If any game were the very definition of the term above, this would be it. Cassel was okay, Maroney was okay, the defense was GREAT, but overall the game had a somewhat ugly feel to it, yet we pulled out a 19-10 victory over division rival New York Jets.
I gotta admit, I had a great feeling when the game started…Cassel was completing a lot of passes, getting a lot of different looks, and marching down the field really well. But when you sit back and see that he had zero completions in the red zone, got sacked a number of times, had some miscues on play calls, and just looked out of sorts…you realize how much difference one player makes.
But I’m not going to come down too hard on Cassel, he did what he was asked to do. Don’t make mistakes, manage the offense, don’t let us beat ourselves. And man…the defense carried the load today. Besides a couple of Favre improvisations, we locked down the big plays, did an adequate job stopping the run and hassled the QB all day long.
Final Score: 19-10
Current Record: 2-0
Play of the Game: Adalius Thomas sacks Brett Favre for a whopping 20 yard loss, while dragging Leon Washington for 10 yards and throwing both players to the turf. This just barely beat out Brandon Meriweather’s interception, but I had to give the edge to AT just on sheer nastiness alone.
That sack was an awesome play.
I’m not sold on the Jets being a real high-quality win right now, but it beats losing. Congrats and all that.
Seems to me the Pats really simplified the offense to give Cassel a chance. I bet we see him grow in the coming weeks and they really open things up. It’s too bad Brady is out, the defense looks to be VERY good this year. We’ll see how they do with Buffalo, however.