Young beats Old in Battle of the Quarterbacks
Posted by Sport.co.uk on: 17 September 2008 - 12:51
Author: Steven Rawlins
Two of the biggest stories in the National Football League collided on Sunday afternoon, as future Hall of Famer Brett Favre and his new team, the New York Jets, played host to replacement first string quarterback Matt Cassel and his New England Patriots.
Proving ground
The pressure was undoubtedly more focused on Cassel for this game, largely regarded as the one to watch on Sunday. Bought in to replace 3-time Superbowl winner Tom Brady, who is out for the season with a knee injury, Cassel – who had not started in a football game since high school – had to prove to the fans that his stand-in save the week before against the Chiefs was not a fluke. In that game, Cassel went 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. Not bad, the fans thought, but do it against a good team.
A worthy opponent?
It’s debatable whether the Jets can be labeled “good” just yet. Predictions range from them winning their division, to winning less than 7 games, to making the Superbowl. With Brett Favre at the helm, on paper they are certainly better than they were (which isn’t difficult), and they looked better too in a win against the Dolphins in Week One. In the match-up against the Patriots in Week Two, most bookmakers had the Jets listed as the favourite – so unproven is Matt Cassel against higher calibre teams. But the young replacement, who last started a game in 1999, stepped up, proving that the Patriots are not just a one trick pony, doomed without Tom Brady.
Using the run
The strategy was definitely different. Randy Moss, widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the game, only touched the ball twice. In fact, Cassel did not throw any touchdown passes but still managed to lead the Patriots to victory. Use of running backs was not a prevalent game-plan last year, and who needed it with Brady throwing laser-like passes. This year the Pats know they can’t expect that of Cassel, as good as he might be, and it showed, with the Patriots opting to run more than to pass. Compared to Moss’s two touches, Lamont Jordan, Sammy Morris, Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk (the Patriots running back contingent) shared 36 touches between them.
Cassel was 16 of 23 for 165 yards and no touchdowns – not great numbers, but good enough. As Cassel said after the game: “you've got to have more points than the other team, and that's what we did.”
Questions about veteran return
For Favre it was a different story. The high from Week One quickly disappeared and doubters have returned. Yes, the Patriots are more than just Tom Brady, but to justify the hype surrounding his signing in New York, Favre really needed to win this home game, especially against such an inexperienced quarterback. He went 18 of 26 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown, but threw a crucial interception in the third quarter which gave New England the football with good field position, allowing them to score. His forth quarter comeback came to late, the Pats won 19-10, and suddenly the power balance shifted in the AFC East.
Battle for the division
With Buffalo’s victory on Sunday, they are now 2-0, as are the Patriots. New England are still the team to beat in this division, and the Jets are no longer a sure-fire second place bet. Things might get worse for them as they face the Chargers next week who are stinging from losing their first two games. The Patriots, on the other hand, are likely to go 3 and 0, as they face the flat-lining Miami Dolphins at home on Sunday.