Q&A With Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 17, 2008 12:26 PM MST Comment 16 comments

Hello Cardinals faithful,

MaPatsFan here from Pats Pulpit. It seems we have a game on the horizon. With New York, Miami, and yours truly tied at 9-5, the AFC East is in a battle that we haven't seen in a long time. BTW, congrats on taking the NFC West. Can you show us a little love and, I don't know, maybe throw this game? ;-) We need some help here.

Seriously, a bunch of injuries to key starters have kept things interesting, but NE keeps chugging along. Matt Cassel is making a good case for a starting job on another team (his NE contract is up in 2008) and our LB and DB corps look like an orthopedic ward. It is what it is.

I'll check back every so often to answer your questions. I look forward to chattin'!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.

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expectations

You guys have endured so many injuries but are still in position to get into the playoffs and for that you should be commended. I’m not much of a Bilichick fan (but I’m sure you’re used to hearing that), so I’m rarely rooting for the Pats, but what expectations do you have for them if/when they get into the postseason? Can they go on the road and win a game or two?

by RedBirds to the SB on Dec 17, 2008 3:04 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Injuries

The homer in me wants to say, “Yeah, no problem. We’ll do great no matter what.” I think you’d call me on that. ;-) Believe it or not, the least of my worries is the offense. Matt Cassel has done a fine job coming along and is playing at a good level. With Brady, we would’ve had at least 2 more wins as Tom Terrific had a great connection with Moss and knew where to put the ball for him.

If we came up against the Colts or Steelers in the playoffs, I think we’d have a tough go of it. Our defensive backfield is soft enough that we’d be in trouble. Cornerback is a particularly weak area for us and a spot opposing coaches hit on a regular basis. I’m not a Big Ben, but even HE could do some damage, nevermind Peyton.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 17, 2008 6:31 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Mayo

I really liked him heading into the draft and looking at his stats, he looks like he’s had a good year. What does he still need to work on and what is he already great at? Does he compare to last year’s rookie phenom’s at LB (Willis and Beason)?

by RedBirds to the SB on Dec 18, 2008 6:38 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Jerod Mayo

Hi think Jerod is doing a fantastic job, especially considering we’ve lost so many key starters (ILB Tedy Bruschi, for one). That being said, I think he’s very close to Willis, but a very small step behind. Jerod is an excellent tackler (usually able to wrap guys up and not let them bounce) and plays most every snap (very athletic, lots of stamina), but needs work on reading offenses, especially when to shoot the gaps and when to hang in pass coverage. He’s a rookie, so I’ll give him some leeway on that. What I’m really happy about is he never seems to go backwards from a learning perspective. If he gets burned on something, chances are he will learn from it and not repeat the same mistake.

I’m a HUGE Jerod fan and am glad to see drafting him 10th overall has paid off. He’s a super hard working kid and seems to fit well in Hoodie’s system.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 18, 2008 8:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

How long before Troy Brown is brought out of retirement to play corner?

Seeing Senior Seau’s return was a bit of a surprise. He looked rusty against Seattle and I didn’t watch much of the Oakland game…so how’s he readjusting?

Should be an interesting weekend: my wife is a MA native and the Pats are my #2 team because “I do it for the nookie”. Four years ago I thought Emmitt was going to pull off a miracle in the desert before reality hit. This year the weather and a traveling Cardinals should give an edge to the Patriots.

We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!

by Hawkwind on Dec 17, 2008 3:14 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Returning vets

Yeah, Junior got burned during the Seahawks game and it was ugly. He’s there because perennial favorite Tedy Bruschi is most likely out for the season and we desperately need a veteran presence at ILB (Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton are just pups). Junior may have lost a step, but Belichick respects him for his locker room presence in addition to his on-the-field IQ.

Weather-wise, we’ve been slammed of late. Today was a snow/ice storm and Friday’s gonna be a mess, too. Sunday at Gillette Stadium will be snow showers with a high of 33 and a low of 19. I would agree with the edge comment. We’re playing at home and HAVE to win out to even have a chance at taking the division. Dang ’Fins…

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 17, 2008 6:38 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Cards haven’t won a game in the snow since…the ’80’s? I can only remember one snow game for the Cards in the past ten years when the finished a season at Green Bay.

My in-laws are in Sutton and have weathered the storms pretty well but my brother-in-law near Haverhill has been without power for five days now. :-(

Have you been to the CBS Zone at the Stadium? Pretty cool or just a capitalism opportunity?

We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!

by Hawkwind on Dec 17, 2008 8:53 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

CBS Zone

I’m about 20 miles south of Haverhill in Tewksbury, but was lucky enough to keep power. Many folks got hammered by last week’s ice storm, especially in NH. Ice was clinging to trees, weighing them down, and taking down power lines.

I haven’t been to CBS Zone, but I hear it’s pretty cool (and would most likely sicken a non-Pats fan with all the red, white, blue, and silver!). That being said, owner Rober Kraft is head of the NFL’s media committee I believe, so there’s certainly something going on there. I don’t want to call it a conflict of interest, but it seems strange an NFL team would be partnering with a media company. Or maybe I’m just a naive blogger. ;-)

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 18, 2008 5:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

How funny would it be if...

Kurt retired and the Cards signed Cassel? Do you think Matt Cassel is playing well enough to finally beat out Matt Lionheart for a starting job? Or is he just a system QB?

by hevchv on Dec 17, 2008 5:19 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Matt Cassel

I think signing Cassel is a real possibility for a team like Arizona. This is his 4th season with the Pats, so I’m sure that’s helped him a lot, but I do think he’s developed over the past 3 months. Us Patriots homers have been keeping track of his progress and in September, he was jittery in the pocket and went sideways when in trouble. Now, he’s stepping into the pocket and making good decisions (throwing into the stands or running when needed). He’s yet to develop a great connection with Moss which bugs me, but I’ll take high percentage throws to slot receiver Wes Welker if that’s what it takes. I just wish he’d get it together with Randy.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 17, 2008 6:43 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

So is there any chance that they even try to keep Cassel?

Also, what your take on the skills vs. system argument? If he went to another team would he still be an above average QB?

by RedBirds to the SB on Dec 19, 2008 6:10 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Keeping Cassel

A few weeks back, many sports writers (and some of us bloggers) were floating a “what if Brady isn’t ready” scenario. The options there would be a) franchise Cassel, but they’d have to pay him the average of the top 5 QB salaries in the league (10-12 million) – an expensive option, or b) let Cassel go to another team (contract up in 2008) and cross our fingers with rookie backup Kevin O’Connell and third in line, Matt Gutierrez. O’Connell had a decent preseason and would be a viable option given a strong preseason.

At this point, I don’t think Matt would (nor should) take a back seat if Brady returns in 2009. I think he’s a legit starter at this point. His biggest issue is developing a long ball with deep receivers. He still doesn’t have that with Moss, but maybe I’m asking too much given what Brady was able to do with Randy in 2007.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 19, 2008 7:44 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Moss has dropped a fair share of balls this year too

Ironic that Cassel and Moss cannot hook-up on the long pass more regularly considering that was Cassel’s first completion when he came in for Brady after the KC punt, deep in KC territory.

We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!

by Hawkwind on Dec 19, 2008 9:35 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Tell me about it

It is pretty ironic. In addition, when Cassel puts the ball in Randy’ breadbasket, wily DBs have been able to work it out. I’ve always felt Moss is most successful when he has to reach for the ball. That is, use his 6-4 height to advantage.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 19, 2008 11:21 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Jabar Gaffney has been quiet as of late

I haven’t had a chance to watch much of the Patriots in recent weeks as they’ve been playing at the same time as the Cards. Is Jabar still the default #3 receiver or has Sam Aiken been taking playing time?

We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!

by Hawkwind on Dec 17, 2008 8:56 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Gaffney

Jabar has been hot and cold. In our game against the Steelers, he dropped some key passes and doesn’t appear to have Cassel’s confidence. Sam Aiken and Kelley Washington seem to be preferred targets when Wes Welker and Randy Moss are covered; this worked quite effectively against the Jets. RB Kevin Faulk has seen his role as third down back expand to option/checkdown guy and, along with Wes Welker, is seeing the majority of the throws.

This may seem a bit idealistic, but I never feel like the Patriots have a #3. Welker and Moss are definitely the top 2, but the other guys seem to rotate in and out quite a bit. That being said, I Jabar’s lost a few points in my book and I would like to see us grab a solid “in between” receiver, essentially a receiver up until the catch and an RB post catch. We had that with Donte Stallworth and I miss it.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Dec 18, 2008 6:29 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs