Matt Cassel: The New Golden Boy?

You ever hear the phrase that the favorite player on a football team is the backup quarterback? Well, welcome to New England, where Matt Cassel is the new golden boy.

Now, the Patriot fans fall into two distinct categories.

One, those who think Cassel is Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady all rolled into one. He is the next great quarterbacking legend and can do no wrong. Now that he has his shot at the limelight, he will shine brighter than all and lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Some obsessed fan boy who can see no wrong no matter how glaring it is. You know, like your average critic when writing about Grey’s Anatomy.

Two, those who want to rip him to shreds. Those who think that he is horrible, and will point to an innocuous 2nd-and-8 pass in which he overthrew Wes Welker as proof that he is no better than your average Pop Warner Quarterback. That he is all that is wrong with Patriots football and once he is put out of his misery, we will all be better for it.

Think I’m joking? I walked into work on Monday to an argument from the two Presidents of these fan groups. It was an amusing argument, only for the fact that I wanted to jump in and slap them both silly.

Here’s why...

I belong to a very small third fan base. I am willing to sit back, enjoy the games, praise Cassel and the Pats where deserved, but can also be critical without sounding like a pessimistic, brain-dead sports fan. But for some reason, people want to jump to one extreme or the other. How about we see how this all plays out?

Now, I have thought that the past two games were a definite improvement for Cassel and the offense (even if they lost to the Jets). He still can’t hit the deep ball, has trouble checking down, and can’t seem to utilize Randy Moss as much as he should.

However, the problem isn’t with the offense, but the defense. Yet no one seems to want to talk about it.

Listen, when all is said and done, Matt Cassel won’t be the reason if they don’t make it to the playoffs or win the Super Bowl. Truthfully, he is an average to good quarterback who has been steadily improving over the course of the season. He may develop the ability to throw the team on his back and carry them to the playoffs and behind.

Average quarterbacks can lead their teams to the Super Bowl, but they usually have a good defense helping them out. Too bad Cassel is missing that.