Projo Pats Blog

Back on Christmas Eve 2006, Tom Brady scrambled for a seven-yard gain to pick up a key first down late in the Patriots' victory at the Jacksonville Jaguars. As Brady slid to the ground, Jaguars linebacker Clint Ingram speared Brady in the right shoulder. It was a mean and unnecessary hit, and it looked bad for Brady, who had been listed on the team's injury report for more than two years prior to the hit because of a problem with the same shoulder. Brady lay on the grass for a few moments and left the game, clearly shaken. But he missed only one play. Upon returning, he immediately threw a 15-yard completion to Daniel Graham. The moment was, for me, only the most memorable of several occasions in which I've held my breath about Brady, only to see him pop back up and play as effectively as ever.

"I've been here four years," Matt Cassel said yesterday, (projo) after the Hit that Changed Everything. "and every time Tom's been knocked down, he's gotten right back up." Gotten right back up and gotten right back to business. Brady's fearlessness in the pocket, his ability to stand in, step up and throw when things seem to be breaking down all around him is partly what makes him stand out among the stars in the NFL. It is a trait that the Patriots are unlikely to get out of Cassel, or from any of the journeyman veterans that they might sign to take Brady's job.

What happened yesterday in Foxboro was partly a function of the reality of the NFL coming to roost here in New England. The Patriots and the Colts have been the NFL's dominant franchises this decade in large part because Brady and Peyton Manning have never missed a start due to an injury. Now this is partly because both quarterbacks have had excellent offensive line protection, but there must be an element of very good luck here. Although Brady's injury was the most severe, he was only one of three starting QBs -- Brodie Croyle and Vince Young were the others -- to suffer serious injuries yesterday in just 13 games.

So now the question everyone is asking is: Can the Patriots win without Brady? I believe that while the fans' dreams of another 16-0 season have gone up in smoke, the season is in no way over. Whichever quarterback takes the reins in Foxboro will have some of the best offensive weapons he could ask for at his disposal -- Randy Moss and Wes Welker at wide receiver; Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris leading a balanced backfield, and a seasoned offensive line that did a good job yesterday of protecting Cassel. And while we wait to learn more about the new-look Patriots secondary, the New England defense is as good up front as any in the league, so you can expect most of this team's games to be winnable.

It's interesting, too, to take a look at what happened to the other two elite teams in the AFC. The San Diego Chargers, tapped by some as the new favorite to win the conference championship, (ESPN.com) lost at home to a Carolina team that had been widely picked to finish third in the NFC South. And the Indianapolis Colts were knocked around at home by the Chicago Bears in a shocking result.

Of course the Patriots barely got by the lowly Chiefs yesterday, but if they are really as well-coached under Bill Belichick and Company as everyone says they are, they should be able to make adjustments to life without Brady, and to learn to play to the strengths of their new starting quarterback. To compete the rest of the way, they will need good health from everyone else, and they will need their remaining stars -- I'm looking at you, Randy Moss -- to remain engaged and to not quit on whomever calls the signals from here on out. As the coaches and the players get used to their new quarterback, the offense should begin to look smoother than it did yesterday, when the Patriots turned to an uncharacteristically run-centric offense in the second half and seemed to be trying to run out the clock on the Chiefs.

Things probably won't be pretty at first. The game next week at the Jets, in particular, looks pretty scary. It will be a Patriots team trying to reinvent itself against a highly motivated opponent. Brett Favre's first nationally televised appearance since his bizarre offseason endgame in Green Bay.

But the Patriots have always been very good at playing with a chip on their collective shoulder. Often in the past decade, players have talked about their team getting no respect, even when they were generally shown all sorts of respect by teams all around the league. If the Patriots' new quarterback -- Cassel or whoever -- is able to inspire his teammates, this is not a team that you can count out. If for no other reason than that people all around the country are counting them out right now. That could be some pretty good material for Belichick to use as motivation.

By the way, how do you like this? According to The New York Times' Fifth Down blog, fans watching football at the ESPN Zone in Manhattan were roaring with delight when they saw Brady in pain on the ground. The Times' blogger, Toni Monkovic, asks his commenters if they would have cheered the injury had they been at the Zone. And many of them, unapologetically, say yes.

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Comments

G-Man said:

There are plenty of players I don't like, but I would never wish an injury on any of them, or cheer an injury, even to an opponent. That is the absolute opposite of SPORTS-MAN-ship. Anyone who would is not a sports fan, not a sportsman, not a man (or a woman, or an adult of any kind), but only, a despicable little coward.
Ignorant drunk little cowards. Sad.

Link | September 8, 2008 10:54 PM
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ANTHONY COCCIA said:

IAN A PATS FAN AND I WOULD NEVER WISH BAD OF MANNING OR TOMLINSON OR ANY PLAYER . I WANT ALL HEALTHY TO PLAY A FAIR AND EXPLOSIVE GAME ALL THE WAY TO THE BOWL. I STILL THINK THE PATS CAN GO DEEP IN THE PLAYOFFS, POSSIBLY ALL THE WAY. PEOPLE ARE NOT TRUE SPORTS FANS IF THEY CHEER INJURY TO WIN.

Link | September 9, 2008 10:48 AM
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Ernie said:

When I first read that ny thing I was angry but then I remembered these are the same tools that cheer when their OWN qb goes down with an injury..

Hopefully it's plastered all over the Pats locker room and helps to incite plenty of stompage by The Pats come Sun..

Link | September 9, 2008 12:21 PM
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