mtbykr

After watching the game, the only thing I could take away from it was at least this would end the 'let's trade brady and keep Cassel' talk........apparently the insanity is more than I originally thought. Cassel played OK on Sunday, the whole team lost this game. There were several key drops by Moss and Gaffney that really hurt the pats.....and Cassel made some terrible throws. The defense couldn't get off the field on 3rd down and the O couldn't stay on the field on 3rd down. Cassel is what he is; he has done better than expected (at least by me) but he shouldn't even be in the same conversation with TB. Normally the pats fill injuries well, and I think they have done a good job thus far....but it's really showing just how deep the injuries have gone. They need to win out to have a playoff chance, and then get some help. Anything can happen once you get into the playoffs, but it's a tough road for the pats to get there!

I agree.....I don't want Cassel with the Jets, but it's likely they will make a run with manjudas at the helm. I think they would prefer to look longterm with Cassel instead of one more year and then uncertainty. Of course the problem will be if Favre wants to come back right away and they have to decide before they know if they can get Cassel.

I think one thing to note is that insiders said that if O'Connel was a year along and not a rookie, he would have been the backup over Cassel. The argument that brady is in trouble because he isn't a mobile qb and had a knee injury is foolishness. You are arguing against yourself....TB is one of the best qb's ever in his ability to feel pressure and slide around in the pocket creating that extra time for the receivers to make a play. People are getting too enamored with Cassel and his ability to use his legs. Cassel has used his legs to help himself out becuase he doesn't have the ability of TB to read defenses and buy time until the play is there. The drafting of O'Connell has nothing to do with thinking about TB being on the down swing. It is simply the pats addressing a need: Cassel is the backup and will probaly be gone after this year even if TB doesn't get hurt so they are putting a high quality kid in the chain to be a backup in case anything ever happens. BB has always said that the pats will draft the best player that is available in their minds despite needs. They must think highly of OC to draft him that high, but I simply see it as they felt he was the best player available at the time. Again Cassel has done a great job thus far, and should continue to do so....but I don't see any scenerio, other than TB retiring, that has Cassel the pats qb next year. EDIT: As far as next year goes, things seem to be lining up for the Eagles to take a run at Cassel. Given Reid's love of throwing the ball, and former pats players, it would be a good fit. I would love to see this, and hope Cassel does great.....just as long as it's out of the division.

It's amazing what Norv can do with all that talent in SD.

NO. Cassel has done a better job than most of us expected. However to say he is even in the same league as Brady is just dumb. Cassel will earn, provided he keeps this up, a good paycheck this offseason...but it will be with another team. The pats won't trade one of the greatest QB's of all time, in his prime, for a QB who has performed well for part of a season.

I didn't post a thought either way, just a link to the article. We all know everyone is a fan of some team, and I expect most NFL execs to be fans of NY teams considering that's where the office is. It is a little strange though (if true) to have top NFL officials celebrating with a team on the road....just doesn't look good for the whole 'impartiality' thing. If this is true, and it had happened against the colts instead of the pats.....Bill Polian would have broken into the NFL offices with a shotgun ala Bobcat Goldthwait in 'Scrooged'

What does this mean? Especially considering I was nowhere near the board during this discussion.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/11/22/league-officials-celebrated-with-jets/

You can never have too much starting pitching, I guess it would depend on what he wanted. If he wanted an incentive laden deal then I am sure they would try and work out something.

West coast teams with a London away game wouldn't like it, even if it was around there bye week. East coast to London isn't much different than East Coast to West Coast, but other than that it's a logistical problem.

Nothing really came out of the interview with Goodell: -Looking into Pacman now -Not going to change OT rule -May have Comp com look into tie games rule, but doesn't expect it to change -Surprised McNabb didn't know tie rule -Safety is #1...responding to Palamalu -Vick has paid a heavy price, fans may welcome him back depending upon his attitude and if he deals with what he's done correctly -Would like ot put an NFL franchise in London -Is in favor of converting the last 2 pre-season games into regular making it an 18 game season

If anyone cares, Goodell is doing an interview with Jim Rome on ESPN coming up shortly. I haven't seen him do an interview like this before, so should be interesting.

Got an email from a friend today who seems to be right on a lot of these things over the years...he said he heard Giambi to the Rays as the DH. Anyone else hear anything about that?

One unintentionally funny parts of that interview was when Grant said: "The things I value when I vote are getting on base and scoring runs" ... then Merloni responds "He scored 118 runs" Then the awkward silence in-sues.

True, unless someone goes down and then what since he can't play two days in a row?

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/11/report_crisp_he.html

Found a link to the interview with Evan Grant: Online: http://audio.weei.com/m/audio/21467869/evan_grant.htm?pageid=968 Download: http://media.weei.podzinger.com/archive/TheBigShow/2008-11-18_Evan_Grant.mp3

I believe the culprit is Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. I heard the tail end of an interview with him today, WEEI tracked him down. It sounded like an interesting interview.

WEEI is talking about one of the writers didn't include Dped in his vote. He gets ten votes and Dped didn't make his top 10......wow. Congrats Dped! So that's a MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger all in one year for a 2nd baseman!

The hits just keep on coming......I almost expect the weekly 'IR of a starter' routine, just crazy. http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2008/11/patriots_transa.html

Didn't we have the top 6 make it last year with the top two getting bye's? ...much like the NFL.

The pats problem is not stopping the pass, not the run. They have been very good recently at stopping the run. Cassel is doing what is asked of him, and seems to get better each week. He's not the reason we have lost these games, we have other problems.

I was just curious given some of the arguments you were making . I wouldn't say the Pats blew it, but they def blew a lot of chances and gave the Jets plenty. Give the Jets credit though, they made the plays when they had to and we didn't.