It’s safe to say the injury to Tom Brady in the first game of the 2008 NFL season makes this season for the New England Patriots a lost season. High expectation again were with the Patriots, maybe not to repeat 16-0 but be Super Bowl contenders once again. With Matt Cassel as the starting quarterback the Patriots fall back down to earth with the rest of the teams in the AFC, which also opens the door for new AFC Champion contenders. Patriots fans must agree that with the lose of the best QB in the league they wouldn’t expect much from the Patriots in 2008. In 2001, Drew Bledsoe became hurt and then unknown quarterback Tom Brady took his place and excelled so maybe history will repeat itself.The Patriots would seem to have fallen in the underdog role since Brady’s injury. How fast can the favorites in the NFL become the underdogs?….it happened in one game. The Patriots still have their potent offense with wide receivers Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Jabar Gaffney with coach Bill Belichick running the team. The receivers can be only as good as their quarterback, Brady raised everyone’s level of play in 2007 and with his lose Cassel must find a way to distribute the ball effectively and efficiently without creating turnovers.

Cassel doesn’t have to win the game for the Patriots, just not lose it for them. Many quarterbacks in the NFL have a great team around them and they are average at best, case in point the 2007 with Rex Grossman. Grossman was a sub-par QB and the Chicago Bears made it to the Super Bowl in spite of him with a good running game and stellar defense. All Grossman had to do was not make stupid mistakes by taking wild chances and it gave the Bears a chance to win every game. Cassel shouldn’t pretend he is anyone else and work within the offense and not try to be the “hero” so to speak. Being what the AFC is playoffs spots will be at a premium so falling back in the lose column will cause problems for the Patriots if they can’t pick up wins against the Raiders, Rams, and Cardinals.

Matt Cassel is in a very difficult position filling in the shoes of a future Hall of Fame player, but on the bright side nobody expects him to be Tom Brady, so with the expectation lowered some of the pressure will be off Cassel and he will perform better. Football is a very unpredictable game so maybe Cassel will take the opportunity he has been given and succeed, only time will tell. He is on a one season term because Tom Brady will be back next season, Cassel should make the most of his starting job while he can. Great quarterbacks in the NFL are few and far between and Cassel, while he isn’t a great QB yet this might be the chance he can prove that one day he will be.