Cassel to Moss!
October 23, 2008
It has taken me far too long to blog again on Patsheads. If I’m going to play the blame game—and of course I’m going to—I would attribute my absence to two things:
1. The Red Sox in the MLB Playoffs
2. My first visit to Gillette Stadium was for the ass whupping handed to the Pats by Chad-sissy-arm-Pennington and the Miami Chunk Light.
It was a gorgeous day for football; like somebody upstairs knew SportsGal was going to Foxboro for some early birthday fun and wanted everything to be perfect. Steak tips were on the grill, Coors Light was chilling in the cooler, and the Die-Hards in the caravan next to me brought their own satellite dish and Guitar Hero. As I said: Perfect.
Until the game started, anyway.
No need to relive the devastation of that Sunday afternoon’s loss—the first in 22 regular season games—as Pats fans got a similar spanking on October 13 by the San Diego Chargers. I have to admit that between the Sox losing in Game Seven of the ALCS and the mere existence of Matt Cassel, things were looking bleak in my world.
Then came Monday Night Football.
Not a fan of night games in general, MNF is normally a thorn in my sports-loving side. Sundays are made for oversized breakfasts, worn in recliners, and oversized men locking down the gridiron for my entertainment. However, if the Patriots are going to keep playing the way they did against the Denver Broncos, I’ll watch football at one AM on Wednesdays if I have to.
The secondary stepped up big time in silencing one of the NFL’s best passing attacks; the D-Line looked much improved, with Seymour looking particularly vicious in the middle and leaving Denver’s ground game without enough room to even fart comfortably; Sammy Morris and the R Backs were brilliant for the most yards in a game in 23 years (we’ll keep his injury out of this); but what was perhaps most impressive—I’ll even go with shocking—was the stellar performance of Matt Cassel.
In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “excrement hit the air conditioning” when Cassel failed to show up for previous Patriots games. I’m not talking about the kid messing up a Perfect Attendance Record, I’m talking about someone who’s present in body but is mentally on planet Tralfamadore.
Monday night’s 41-7 victory over Denver was huge for Cassel, as the QB completed 18 of 24 passes (75.0 percent) for 185 yards with a career-high three touchdowns and a 136.3 passer rating. I finally got to scream “Cassel to Moss!” at the TV as he connected with our beloved wide receiver for the first two touchdown passes of the game. “Cassel's career-high 136.3 passer rating was the highest in the NFL for Week 8” according to Patriots.com. While I realize that this is only one game and there’s plenty of season left, I think I can head into next weekend’s game a bit more optimistically.
It could be that all Cassel needs is a little confidence.
-SportsGal
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