I'll keep this simple: Cassel is not going to take us anywhere! Sure the whole team had a let down but Cassel has proved he is not comfortable operating an offense that needs to have the ball thrown beyond 2-5 yards!

Don't kid yourself if you think there is an ounce of hope with Cassel! Time for Belichick to give O'Connell a shot. I don't give a damn that he is a rookie! Give him a shot now and see what he's made of! It is clear, we aren't going anywhere with Cassel anyway!

There are people that will argue that Belichick would have already made the switch if he knew O'Connell gave the team a better shot. I would argue, that the Tom Brady story wouldn't of happened without Mo Lewis practically killing Bledsoe! Without that hit, the series of events that made ther Pats dynasty never would have happened!

I don't care if they have a QB by committee! Bottom line is, the current system is not going to work. Without an aggressive move now, the season is going to slip away!

Who's with me?

I'm with you, bro! Try the rook. He can't possibly be any worse.

No argument from me.

After game one, I thought Cassel deserved a try. However, he's less than marginal. I'm sure opposing teams are very confident against a NE team that may score 1 single touchdown.

Perhaps, they can use Cassel to replace Maroney (i.e. backup RB)?

They should have put O'Connell in for a few series in the 4th quarter. I know Cassell hasn't played much, but he is not a rookie, he is a 4th yr. veteran. He's been in the same meetings with Brady, game planning and breaking down defenses. He seems very confused at what he is seeing. He holds the ball too long and makes late throws. He's also not very accurate. Time to let Cassell sit for a while and see what the rookie can do. Cassell is taking over the greatest offense in NFL history, the Pat's rewrote the record books last year, the offense looks pathetic this year.

O'Connel for President???/

I say yes....at least for replacing Cassel.....that chump.

Yeah Cassel sucks alright, but don't worry the same guys that kept Cassel on the roster for 4 years drafted O'Connel, so he should be the answer.

[Quote]Yeah Cassel sucks alright, but don't worry the same guys that kept Cassel on the roster for 4 years drafted O'Connel, so he should be the answer.[/Quote]

[Quote]Yeah Cassel sucks alright, but don't worry the same guys that kept Cassel on the roster for 4 years drafted O'Connel, so he should be the answer.[/Quote]

They are also the same crew that drafted Tom Brady. Or did you chose to conveniently forget that ?

[Quote]

They are also the same crew that drafted Tom Brady. Or did you chose to conveniently forget that ?[/Quote]

You can thank Dick Rebien for drafting Brady, but he's no longer with us.

The entire team is in disarray !! At one time I posted an opinion that said that B.B was more importnt to winning for this team than Brady....boy was I ever wrong with that thread !!!....

You aren't the only one Sonny-0, I've been blasted in the past for being critical of BB, because I've always believed it was all about Brady. And their is no quick fix, the Pats, starting at the top with Kraft, need to see that protecting Brady with a solid OL is priority number one. After that SB where Brady was getting knocked around, the O-line should have been addressed. All were seeing is what Brady has been hiding for years with his greatness.

I'd say let's make the change. We can always come back to Sam, oh the Celts, I mean Matt if KO doesn't pan out this early on. He certainly can't be much worse, and then we'd know more when we draft again next year. Oh, some of you, forget about that record setting offense last year. They were not at all like that offense when the going got tough down the stretch and in the playoffs, plus 50% of those points were in truly running up the score, big time. 14 points in the SB? I believe that whole "great offense" fiasco destroyed a huge part the attitude of this team. They lost their toughness, their big play attitude their SB teams all had. As the old late great Redhead of the Celts said, Stats are for losers. I'll take the SB winning offense over last years everytime. They made the big plays. Randy did nothing whenever it truly counted.

Cassel seems to have stalled in his learning experience. We're really missing Tom's ability to feel and evade pressure. I don't expect Cassel to be half as good, but he was sure rattled last night. Koppen was manhandled all night, and no QB is going to be great with huge D-linemen in his face up the middle. I don't know if O'Connel would fare much better in that game. One thing I was upset about was Moss, though. Twice he let the DB slap the ball away just sitting there waiting for the ball to simply land in his hands! Had he fought for it, those two catches would have been his. He certainly seems to have lost his aggression when Brady went down. Now is when he should be trying extra, but he doesn't seem to be. And what can I say about the defense? Surely nothing that will be allowed to be posted here! I stated earlier that they would need to rattle Rivers or he would torch them. And they gave him all day to throw. I was hoping that Dom Capers would bring the secondary some respectability. So far I don't see any effect whatsoever. While I don't think Asante was worth $50 million, O'Neil isn't worth 50 bucks!!! They will keep getting torched until the front seven can get in a QB's face. And there is still Manning and Favre to face yet this year! So while Cassel has seemingly taken a step backwards (or at least not made much progress), even a new QB isn't the answer to what this team needs. This is now two horrible games out of three for the defense. If they continue as they have been it will be a long winter with no playoffs this season. And I just don't believe replacing Cassel will change that. If they don't do a 180 by Thanksgiving I hope they at least play all the new guys to get them experience. I'm trying to "keep the faith", but it's hard to do after such an awful performance! First and goal from the one and no points? That was simply embarrasing! OK, I've had my rant. I could've taken a loss in SD, but this performance was atrocious. If they don't fix the problems on the O-line and the defense even Brady won't be able to guide this team to the playoffs in 09. It's time to get back to smashmouth football, and these guys seem incapable of it right now. I hope we're all overreacting, but that was bad any way you looked at it!!!

not that this game was entirely cassel fault,but i am for a veteran to take over.if o-connel starts,and fails.i dont want to here the it was his first game exscuses.for i will call for his head,and to be removed.its so funny how one guy gets blamed for the whole teams failure.oh i forgot the qb has to defend the passes,he has to rush the qb.he has to pick-up the runningback,and carry him.im not saying cassel didnt make his fair of mistakes,but it wouldnt matter who we had in there.we would have still lossed.

It dosen't matter who is at QB if they don't fix the pressure up the middle.Koppen was knocked in the backfield far too often blowing up plays before they get started.

i agree d-white,but we have some here that thinks its cassel fault only.when the whole team played lousy.

Can O'Connell play CB? Because if he can't, it really doesn't matter who is at the QB position. You aren't going to win many games giving up 30 points. The Pat's will still lose 24 to 30.

The strength of the Pats is supposed to be the defense. I don't see it.

[Quote]i agree d-white,but we have some here that thinks its cassel fault only.when the whole team played lousy.[/Quote]

Mosseffect: I agree the whole team played lousy! Koppen has either regressed bigtime or maybe he is just extremely overrated to begin with because he has been getting blown up all season!

Bottom line is, the QB is the most important position on the team as he touches the ball on every single offensive snap. Cassel simply cannot get it done for 60 minutes. He is fine if the starting QB has the wind knocked out of him and Cassel needs to step in for a series or two. Thats about it!

Stop kidding yourself and start dealing with reality around Cassel. I don't care if the Pats start running the "Wildcat" offense like Miami! They need to make some changes on offense and tighten things up on defense.

deluxe-im not sticking up for cassel-i would love to see a veteran come in.nothing against o-connel,but right now he wont save us.sure it would do him some good to get the playing time,but if we want a winning season we need changes across the board.and the secondary is one of them.cassel is to blame for a lot of things,but i cant just say it was him that cost us the game.

With you. Free Cassel. Time to say bye- bye.

Cassel has played more this year than he has in his entire life. That should tell you something about his abilities. Clearly he is not very good at gathering information, decifering it and making a decision within in three seconds. O'Connell is not the answer either. Bill has shown a stubbornness since the super bowl that is costing us big time. As soon as Tom went down they should have signed an experienced QB to be the caretaker for 2009. How does the entire Patriots nation know Cassel couldn't handle the job and Bill didn't? Shouldn't it have been the other way?

[Quote]Cassel has played more this year than he has in his entire life. That should tell you something about his abilities. Clearly he is not very good at gathering information, decifering it and making a decision within in three seconds. O'Connell is not the answer either. Bill has shown a stubbornness since the super bowl that is costing us big time. As soon as Tom went down they should have signed an experienced QB to be the caretaker for 2009. How does the entire Patriots nation know Cassel couldn't handle the job and Bill didn't? Shouldn't it have been the other way? [/Quote]

Sportsfan12: How do you know O'Connell isn't the answer? Stubborn BB hasn't given him a shot yet. We don't necessarily need vintage Joe Montana out there - just someone who can run an offense with more precision and energy than Cassel is giving them. I would love to have a seasoned veteran to lean on but we don't.

In all honesty, I would rather see Guiterez out there more than Cassel. But I think O'Connell has more intangibles that will help this offense get back on track.

yeah BB needs to hand it over to o'connell. the pats had a couple good drives, i liked the 5 WR thing, but cassell missed an open ben watson, he's had 5 games to show his stuff....

but, the real problem is the defense, those guys looked pathetic, the d-line had no rush, and the secondary was an absolute mess.
sandiego pretty much gave every other team a new blue print to beat the Pats, go deep

Kansas: I have to agree the whole team looked pretty pathetic. The team has absolutely no wind in its sails.

I feel bad for Cassel because he seems like a nice guy and is doing his best with this opportunity - in a contract year!

Bottom line is he just isn't good enough. Either is Deltha O'Neil. I can't believe BB/Pioli left these two vital positions (CB/QB) so vulnerable by not signing any true talent with credibility. They didn't make an honest effort to replace Asaunte Samuel and not having a veteran QB backing up Brady is unacceptable.

I just don't understand how they could leave these two positions so vulnerable!

If BB didn't put O'Connell in the game during the 4th Q last night then, it looks like he's sticking with Cassel.

Cassel shows ZERO improvement with each game. This is unacceptable. He should have shown signs of getting it together by now.

My own thoughts are that O'Connell will show improvement with each game. Cassel will be gone at the end of the year why give him a chance now? I say he HAS had his chances. The very few glimmers of hope I've seen in him are quickly taken back by his inept abilty to run the team. Brady stepped in and became a LEADER first. Cassel, from what I see, does not inspire this team. They seem to be going through the motions. O'Connell would inspire the team. I'm sure of it.

It's easy to put ourselves in BB's shoes but, I don't see how they can go through the tapes the next day and say "Cassel's our guy". I mean, he threw balls into the dirt last night!

I implore you coach Belichick, please give the rook a go now. I can't take another look at Cassel.