Matt Cassel Out-Guns Miami, But Defense Needs To Step Up

Okay, so after his stellar performance (man, I wish I still had him as my fantasy QB and had played him!) against Miami in the House of Horrors itself, we have to take a very serious look at the back-up who has been studying at Brady-U for the past few years.

He is no backup. That boy was meant to start. He still isn't great at finding every open man and he doesn't have Brady's spidy-sense in the pocket, but he's feisty and talented.

When Tom Brady returns for 2009 (I know, it's only week 12, but I wanted others to think about it) the 2007 league MVP and QB extraordinaire will take his job back (sorry Matt); however, Cassel will not be staying in the Pats' uniform as a backup.

There are a few places he could go and with a lot of bad floating around out there Matt Cassel could be the answer to prayers in Detroit. I have a feeling Matt Cassel will be sticking around as a starter in the league for a while. He has proven that he is more than capable at his job and is a real leader.

So why have the Pats lost four games? Defense. It's old, it's slow, and all the corners need to go. Okay, maybe not all, but as much as I love some of the boys on D (and I do) they are getting a little old to be doing this. A half-second slower is no big deal in real-life, but in football, that is the difference between a touchdown and an interception, a first down and a sack.

They have zero pass rush (the loss of Harrison has something to do with this) and the LBs are too slow to really pressure the QB. And don't get me started on the secondary.

I like some of the young guys, like Mayo. They are talented and we need more of them. To be honest, the loss of Samuel hurts us, but not as much as people think. The New England defense has gone down-hill the past two years.

Ditto on the running game. Except this year, we have five freakishly talented backs, so even though two are hurt, one is old, and one is hurting, the running game doesn't suffer too much because they all have different looks.

Then we have the slot-machine, Mr. Wes Welker, and speedy himself Randy Moss. Those guys always get yards after a catch, which is essential. And you could tell by their faces today on the sidelines: they wanted to be on defense because it was terrible. Here they were, working their collective butts off to score TDs and the defense can't stop the Dolphins to save their lives.

Today I really realized (its been in my head for weeks now, but I've finally said it) the reason the Pats are not doing as well is not because of Tommy being out (well, it might have made the difference in the Jets game and the Colts game. Maybe).

Blame for the losses rests almost completely on the shoulders of the defense. They couldn't stop San Diego, they couldn't stop the Colts, they couldn't stop Brett Farve on a third and long in overtime deep in Jets territory, and the first Miami game...they couldn't make the right adjustments to counter the Wildcat offense.

Don't get me wrong, I love Bruschi and Vrable and Mayo and Wilfork...but they have to step it up if we are ever going to make the playoffs. We need to for Matt's sake. He is a good QB, he's learning and improving every week, and if the only reason he misses the playoffs is because the defense couldn't hold, that would be a shame. A real shame.