Matt Cassel Should Remain Minnesota Vikings' Starter After Breakout Performance

It's been a debate for most of the season for the Minnesota Vikings as they have shuffled quarterbacks all season long. Making only his fourth start of the season, quarterback Matt Cassel put an exclamation point on his argument to be the Vikings' starter—at least for the rest of this season and possibly into the next.

Cassel led the Vikings to the most points in a game since Week 14 of the 1998 season when they beat the Chicago Bears 48-22. That season, the Vikings had the top scoring offense and finished the season 15-1 in the regular season.

There will be plenty of people that will point out that the Eagles have a pretty porous pass defense. Coming into the game, the Eagles ranked 31st in the NFL, giving up an average of 285.5 passing yards per game. Cassel exceeded that average by almost 100 yards as he finished with 382 passing yards on 26-of-35 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. 

This season in his four starts, Cassel has averaged 284 yards per game. His 382 passing yards against the Eagles are not only the most this season, but the most since 2010 when Brett Favre was slinging the football. It's also the sixth-most passing yards by a Vikings player in a game since 2004.

Year	Week	Yards	QB	Result
2010	Week 9 vs Cardinals	446	Bret Favre	27-24 OT Win
2004	Week 6 @ Saints	425	Duante Culpepper	38-31 Win
2004	Week 15 vs Lions	404	Duante Culpepper	28-27 Win
2004	Week 5 @ Texans	396	Duante Culpepper	34-28 Win
2009	Week 12 vs Bears	392	Brett Favre	36-10 Win
2013	Week 15 vs Eagles	382	Matt Cassel	48-30 Win

The fact that the Vikings came into the game without a running game should have worked against Cassel. Their third-string running back, Matt Asiata, finished with only 51 yards on 30 carries. But he did score three touchdowns as Cassel got the Vikings into the red zone with his passing. Asiata had two touchdown runs of one yard and a third of five yards.

This was supposed to be a lopsided game—except with the Eagles and their top-ranked quarterback picking apart a depleted Vikings secondary. Instead, Cassel outplayed Nick Foles and the Eagles, who are in the midst of battling for the playoffs.    

Quarterback	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Rating
Nick Foles	30	48	428	3	1	103.5
Matt Cassel	26	35	382	2	1	116.6

One game may not justify moving Cassel to the top of the Vikings' depth chart. Besides his performance against the Eagles, Cassel has also had very good performances against the Steelers, Bears and Ravens. He is the quarterback of record in three of the Vikings' four wins this season.    

Opponent	Week	QB	Pass Yds	TD	INT	Rating	Result
Steelers	4	Matt Cassel	248	2	0	123.4	Win
Eagles	15	Matt Cassel	382	2	1	116.3	Win
Redskins	10	Christian Ponder	174	2	1	113.1	Win
Packers	12	Christian Ponder	233	1	0	103.9	Tie
Ravens	14	Matt Cassel	265	2	0	86.0	Loss
Bears	13	Matt Cassel	243	1	1	80.7	Win

Cassel also helped wide receiver Greg Jennings to the most catches in a game for his career. Jennings finished with 11 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown—the second-highest yardage total in his career. In Week 2 of 2008, with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, Jennings caught six passes for 167 yards. 

We finally saw what we were expecting from Jennings when he was signed as a free agent from Green Bay. Perhaps this is the passing combination that the Vikings need. The only way we'll know is to see if the chemistry carries over to another week.  

At the very least, the Vikings needs to see what Cassel can do against another potential playoff team and give him the start against the Bengals next week in Cincinnati.