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I swear to god, I'm going to get fired. Every morning, around 9am, Marima's "Shots Heard 'Round the Web" links comes out...and I'm screwed. There's so much awesome info that it takes me a bit to get through. It's a good thing my boss is in Chicago or I'd be a dead duck. Ultimately, I'm forced to prioritize and the editorial style of "Shots..." is a godsend. It helps me peruse through, get a quick 1 or 2 sentence summary, and figure out what I need to dive into. Usually, I'm looking for something to rant about. Some squibble of injustice perpetrated upon my kin. Or, a really cool story I'd been intending to write and someone else beat me to it. Ah well, can't win 'em all. I do have a day job, ya know.
Any who, our comparisons of Cassel to Brady have been a bit unfair, in my mind. The premise in question? MC is a clone of TB. Matty can simply step in for Tommy and VOILA!! Our New England Patriots barely skip a beat. Nothing could be further from the truth. After 7 years, 3 superbowl rings, and countless clutch come-from-behind victories, Brady has more than a few reps under his belt.
Matt recently called Tom after the Chargers' loss and you know what Tom's advice was? Just be yourself and stop trying to carry the whole team on your shoulders. There was nothing about mechanics, about how to throw the ball or about what plays to run and when. Just be yourself.
As you've probably read on this site, comparing the 2008 Cassel to the 2007 Brady is ludicrous. The only valid comparison is 2001 Brady to 2008 Cassel:
| Cassel | Brady | ||
| 5-2 | Record | 4-3 | |
| 131 | Completed | 125 | |
| 199 | Attempts | 200 | |
| 65.8 | % | 62.5 | |
| 1,362 | Yards | 1,319 | |
| 6.8 | Yds/Att | 6.6 | |
| 194.6 | Yds/Game | 188.4 | |
| 7 | TD | 10 | |
| 6 | INT | 4 | |
| 28 | Sacked | 13 | |
| 84.62 | Rating | 89.97 |
Pretty darn close, if you ask me and a much more accurate way to compare our 2 quarterbacks. The good part of this is Matt is fast making a name for himself. Given that his contract is up in 2008 and barring any 2009 issues with Brady's knee, Matt will have himself a starting job somewhere. I would not be surprised if many NFL teams with quarterback issues had Cassel's agent on speed dial. Come the end of the season, he'll be getting a lot of frequent flyer miles.