The Sports Beat

After signing a new deal this offseason number 16 may be signing his name Matt Ca$$el. 

It started as a joke. Not necessarily a very funny one, but one I made several times nonetheless.

“After Matt Cassel wins the MVP and we win the Super Bowl we’re gonna trade Brady for three first-rounders and restock the defense,” I would tell whomever would listen, attentatively or not, after Tom Brady went down for the season after just 11 pass attempts.

At 26 and finally getting a chance to take some goddamn reps after his stint as Backup to the Stars (Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Tom Brady chronologically), trading the 31-year-old Brady for a boatload of young studs to shore up our quickly aging defense and shallow depth in the defensive backfield would be ideal. But it was nothing more than a wistful idea.

In fact, it was more to cheer myself up than anything–the reigning MVP and best player in football was done, and our season was too. If we could joke about lightning striking a successful New England quarterback twice, first the dearly-departed Drew Bledsoe, and now his model-replacement, then the harsh reality of 15 sad Sundays (or Mondays, or Thursdays) wouldn’t hurt as much. It’s a classic approach–ease the pain by putting it right out there.

All proceeded as we truly expected through the first nine games of the Cassel Experiment, with the almost lifelong backup playing relatively well, but lacking the clutch kick Brady has shown throughout his storybook career and failing to handle pressure well enough to become a star. Cassel had the tools–he could make decent reads, has a good arm, throws a tight, accurate spiral, and can run with almost any quarterback in the league. But, without the ability to sidestep pressure and avoid the urge to run for a two-yard gain every time the pocket shrank, he was destined to be nothing more than a sidenote in the NFL’s modern version of a dynasty.

Then he pulled a reverse-Kafka, becoming the man.

In an overtime loss against the Jets last Thursday night, Cassel took over. His numbers popped: 400 yards passing and 100 yards rushing. He was what Michael Vick should have been before the Georgia inmate shortened his first name and starting torturing canines.

But, despite the big numbers and his better-than Brady-like throw on the run to Randy Moss at the end of regulation to tie the game, Cassel had not convinced me he was the real deal. Then came today.

Another 400 yards passing. A rushing touchdown and an epic six-yard gain on a QB sneak, a growing rapport with Randy Moss, and a second-consecutive dominant fourth quarter.

But what has officially put my “trade Brady” joke into the realm of possibility is Matt Cassel’s newfound proficiency in the pocket. Today he didn’t panic when blitzes came, he merely felt their heat blasting his way like a furnace and moved to cooler ground, looking to pass first and run only if there were a concrete reason for doing so. He looked calm and poised as his confidence spread throughout his offense and New England’s spoiled fans.

Matt Cassel has arrived.

So, once this absurd season that has seen more Patriots hit the infirmary at Foxborough than at Lexington and Concord, if the man who has spent the majority of his adult life watching from the shadows leads his team to a win or two under the biggest spotlight of all–the postseason–it might be time to turn an absurd joke into a restocking effort Wall Street would appreciate.

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