Comments on: Sleeping With The Fishes

By: TC

TC — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:27:27 +0000

I don’t see BB pulling Cassel as an indictment on Cassel because he also pulled Moss. Maybe he just wanted to protect the starters.

By: Lance

Lance — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:13:29 +0000

Thanks for the article Scott. My first thought at halftime was that I’ve been too spoiled the past 8 years then realized that SF and Detroit fans would have been pissed off too. Worst job of being out-coached since… the Super Bowl but I’m still a huge BB believer. Cassle reverted to pre-season form and yeah guys, let’s block someone. Sheesh, do we need two cement head FB’s to stop a defense? Nothing positive about this game. Nothing.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:17:15 +0000

In their first starts post-apocalypse (as it was seen in both cases), Brady and Cassel put up nearly identically-modest-but-effective numbers in victory. In their second starts, Brady and Cassel put up nearly identically horrible numbers in blowout losses to the Dolphins.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200109300nwe.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200110070mia.htm

By: bobd

bobd — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:53:07 +0000

I’m sorry Scott. I’ll defer to you. I was just upset after re watching the tape of the game. Maybe after a cold one things will look different.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:18:21 +0000

Sorry Bob, but you’re on your own with Mayo sucks. That’s just ridiculous. He’s three games into his career. I don’t agree about Meriweather either. Yeah let’s give the young players about 20 games of rope before we kick the chair out from under them and replace them with 40 year old players. Maybe what sucks about that defense is not the young players but the old ones. I can think of a few people who pretty much define suck, but those are the heroes from the old days. Easier to ignore that and shit all over the young guys.

By: Britt Schramm

Britt Schramm — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:15:27 +0000

I agree with Nopointe as far as hold off on replacing Cassel. He deserves more than a couple of opportunities to run the first team offense.

Although I disagree with Jack in regards to Lady Luck and such. The loss yesterrday was not a result of misfortune; it was about one team executing its gameplan while the other lagged tragically behind then failed to make any second half adjustments to firm up the already porous defense or misfiring offense.

With the bye week coming so early, the remaining season will be long and grueling and if the Pats don’t start getting mentally tough to handle it, they will be leapfrogged within the conference and the division for any type of postseason activity.

By: Nopointe

Nopointe — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:47:37 +0000

This was Cassel’s first loss since High School, lets not jump the gun.

By: bobd

bobd — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:43:28 +0000

I suggest the Pats use the bye week to do 3 things.
A. call up “Uncle Vinny” and promise him anything to get him to unretire.
B. Get John Lynch back in here to stop the run. Meriweather sucks.
C. Get Jr. off the freakin’ surf board and get him to replace Mayo who also sucks.

The last few drafts have produced big time busts. Including Watson and Maroney. Get them out of here.

By: Timbuk4

Timbuk4 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:27:07 +0000

I’d like to think that this will be the only patriots article I read for the rest of the week, well put.

My only disagreement, and a minor one, is that it makes no sense to risk 1-1 Cassel in the 4th Q of a blow out and have to finish the season with O’Connell and Gutierrez. With the cheap shots flying around, the risk was real. I think it does make sense to start getting O’Donnell (oops) and Gute some action under live fire because they may get called up for real sooner than we would like.

I can’t believe the Pats are going to be this bad the rest of the way, they have some talent and good coaching, just not this week. Every year or so they lay an egg like this but usually they get better… hard to imagine but I have to hold on to something…

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:26:52 +0000

I think that yesterday at Gillette I witnessed the first aftershock of the Brady injury and the toll taken by the “undefeated” 2007 season which ended in a listless Super Bowl defeat. No matter what anyone says this is usually the case in the NFL when Lady Luck starts blowing on other teams’ dice. I think that the article and some of the commentary are overreactions to something that almost had to happen early this year. How the team responds now becomes the key to the rest of the season. I do not think that they are just going to roll over and die. The coaches and players are way too good for that. There is yet no reason to think that they are not good enough to at least reach the playoffs.