon when we all learned Tom Brady’s fate. Brady is out, Matt Cassel is in, our season is over, right?

When the news broke that Brady’s season was over, the fans in DC I spoke to were pretty much feeling pretty down and out. Our team is built around Tom Brady. He wanted new receivers so they went out and got him Wes Welker and Randy Moss (who then helped Brady shatter the TD record). Cassel’s role on the team was to study and hold the ball during point-after attempts, occasionally coming in for a few running plays during blow-outs. Not exactly star material – and that’s the point. Cassel is not a star. The Patriots’ motto is no stars.

Brady is pretty much a living legend roaming the football field. He’s won three Super Bowls, two Super Bowl MVP awards, one NFL MVP award and holds the record for TDs in a season as well as consecutive games won. That’s one hell of a resume. Cassel? Well, prior to today’s game he’d been the backup QB for Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and Tom Brady’s backup since 2005. No starts since 1999. Wikipedia doesn’t list any accomplishments for Cassel but needs an entire entry for Brady’s. Cassel is not a star.

There was a noticeable excited in the air as we all waited outside Murphy’s Irish Pub in Alexandria on Sunday. Instead of being shattered by Brady’s absence, the patrons were instead pumped up to see how Cassel would do. How would the team respond to having Matt under center? Would the defense – used to playing with an offense that could easily score 30+ points a game – be able to hold their ground and keep Brett and the Jets under 20 points? These were the questions floating around the bar before the game. I didn’t hear anyone mention Tom Brady. Not once. That’s not because we miss him, or that we’ve “moved on” per-say. Rather, it’s something bigger.

As fans, we’ve bought into the Bill Belichick system. The concept that everyone is just a cog in the machine, each with a role to play, many with multiple roles. Since 2000 everyone who has worn the Patriots’ blue and white jerseys have all said the same thing, “We just go out and do our jobs, and if we do our jobs right, we expect to win.” Despite their reputation, this is not a flashy team. HBO would never call up the Pats to do a reality show like they did with the Cowboys. Despite Tom Brady appearing often on TMZ or in some bizzare GQ photo shots, our biggest star doesn’t play to his star power in the way that Payton Manning does. This is a team that plays for its jersey. As fans we root for that jersey.

That’s why we were excited going into the Jets game today. We believe in the system. We believe that Belichick could put one of us under center and come up with a winning game plan. Here, with Cassel playing QB, was our chance to see that faith put to the test. Maybe not the hardest test we’ll see this winter, but the biggest test it’s faced since the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl.

And how was the game? I loved every second of it. Sure, Matt got sacked a few more times than I’d like to have seen, but he didn’t make an serious mistakes. No fumbles, no picks. When it game time to end the game, he tossed a short yardage pass to Welker for a fresh set of downs before taking a knee to let time run out. It was, as others have said, a “workman” like game. And that’s exactly what we expected from Belichick. Cassel is a cog in the system, and we believe in the system.

System Test 1: Patriots 19 Jets 10

Boston Globe Staff Photo by Jim Davis

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By Christopher on 09/14/08 11:10 PM | | Link | Comments [0]

Count Down to Game 2

I’m excited. Sure, Tom Brady is out for the season and our starting QB hasn’t started a game since 1999 and he’s a year younger than I am. I’m excited. Today could go horribly wrong. The Jets could shut down Matt Cassel. I’m excited. I think Matt is going to be just fine. I think the offensive will look a little different than it did with Brady under center, but I think it’s going to be fine. So, I’m excited. Can’t wait to see what’s about to happen.

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By Christopher on 09/14/08 04:24 PM | | Link | Comments [0]

Where Oh Where NFL?


The options for football fans living outside their team’s media market have gotten much better in the past five years. DirecTV has long since made it possible for us to go to pretty much any bar and watch any football game. It’s even priced well enough for the average football fan to heavily consider getting DirecTV for the purpose of watching every football game. They even have a nifty “Red Zone” channel that shows four to six games on the same screen when teams are close to scoring.

But, alas, there are those of us who have the big TV, the comfy couch and the desire to watch football yet don’t have the ability to get DirecTV. The choice on Sundays then becomes, “Do I go to a bar to watch the Patriots or do I stay home?” For the last few seasons, it’s been a difficult decision. First I had to figure out if the Ravens were playing at the same time as the Pats. They’re both broadcast on CBS, so if they played at the same time, I’d get the Ravens. If they played at different times, the Ravens had to be the first game in the time slot. If the Ravens played at the 4 PM time slot, CBS would often bump the early games for the local Ravens pre-game.

Basically, there was way too much to think about. Now, there is nothing to think about. Tomorrow’s Raven’s game has been canceled. Suddenly unsure about my football viewing, I pulled up this extremely helpful Google Map Mashup. It’s a colorized map of the US that displays which media markets are showing which games. Pull it up, and I saw the DC/NoVA area colored in red. I can watch the Patriots tomorrow while sitting on my comfy couch. Fantastic.

[Link: NFL TV Distribution Maps from The505.com]

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By Christopher on 09/13/08 07:48 PM | | Link | Comments [0]

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