Reporter's Notebook: Open apology to ‘Patriot Nation’ (Dec. 5, 2008)
I come before you today a humbled man.
The last time I wrote a column on Sept. 19, I said the New England Patriots were doomed for the rest of the 2008 season after losing quarterback Tom Brady in week one against the Kansas City Chiefs due to torn ligaments in his knee.
I am glad to say I am wrong.
The Patriots have not only won games without Brady, they have also been able to win without safety Rodney Harrison and linebacker Adalius Thomas, two key contributors to the Pats defense who are both out for the season with injuries.
The Patriots have continued on with a cast of rookies and cast-offs. On offense, running backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Kevin Faulk have filled in admirably for Laurence Maroney, who is also gone for the season due to injury. Green-Ellis, who was on the team’s practice squad at the beginning of the season, has rushed for 275 yards in seven games, including a 105 yard effort against the Buffalo Bills one month ago. Faulk may be having the finest season of his 10-year career, currently leading the team in rushing with 445 yards and contributing 43 catches for 363 yards.
On defense, rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo has played at a Pro Bowl level, leading the team with 96 tackles, while rookie linebacker Gary Guyton has also contributed with 30 tackles.
The Patriots secondary, which may be the most injury-riddled area of the team, has been held down by cornerbacks Ellis Hobbs, Lewis Sanders and Deltha O’Neal along with safeties Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders. As a group they have totaled 203 tackles and 10 interceptions.
Let us also not forget Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. In my previous column I insinuated that Belichick’s success directly coincided with Brady being his quarterback. Belichick has proven to this point it has been his system and his team’s overall play being the factors into the Pats’ wins, not just by Brady’s arm and intellect. He has been able to mix and match schemes that do just enough to get the Patriots by week to week.
However, the main story of the Pats’ season has to be the evolution of quarterback Matt Cassel, who until this season had not started a game since high school. With the exception of bumps in the road against Miami and San Diego earlier in the season (and one horrendous game against Pittsburgh last week), Cassel has gotten statistically better with each game, including two straight 400-yard passing games against the Jets and Dolphins.
Cassel has also shown a trait Brady does not have, the ability to scramble. At press time Cassel was the fourth leading rusher on the team and ran for a team-high 62 yards against the Jets two weeks ago.
While Brady has the ability to move around the pocket to avoid pass rushers, he didn’t have the speed to tuck the ball and run for first downs unless defenders were 20-yards away. In fact, Patriots fans might not have seen running ability at the quarterback position like Cassel’s since Steve Grogan manned the controls of the Pats offense back in the 70s and 80s.
Another interesting twist with Cassel is the fact that he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, meaning he is free to sign with any team of his choosing, without the Patriots collecting any compensation.
While no doubt Brady, a three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, will regain the starting quarterback position next season, certainly teams around the National Football League with quarterback issues (hello Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago, Minnesota and Kansas City) would love to have a player with Cassel’s qualities running their offense.
Think about it: a young (26 years old), healthy quarterback who has proven to be successful for a full season, which would be better than an inexperienced rookie quarterback who will have to go through the typical growing pains of playing NFL football.
So while Brady will take back his starting job, don’t feel bad for Cassel. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, the first quarterback taken in this year’s draft, currently has a six-year, $72 million contract and there’s no reason to think Cassel won’t get similar offers in the offseason. Truly a fairy tale ending, isn’t it?
I apologize with all sincerity to everyone out in “Patriot Nation.” While I still cannot say with a straight face the Pats will reach the Super Bowl, they have shown their resiliency throughout the season and will more than likely finish with a 10 win season, something I didn’t think would happen back in week one. I will certainly make it a point to never doubt the Patriots from this point forward.
Well, at least for this season.
— Dave Dyer
A prodigal son returns to once again reside in Patriot Nation. Welcome home. You have to return to rookie status though. This year has been different for New England Patriots fans in many ways. For the past few seasons, it became almost a given that the Pats were going to win. Very few teams besides the Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers had the firepower to even challenge them. We had become an NFL superpower. And with it came the unrelenting scrutiny that bred Bradys affair, spygate, and whether or not a 18-0 season was even possible. Football took a back seat to a weekly Sunday soap opera. That caused them to lose the two things that got them to that status in the first place. First and foremost, they lost their "underdog" status. They became the team that everyone hated outside of Patriot Nation. And that caused the second worst thing to happen and that was individual name recognition. The Patriot's team mantra was just that, we are a team. Not a group of individuals with star power. But what caused them to succeed, also cost them. People expected "Iron Man" Brady on the field. Teddy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel were feared men. Randy Moss demanded double or triple coverage. The misfits of New England became NFL stars. The 2008 season will go down as one of the best in Patriots history, regardless of what the win/loss column says in January. They have gotten back the underdog status. They have proved that if you look hard enough, you can find victories even in a loss. The game against Pittsburg was ugly. But not all of that rests on the Matt Cassel's shoulders. They had at least 3 chances to put that game away. What lost that game is the aging and beat up defense. But at least they had a shot right up to the end of third quarter. And they took it as a team. No Monday or Tuesday ESPN news scroll about so and so blaming anyone as to why they lost. I have to throw in that if anyone if anyone deserves the Pats MVP for the year its Wes Welker. At 5'8 and 180 pounds, pound for pound he is the toughest man on any football field he walks onto. He is the "everyman" player of the NFL. When youth football coaches need to lift the spirits of a player who may be the smallest on the field, he can show him film of Wes Welker and honestly say if you try hard enough, and have enough courage, anybody can play football. This year's team is different in many ways thats for sure, but in some ways, I like it better this way. The tension is back. Each gain is that much more enjoyable. There is less glitz and more grime. I find myself sitting on the edge of the chair more. They seem more like a "real" team, not a "dream" team. Everybody loves the underdog. So thank you again for the apology, Mr. Dyer. You may hang this letter on your wall as well. As far as your closing Super Bowl comment, let me close by paraphrasing a historic, but seasonally appropriate newspaper editorial, "Yes Matthew, there is a Santa Claus. He lives in Patriot Nation."
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