Belichick follow-up

How can he say Matt played well??? Good god. He does not throw the ball down the field. He averaged 4.2 yards per attempt. That is so bad words can't come to mind. Moss should just set on the sidelines because Cassell does not even look down the field. Matt C is not going to be able to get the job done. This team averaged 36.7 points a game and this year 16ish. 411 yards a game last year and now 270ish. What is the difference??? Oh yeah the QB, so how can people say he's playing well. Kool aid

Cassel (yes, one L) isn't Tom Brady, doesn't have Tom Brady's arm and this offense isn't Tom Brady's. The sooner Pats fans come to grips with that, the sooner they can worry about a D who gave up 38 points to Miami, most when their QB was lined up as a WR!

Last week we were saying Cassel wasn't great, but the defense could cover for him. Result: a 19-10 win. What changed this week? Not Cassel--he did about what you'd expect from him. Result: a 38-18 loss. It's the D that didn't hold up its end of the bargain.

Ryan:
If you know anthing about BB, he doesn't throw his players under the bus in front of the media. That can get done in the film room behind closed doors.

He took blame, and spread it around to the entire team save special teams.

My gut feel on Cassel is that he has not played at game speed in a long time, and not enough at this level. He is playing against better and faster athletes than he ever has. Once he gets literally up to speed he won't be forcing those balls in, and will learn to lob it over the defenders instead of being a tip drill quarterback, or getting picked off by someone running underneath the route.

However, even take away the interception, and add a touchdown there to the Pat's side of the ledger and the 38 points still beats us. This is a game where I think the preparation had the Pats overconfident, and without knowing what to key on with that Zero Read formation, the "D" hesitated up front. They didn't know what to do.
Plus, add Pennington with another week to get set, and he's always been a good short passer.

Let's call it a wake-up call, and hope the bye week gets them in shape.

ryan, there is press BB and then there is coach BB. i seriously doubt he would rip his young QB a new one in an interview. you have to keep morale up.

that said, i think matt c can grow as a QB and judging him against tommy b or even against someone that has more than 2 real games experience is not beneficial. unless he gets replaced, he is the QB and i think that the more experience he gets the better.

what i would like to see is that leadership and mentoring nature come out of some of the veterans. seriously needed here.

This is what I would've expected out of Bill....

BB: I thought Matt Cassel was atrocious! I take fault for not listening to the voices from the NFL telling me to get rid of him. However, Wilfork, Seymour and our Defensive line sucked_ Josh McDaniels looks like a rookie and Good God Dan Pees... Overall, I deserve all I get..

Man, I'm pi_ssed!

Yeah, but this was the week he was supposed to get better. Week by week. But instead, he still looked like the preseason QB that we all know. Start the rookie. It's working in B-More and ATL. Trent Edwards was okay last year. Let's see what O'Connell can do. Before this season starts looking ugly.

The defense that displayed this past Sunday couldn't even defend a college rank team.

I agree with the 2nd two comments. Cassel was himself. Can't blame him for not throwing deep either. The opposing defense is rolling coverage on top of Moss.
Do you really want him throwing into double coverage? Do you pay attention to the game at all? Stop looking at the fantasy stat lines. They don't win real games.

The Defense was the bigger issue here. Too soft. Not enough pressure on Chad and they let the RBs run all over them. No attitude. No toughness. Maybe they thought the bye week was now.

Cassel isnt calling the plays.Cassel isnt looking that great is because he has no Oline protection. The oline hasnt gotten its SH*T together since the SUperbowl. Watch all the other games in the league and how much time the QBs have to throw than look at the time Cassel has. Sure Cassel can play a little better but the oline and defence have alot more to work to do than Cassel Does. BTW tom bradys first start was almost identical to Cassels first. Toms 2nd start agianst the DOLPHINS he lost by 30 points and threw only 89 yards. Its one game and its great to see the bandwagon fans cry. It was also really classy the booing and fans leaving. So Spoiled.

I think the pats made a misake and did not go for proven QB when Tom Brady went down. As well our teams defence is older we are in trouble i hope we make the playoffs this year but i would not bet on it

Ryan seems to think the offence was the issue. At 38-18 the last thing that concens me is Matty C. Ronnie Brown and Cheech Marion ran up and down the feild as if they were lepers at a germophob game. Granted, had Matt sustained long scoring drives the D wouldn't have been on the feild as much but for all practicle purposes the secondary was a rumble strip.

you guys are ridiculous.
i watched the whole game.
the entire painful game.

it was not Cassel's action that lost the game.
there is no reason (YET!) to get rid of Cassel.

The Dolphins game planned better than the Patriots, they were ready, and the executed perfectly. The Pats got embarrassed. Especially on Defense. They looked awful, couldn't pull Pennington down, couldn't tackle. Weak effort.

If Cassel had made that touchdown (That was a touchdown!) he wouldn't have thrown the pick, the Dolphins would've never gotten any momentum swing, and the patriot's would've handled the fins. but alas, the ref got it wrong, and that didn't happen.

i guarantee they won't win next time.

the pats have 2 weeks until they play a game. time to get Cassel more practice, more reps, more time to build "chemistry" and we'll be okay.

They'll come out week 5 against the 49ers, and whoop them.
forget about it.

Cassel doesnt have the confidence to read the D and make the big downfield throws. He hesitates and misses recievers which is nothing new to rookie (unexperience) QB's. Time and game experience is the only thing that will help this. Give Cassel a chance to get comfortable in the offense and reading defenses. If he doesn't start throwing those 15-25 yards passes to stretch the D by week 6-7 then BB might have to look at other options. Did everyone really expect Cassel to come in and hang 30 points on NFL quality defenses this soon?

Ryan,
Matt Cassell wasn't the problem yesterday. I know it's what most national pundits along with the general public want to talk about but the problem was the the middle of the defense. In any sport if you hope to win you must be able to first STOP your opponent. We were weak up the middle yesterday, too many successful running plays for Miami, they had 216 yds rushing!!!!, and too many receivers, especially TE's running free making easy catches, Pennington was 17/20 for 226 yds and you want to talk about Cassel?! He was one of the problems but certainly not even close to being the main concern coming out of yesterday's lackluster team performance. I agree with what BB said, the Pats were outcoached, outplayed, outphysicaled and that's why they got beat. First order of business is for each player to play their responsibility and stop the run and then the defense can expand from there. Wilfork, Warren and Seymour along with Wright, Smith and Green need to be more consistent playing their responsibilities.I didn't like what I saw from Wilfork yesterday but maybe his bad back was worse than we thought going in and the bye week came at the right time. Certainly there will be corrections made and the Pats will be ok, too many solid players and great coaches for me to expect otherwise. I think what you'll find coming out of the bye week is a much different approach to defense. The coaches don't seem to trust the CB's yet so the Pats have been playing a soft cover 2 shell rather than take chances by blitzing thus leaving the CB's one-on-one. This also has affected the run game up the middle because the Pats have been sending Mayo and Brushi's/Guyton back in passing situations to cover the middle and teams have been gaining big yds up the middle running out of passing formations. In order to create consistent pressure vs both the run and pass we need to start seeing more blitzes. I haven't seen an "exotic" defense from this team in quite some time because there's been no need with Brady at the controls and all the points coming out of the offense but now clearly the approach has to change. The Giants have adapted with Umenyora and Strahan not playing and realized they need to create pressure with blitz packages in order to make stops and create turnovers. There is a danger to this type of defense because teams can hit you up for big plays but if done correctly it can be succesful.

In addition, I don't think Cassel will ever be Brady but with the exception of Manning not many other QB's in the NFL can compare either so that's unfair to compare the best player in the league in Brady to Cassel who started his 2nd NFL game yesterday. They are at much different point in their development process and as Cassel gets more snaps he will be a much better player, he will be better in Week 16 than he is now so let's have some patients and not crucify the kid this early.

Honestly, I do not think it mattered who was at QB yesterday. The D could not stop the fish from doing whatever they wanted. even if Tom Terrific was at the helm, I am not sure he could overcome the bleeding. Defense had a terrible game. You can't loose a game when the other team can't score. Matt made some bad plays but he did not loose the game by himself.

No, it's not a bandwagon on Cassel. Lest we forget - this very coaching staff was NOT keen on what he did in the pre-season, but kept him as a default. He knows the system? Well, I know art history and I sure as heck can't paint.

Yes, the O-line looks gassed since the SB. Yes, our front 7 are showing age and slowness. Yes, our secondary looked pathetic.

But, this is a different team when it gets out to 10-0 leads.

It;s time to go outside and get a proven vet at QB. Trade for Jeff Garcia. He's in TBs doghouse. Look where he took the Eagles a few years back.

Cassell can hardly even dunk it when he's given about 2 seconds by the OL. I don't think he is the main issue, although he sure as heck isn't the cure. Not even Brady would have been stellar with that type of OL "effort", but he would have found a way to get it down field at least a few times.

The OL and DL acted like they could mail it in. Apparently they thought it was a 2 week vacation, not a week leading to the bye.

I hope BB is on Moss behind the scenes, because he's looking like the Oakland version. He's half assing it. I think BB has to think long and hard about bringing in Garcia now that he has 2 weeks to initiate him. Maybe then Randy will actually try....and why not bring Lynch and Seau back too.

The Razor

I'm curious.. Did you got to the game??? If not how can you tell they rolled coverage from your TV?? They did not double cover moss most of the game. I was at the game and watched for that the whole time. You are 100% wrong. Can we stop saying Moss was double covered because he was not. Kool aid.. People hear Moss is double covered and say it week after week. It was not true yesterday.

Thanks Nikko, I didn't know the D gave up that many points.. Get a clue dude. I know the D stunk yesteday. I was at the game and trust me I know. I wanted to talk about the QB. Is that ok with you or not? I know Matt did not cost them game by himself, but if he can't pass down the field they are in deep trouble. How many games you think the Pats will win averaging 16 points a game? So you must be happy the Oaverage 16 points a game now. 36>16.

Well, it was a pretty sad game. I sat and watched and waited for the defense to step up and I waited and waited....they sucked yesterday. Cassel is not Tom Brady, so let's just face up to the fact that he isn't. And because he isn't T.B. and because Cassel has such limited experience playing, the veterans need to step up and protect him.

Let's stop whining about it. This was an absolutely embarrassing game. The team now needs to look at all the tapes, take a hard, focused look at where they are and how they are going to move forward.

And on another note...what's with the fan's leaving? What kind of crap is that? Because the team played lousy, you leave? This is when the team needs their fans. That was just one more embarrassment. Stay in your seats and support your team.

Anyone remember Brady's ability to make the long throws in his first year as a starter? Yeah, he was strong enough to throw the ball, but he couldn't hit the side of a barn - he had absolutely zero accuracy. Cassell will get better; every play may not be better than the previous play, but overall he will get better.

However, to focus on Cassell after yesterday's loss is asinine. The defense gave up 5 TD's to Ronnie Brown. Nobody deserves to win when you give up those kinds of points. If he had thrown for 300 yards and 3 TD's they still would have lost the game.

Cassel looked so bad and if he wasn't sooooo lucky....he would have thrown 3 more picks. We can't afford to keep playing him. O'Connel should be given a chance. O'Connel was the only QB that scored points in the preseason. Yes, its preseason and yes, he did it against 2nd team defense but he also did it with our 2nd team offense. Give him a shot.

The difference between Tom Brady & Matt Cassell is TB gives you 7 pt in every drive while Matt is only gives you 3 pt in every 3-4 drives. It's BB fault for not able to figure it out against Miami DL that gave the team more troubles over his coaching career. Same apply for him against Denver.

Cassel left some plays on the field. He tried to scramble through a wall of pass rushers and missed a wide open David Thomas, it would have gone for a touchdown. I can't place all the blame for the loss on Cassel, though. The coaching was horrendous, the "wildcat" formation burned the Pats every time, and the coaches had no answer. I remember past games where Belichick was coaching his butt off on the sidelines, explaining things to the defense, pointing at photographs, communiacting the solutions. Yesterday he had none. He looked as puzzled as his coordinators on the sidelines. Moss didn't play with heart. Cassel does not inspire the team.

I can't believe you posers are complaining about a penalty called or not called yesterday. Like that would have made ANY difference.,,pfft.

You got your butts HANDED to you by a better team (yesterday) The "roughing the QB" penalty was enought of a gift already.

So much whining from you clowns. You showed NO CLASS in booing your team and leaving so early. If you're bandwagon jumpers, better jump now as this season will be a loong one for you.

A bit of history . . .

In Tom Brady's 1st start he went 13-23-168 in a win over Indy. Cassel vs. NYJ 16-23-165.

His 2nd start was a 30-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins . Brady went 12-24 for 86 yards.

Nobody here has any idea what they are talking about.

@ Michele, are you kidding me? You're going to criticize people for leaving the game early? Where were you, at home on the couch? We spent good money to go to the game to cheer our team on, and when it became apparent that it was over, some of us (myself included) left early to try and beat traffic. You ever try to come out of Lot 50 or 51 after a game? Spare me.

You could have bought tickets yourself and gone to the game, honey. They were available up until Thursday at least. I was embarassed to be a Pats fan yesterday because they let big pieces of their defense walk, and look what we're left with. A team that's shoddy on defense, shoddy on offense... it's worry time.

Michele Morgan is so right! The rest of the country loves to hate on the Patriots and their "arrogant" fans. When the fans all left with 14 minutes to go in the game that was an embarassment to the team and the fanbase. So the Pats had a bad game, so what? This team has been the pinnacle of excellence this decade. 3 superbowl wins and another superbowl appearance, in every season sonce 2001 with the one exception. Haven't they at least earned enough loyalty for the fans to stick it out through a stinker of a game? All you fans who left early are frauds. That is what we expect from the OTHER fans in the league. I guess we know that the people who can afford tickets to a Patriots game are not the true fans of the Patriots. They're all bandwagon jumpers looking to watch a good team beat up on other teams. This is not a marriage of "sickness or health". ONE bad game and you all bailed?

Defense gives up 38 points to the lowly Dolphins and Moron Patriot Nation blames the loss on the backup quarterback, who as we all know, will not win many games if he has to put up 40 points.

The D-fense got fooled by some trick plays that seemed to confuse them and allow the MIA running game to be effective. The Pats knew they were not well prepared for this game while miami spent all week cooking up tricks to use to throw the pats off balance because they respected this team. That respect wasn't mutual for the Pats thought that MIA was an automatice win. Hey, the entire NFL thought that it was an easy win for the Pats, why do you think Pats fans are so ticked. It was one game that the PATS will learn from. I rather they learn from a loss this early than in the superbowl.

Bring back Bledsoe!!

LET'S FACE IT THE PATRIOTS WOULD NOT HAVE WON THIS GAME EVEN IF TOM BRADY WAS AT QUARTERBACK. THE DEFENSE WAS PATHETIC AND THE COACHING EVEN WORSE.THE DOLPHINS MADE FOOLS OUT OF THE PATRIOTS AND THE COACHING STAFF.

Baseballs my game but if I might offer: The defense did look a little creaky and was obviously surprised by that faux-single-wing attack or whatever the hell it was. Also I think the team read the experts predictions instead of listening to Joey Porter and thought they just had to show up. Finally, and it's not an excuse, but the referees insinuated themselves in the game right away with an obviously quick whistle that to my mind [no wisecracks please] was a 14 point turn-around in the 1st quarter. I know they would have lost anyway but it would have been closer and the Pro wrestling/football fans wouldn't be ready to lynch the kid QB. Don't worry, he'll be OK, they'll be OK, and at least all them NE haters are happy today. Remember it's an ill wind that blows no good and a rolling footballl gathers no Moss. Go Red Sox.

if the defense played like they did in the first two games we would have WON BY 3!

all the games will need to be close for us to win...I agree with one of the previous posters where they noted the d looked uninterested, unmotivated...miamis d was running around ready to rip some heads off and they did...we dont seem to have that emotion needed to be nasty...has tb's loss set in to the teams psyche?? i know the old approach is bend dont break...but I think the d lost something when pees took over and mangini left...

getting Cassel all the starting reps he can is only going to help the team in the long-term (beyond this season) -- we can now trade him and the retro-active rights to Corey Dillon to Cleveland for McGinest and Brady Quinn.

WOOO

Team needs a QB, why not Matt D'Orazio from the Arena League Philadelphia Soul ? Belichick knows him from his friendship with Jon Bon Jovi and attending Soul games. Quick study, already has filled in for a starter (so he has experience picking up the bulk of an offense in short time), can read a defense pretty well, strong arm, very quick release, use to playing under constant pressure and a pourous O Line.

Why not !?!?! Cassel is not the answer. IF the offense would of had some momentum yesterday, it may have give Defense time to adjust, instead of having to run back out there all the time after the offense kept stalling. Also it would have given the Dolphins less possesssions and shortened the game.

Heck he might provide a "spark" and light a fire under this team.

Also maybe the offense needs to throw Randy some WR screens early in the game to get him involved or some reverses.

The Defense is what scared me the most yesterday. After all people, this was the Fins they just lost to. Only their 2nd win in 20 regular season games. Quite sad.... And they were running circles around Harrison and company. Pennington looked like a HOF'er and Ronny Brown was running people over. Where's this supposed "best D-Line in the NFL" because Pennington had all the time in the world yesterday and they got pushed off the line of scrimmage all game. The offense is what it is... don't expect many games where they score more than 24 points, but to give 38 to one of the worst team in football is disgusting. They all should be ashamed.

KC, Jets, Miami, probably the 3 worst teams in football (before yesterday!) Last year the Pats were being heralded as the "greatest team ever." Brady goes down and the team gets past two of the worst, but gets creamed by the third. Does anyone really believe that Cassel, who stinks up the place every pre-season, is going to be a real-time NFL QB. Don't make me laugh!! Moss will be gone first chance he can get out of here. Josh McDaniels belongs with a high school football squad.

Hey, Jose - I would have loved to have been at the game, but I live in Miami. I had to listen to every TV station here, air Joey Porter's comments over and over and over. Yeah, I'm pissed they lost, but I'm a life long Pat's fan. Okay. What the fans did was exactly what the Miami "fans" do here. When their team's not winning, they leave. You tried to "beat the traffic?" No you didn't, because if they had won, you'd have still been in your seat. You were fed up and pissed off. Well, too bad...a true fan is one that sticks with their team no matter what.

I'm sticking to my original comment...to leave when you're team is getting beat sucks! End of story.

I agree with Belichick that, uncharacteristically, the Pats were out coached. Miami threw some things at them that they weren't prepared for, and did not adjust for at the half.

Give credit to the Miami offense - they were poised and delivered and were not the team the defense was expecting. They look like a new team.

Cassel was shaky, but so was the entire Pats offense. Where was the running game? But they scored enought points to win if the Pat's D had held.

Cass throw it deep? You gotta be kidding me, right? He got sacked 4 times by one of the worst defenses in the NFL! The RB's did, what, 3.? yards per carry? Heck, we should be grateful for an intermediate passing game at this stage, the 10-15 yard stuff that Pennington killed us with yesterday.

quaterbacks eventually get thier chances but until they get in there and adjust to the speed and everything that is happening you never know if they can do it or will be working a real job come next year...this is quaterback driven league...ours is down right now and his backup is still learning the job... we have expectations (yes we are very fortunate here in btown)but that should be for the team and coaches just as much as the qb ...we will find out in very short order...can you say a substantially better draft order?

Did the Defense know the game started at 1:00?

If you watched the game you can see Cassel has no arm and he certainly is NO YOUNG TOM BRADY as some of you hint at with your stats. His athletic ability is also sub-par. Waiting for him to get better is going to take a VERY LONG TIME!!!!

O Connell has the arm and the athletic ability. He was brought in to eventually take over for Tommy B. Might as well give him a little experiance now. Who knows how the knee is going to turn out. A lot of players and QBs have never been the same or even close afterward.

they ran plays but when you know that any play is no longer than 10 yds that box gets tight and holes dissapper...first half miami open us up right down the middle to fasano...watson used to do that...

its kinda the natural order of things like the steelers of the 70's...they won several then retooled a little and won another at the end of their run and then the dynasty was over...

hey I used to go to games and get my tickets off the windshileds of cars...its been good what has happened I like being the best team but you have to start somewhere and it eventually ends... we will be good again..it just might not be this year...

I love the people who say 'bring in Daunte Culpepper or Jeff Garcia or player X from an arena league'. Come on now! Some people can't even learn how to run an NFL offense if given an entire training camp, how can anyone possibly expect someone to do it over a bye week?! Anyone who blames Cassel for the loss clearly didn't pay attention to the game. Sure, he could have not held onto the ball a few times, and instead got rid of it to avoid a sack, but the OLine was awful. TB would have had a similar game as Cassel did yesterday. And, Cassel didn't give up 38 points! The D who can't stop a guy who missed almost all of last year with a knee injury, and who can't cover a TE over the middle did.

As for the fans leaving, good for them, the real fans like us stayed till Miami took a knee. Like someone else said on here, 'sickness and health'. You want to beat traffic? Stay home.

It was a pretty poor effort all around and it shows what can happen when you don't play your best for 60 minutes. They didn't even play their best from the beginning of the game. I knew they were going to lose when they did nothing with the opening kickoff even though they started on Miami's side of field. Then they couldn't punch it in on a first and goal from the 7. They need a veteran QB to run this team.

Defense:
You cannot allow Ronnie Brown to score on identical runs. Need to stop the run.. period. Too many points allowed too quickly.

Offense:
Need to protect ball and avoid turning the ball over. Need to effectively run the ball so as to keep the opposing defense schemes honest. Failed to keep the ball out of the hands of the miami offense by sustaining long drives.

Coaching:
Need to call timeouts earlier when you are trailing so much early in the game to have the defense regroup and strategize.

I don't blame this loss on Cassel to me he is a rookie and needs everbody to play 110% until he gets the system down when the ball is live. Based on what I have seen only Welker and Hobbs( on special teams only) appear to be stepping up. This loss needs to be pinned on Dean Pees and the Defensive. As a whole the Patriots are not playing with any fire. Every press report since the preseason portrays the Patriots as calm and collected, not panicing yet. I think its time they got off the "chill pills" and started approaching the game with more intensity, because other teams have figured out that if they want it more and play with a desperate vengence they will overwhelm the Patriots.

Direct snaps to the RB who ran off tackle with ease. No D adjustments. Don't point the finger at Cassel. He didn't light them up, but TB would have been hard pressed to make up for the sorry showing by the D.

Bruschi = useless

Karma is a b!tch!!!! Don't look now but your defense is old and slow. Brady would not have helped. Since his infamous line "Is Plax gonna defense??" The Patsies are 2-2. A better line is "Can Brady play defense??"

Karma catches up to us all. Perhaps instead of having Brady get mop up yards and tds last year maybe, just maybe, they should have let Cassel get some snaps. Patsies fans: You are just like 90% of the NFL teams now with no Pro Bowl QB. Welcome to the NFL.....enjoy your season.

Belichick out coached by Parcels and his latest disciple. Makes you wonder who has the bigger football brain. Not only can Parcels coach, but he can coach the coach. Plus he's a hell of a GM. He buys the groceries and has his home grown chef cook them to perfection. Parcels loved the idea of knocking Belichick off his perch. A big reason why Miami was so interesting. In a game of peeks and valleys, it looks like the reign of terror for the Pats is over.

MMmmmmmmmm,MMmmmm,Mmmmm That was some good Tuna,......and not a single Dolphin was harmed!!!!

Hop off bandwagon here. ------->

"We spent good money to go to the game to cheer our team on, and when it became apparent that it was over, some of us (myself included) left early to try and beat traffic. You ever try to come out of Lot 50 or 51 after a game? Spare me."

No, Jose, spare US the pity party. You are lucky to be able to afford to go to the game, much less live locally so that you can GET to the game (I live in Minnesota and usually my only option is Sunday Ticket). I suspect this was probably not your first game at Gillette which means that you've enjoyed many victories over the last few years, including the party that was the regular season last year.

I agree with Michele; fans booing one loss (albeit a bad one) and leaving early is an example of precisely what fans of other teams use as ammo against us Pats fans... let's face it, we are all spoiled by all the winning.

Next time, Jose, how about you sell Michele and I your tickets and YOU can sit at home....that will eliminate those traffic woes.

The #1, Patriots offensive line (bunch of jokers with the beards) cannot protect QB and open the halls for RB consistently.
The #2, defense strategy is too old, based on aged and slower players.
The #3, there no more up to date tapes on opposite teams to plug the holes.

I hate to say it but it looks like the end of the Patriots as we knew them. We might as well all get used to it.

It sucks but the Dolphins exposed the Pats to the rest of the league who seem to steam-roll the Fins. It's going to be a long season for Patriot Fans.

Cassel will be a carrer back-up. He's no Tom Brady and will never even be close.

I hope you all intend to still support the Pats through the next few years of rebuilding. Let's face it. They're old and tired looking.

Chris is right. You can't blame Cassel for a defense that couldn't stop a high school offense yesterday!

Are you people serious? The defense gave up 38 points and that's the bottom line. Matt Cassel is Matt Cassel and not anyone else if you expect him to become a productive QB all the pieces need to come together, the O-Line needs to learn the skill of protecting the passer. The Defense surely showed their age yesterday I wont comment on individual defensive players because they all played like a Pop Warner team if that.

For any of you to try and say oh it's the QB just remember the score was 38-13 the QB didn't play one down on Defense. Get over yourselves it's just a game and they have plenty more to go....

Well, not to excuse Cassell, but the O-line did not exactly cover themselves with glory yesterday. And this was first and foremost a defensive loss. Our defense just could not adapt to what Miami was throwing at them, which put our offense behind the 8-ball all afternoon. I guess these guys must have all spent last week looking at the value of their stock portfolios like the rest of us.

My first reaction to this game, just like everyone else's, was total shock. In retrospect, however, this team has just gone back to the rules it had before the Brady era. No matter how good or bad teams are in the AFC East, the Any Given Sunday rule seems to particularly apply in this conference.

There is only one real silver lining about yesterday's game. It's only Week 3...

A common effect (BSG refers to it as the Ewing effect) is for a team to circle the wagons after the key player goes down. After surviving at the end vs. KC and getting up for a road game vs. a big rival, the team was flat emotionally.

Fins collapsed after losing Ronnie Brown last year; well, he's back! He was arguably the best RB in the league before he got hurt last year. They're better coached and have a legitimate #2 in Ricky Williams, and Pennington is a very capable QB. They're vastly improved, and in retrospect probably should have beaten the Jets...

What surprised me was the ability of Miami to pass at will in the 1st half; they went to a clock-killing offense in the 2nd half but were moving the ball at will through the air when the game was decided. Teams have learned to run the ball on the Pats; they seem vulnerable to a good rushing offense and it keeps the Patriots offense off the field.

But the main problem I see is with the offensive line. It got exposed in the Super Bowl and shows little sign of having improved since then. The rush offense is in shambles even when Maroney is healthy, and the line seems to have major problems with blitz packages

The nature of the NFL in the salary-cap era is to promote parity, and although it seemingly has happened overnight, perhaps this team has gotten old. Like it or not, that forfeited 1st round pick hurts, as does picking at the bottom of the draft each year.

Some of you people make me laugh. Already dumping Cassel and thinking Jeff Garcia will take this team somewhere. Really, if Jeff Garcia were in the game yesterday, the outcome would have been no different.

The defense did not come to play. They seem to be a bit soft from last year, when they did not have to play an entire game. Check out the the Giants last drive in the Super Bowl. In past years, the game would have been over because the defense would have stopped them. That softness is continuing this year. I am more worried about defense than offense. You win games with defense.

And the fans leaving....classless. You pay good money to see a Red Sox game too. How many times do you see those fans leaving early if they are behind?

Cassel was not the problem, he was only a small part of the issue.

Starts with terrible game plan, terrible coaching and terrible adjustments.

While the offense only put up 13, it was the DEFENSE that blew the game.

So much for the very over-rated front 3!

1. Brady doesn't play defense, The Pats defense is an old joke.
2. Did anyone see Moss give up on a slant play? He just stopped when he saw the DB coming.

3. Stop the crying Pats fans, you got out played, out coached.
4. Perhaps you should have a camera rolling. Oh I forgot the cheating, rude, arrogant coach and organization got caught and can't use that gimmick anymore.

5. !8-1 ia still lingering, you couldn't close the deal.
6. You ran up the score last year on teams and as most things do, it will and has come back to haunt you.

I bet absolutely all of you said we were going to the Superbowl with our great QB Cassel after the win against the Jets. And then when they win again you will be planning your Superbowl parties, you disgusting bandwagon fans.
Cassel is the LAST GUY ON THE TEAM you should be pinning the loss on. Last time I checked, Tom threw interceptions. Tom got sacked.

"Hey Jim, did the Pats win? I wanna know if I should wear my Brady jersey today. What d'ya mean they lost!?!?!?! I GOTTA GO THROW OUT MY PATRIOTS STUFF AND BUY DOLPHINS CLOTHES!!!!!!"

Has a Parcells coached or GM'd team won anything without Belichick?

Ellis Hobb's on the booing on Sunday:

“Does it hurt? It doesn’t hurt … [but] it amazes me how people react,” he said. “You would think this organization hasn’t won as much as they have, and been as successful in the years that they have. It’s a testament to how SPOILED they are, where expectations are that high, that we’re not allowed a bad game or something like that. How many times has someone had a bad day at the office? ..."

You are the worst fans in the NFL!!!

I was sure they were going to loose some games this year. But I did not think it will be to Dolphins. QB or no QB one cannot be perfect, with Brady they have more leverage as he (like Joe Montana) reads the defense so well. He changes plays as he sees the defense making adjustrments. Matt Cassel does not have that ability. Defense! they need to stop teams on short plays like 3 and 2 and 4th and one. Pats will be OK, they have one the best coaches in the NFL (Bill).

Hey Jose. I noted your criticism of @michell. I am wondering though, how long does it take to get out of lot 50 when the Pats win. I didn't realize there was a difference.

Hey Bill--

remember Todd Philcox. You might be the only one. Matt Cassell will be remembered in the same breath. Come to grips and get a real quarterback. Got lucky when Bledsoe got hurt and the back up was better. Doesn't happen every time. The season's lost until you admit you are wrong. Do it for the team or you're good for wins at most this season. Cassell's not even good enough to be 2nd string. Go talk to your analyst.. I mean meantal health anlayst.

WOW. Radio silence from Jose. Maybe his stomach hurts from the Fish Chowder he ate during the pre-game tailgate at Lot 50 yesterday. He can't even reply to a bunch of girls ripping on him for his ridiculous Patriots fair weather fan comments. You still have one of the best teams in the NFL and now Patriots Nation is hitting the panick button after one bad game and fighting amongst themselves! Unreal! It's a good thing your team doesn't do the same thing. I will be interested to read the comments after the Pats rattle off a few wins in a row and the ship is righted. I betcha the bandwagon will be full again. In the meantime, Fin Fans can take solace in the fact our team caused all of this commotion and mental strife for Patriots Nation. We have two weeks of joy during our bye week; you have two weeks of arguing with each other and ripping your team. Simply hilarious!

ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha......... cheaters

Please don't make us live through another Tony Eason season. Matt may be a great guy but not ready for prime time.

Yes the Pats got outplayed but if we keep our offense on the field longer, the other team has less chances to score.

Hey Bill, need a video camera???

Hey Jose,
I agree with Michele one loss and you guys start leaving after the 3rd quarter? What BS you were avoiding the traffic, I live in Fl and had to sit next to Miami fans raggin 'bout you guys taking off and booing the team. We lost a game so what? Quit cha bitchin and stand by your team.

question? who was the Last Pats qb that the offensive line didnt Block for..Hint QB ended up in Oakland and lead them to a SB..funny isnt it that the rookie" O'donnell did quite well behind that OL during preseason and No it wasnt a fluke either..Cassel is a soon to be free agent..couldnt happen to a better person.He isnt any Pro Qb at most a want a be high School and a bench warmer college clipboard holder Qb..If A Off Line doesnt care about a QB they wont "bl;ock per-se,but will to make look like they are...Cassel Hasnt WON the full teams support nor will he ever either...Bringing back Matt G wasnt a error...Send Cassel to practise squad...He never TRIED to spread the field..blame that on Josh another soon to be has been....

I hope you jokers who are sticking up for Cassell really do get to live with him all season long.

Crying ohhh it's the D, ooohhhh woe is me it's the o-line.

Get a clue...the problem is Cassel.

Learn a little about football and you can see it easily.

Because of Cassell....
weak armed Cassell allows teams to stack in the box making the o-line look silly and because of that the D is on the field all day long.

It's not rocket science and I'm sure Bellicheck already knows it. That's why he got O'Connell.

I'm surprised all of you genuises haven't already figured that out.

"Because of Cassell....
weak armed Cassell allows..."

-Little John, did you not see the first pass Cassel threw this season? 51 yards to Moss? You can't classify him as weak-armed. They haven't taken a shot to Moss since then, other than that one in the Jets game. But with him giving up on the ball yesterday, why would you? Get Jabar and Aiken more involved then if Moss wants to pout. Otherwise, Josh McDaniel needs to take a chance. It also doesn't help that the O-line can't block a 90-year old using a walker from crossing the street. No blocking = no running.

How did Brady look in the Superbowl when he had no time to throw the ball?

Cassell's 3rd sting at best. Get him back on the bench, Bill or you'll be picking splinters from your own rear. Bill's going to keep things conservative and predictable for the other team. The defense is old and out of shape because they haven't had to do this much work in a long time. Go get your hoodie, Bill

I'm becoming more and more disillusioned with the team's offensive and defensive play calling and it's inability to adjust.

IT' IS ALL MOSS's Fault!!!! you new england fans need to wake up. Moss!!! You are blaming Moss! I have heard it all now. I have seen Moss light it up with jeff george and gussy ferotte as his qb. Maybe it is the play calling or the fact that you think 5 yard passes are going to win you every game.

How bout a horrific o line, horrific d-fence, horrific qb! No guts with the play calling because we all know Cassel can't throw that far anyway! Wake up, this isn't 2001 when the PATS had a real defense.

Wow, blame ed hochulli well your at it......

Ha Ha Ha! one guy said it right, "one loss and we are fighting each other" if i paid money for that game i would have booed my arse off at that "performance" by the great patriot organization, man i was waiting for the d to make an adjustment the pass coverage in the first half and they didn't, then i waited for an adjustment to the "wild hog" five td's later... then i looked for some heart and all i saw was #55 smashing our qb into the dirt, yeah the same #55 that talked all week about how he was gonna do what he did pats are/have been way too soft on defense and for all the cassel supportters the guy can't throw it more than five yards

It was the D, but the O isn't blameless here. I think it starts with the coaches, like BB said. They don't show any faith in their QB, so why should the players? There were a lot of "out of rhythm" plays too... I'm thinking about the one where Gaffney had his back turned in the middle of the field and Cassel threw it on the money and Gaffney DUCKED the ball... lots of plays like that where it seemed like the receivers turned or slowed because TB would have either gotten them the ball or looked them off by then, but Cassel was just getting there in his sweep. Also, I'm not sure what's up with the Cassel-Moss connection. I don't think Moss is dogging it *yet*, but I also can't believe Cassel hasn't sacked up and threw a couple bombs. And the RB's didn't do much - can we get a back who knows how to get around the edge?

Besides all that though, I think these guys are still feeling last year. I think the wind is all but sucked out of most of them, and the fans too. Face it, being a fan of the 2007 Pats was exhausting. Imagine being a player. I just hope they, and we, get back to realistic expectations and real love of the game, rather than love of easy wins.

Let's turn on the memory banks for a moment...go back to when Brady took over for Bledsoe. The Pats whipped the Colts and everyone seemed relieved that maybe the kid would fill in ok for Drew...the next game vs Miami, the Pats were smoked and Brady looked like a rookie. It takes time to develop into a pro QB. Brady at least played some at Michigan, Cassel played very little at USC. So let's not throw Cassel under the bus or rip on BB. The game on Sunday looked like a combination of a bit of overconfidence on the Pats side and Miami pulling out all stops. They had nothing to lose and thats why that gadget play worked so well. Who saw it coming? No one. I thought the defense played with little passion..in fact I saw both the O and D lines get beat all day. I chock it up to a bad day overall and that can happen. No NFL team can be overlooked or they'll get you. Had the Pats scored on their 2nd possession, things might have been different, but once Miami got a lead, they began to smell blood and played that way.

As for Cassel, I think the thing to do with him is to put him in the shotgun much more. It will allow him a little more time to see the field and perhaps throw the deep ball. I think if the Pats go deep, whether it works or not, will keep the other teams from keying on our short pass game and run attack.

I am not worried about the defense. They had one bad game but these guys are too good to have this happen too often. They have proven that. I'd be surprised if Gore at more that 70 yards rushing when we visit SF.

That game will be tough to win in my estimation unless we more or less shock the Niners like the Phins did to us......throw the deep ball from the gun...right from the get go. They'll never expect it and Cassel has a big arm.

Most of all....don't panic. Be loyal when your team has a bad day.

Moss was not doubled, he was actually open quite a bit. But anyone else who was at the game could see that Cassel was telegraphing every pass. His head was always looking at one receiver and that was it, no variation. Obviously the defensive lineman that tipped his passes also saw it. I hope to see him get past that tendency in the next game and beyond.

I am a bit concerned about Hobbs comments on the fans, ----Are you kidding Hobbs? Should we just sit there with our mouths shut and let the team who didn\'t show up continue to play a bad game or, try and get a headstart on a traffic nightmare trying to get out of that place? If you want to look at this as a sport or business, we pay, you play.....we pay top dollar, you play your best,,,,,,well--we paid, you didn't play your best-----who deserves the negative feedback?

Could it be a more perfect time to give O'Connell the next start. The tema is 2-1 and has benn granted the gift of 2 weeks to prepare. The rookie may be the real deal. Why would anyone hesitate under the circumstances to find out now? Maybe he turns the seaon around.

Could it be possible that this team is game planning around how bad cassel sucks?

did i actually see someone suggest we look at a BACKUP ARENA LEAGUE QB as a result of watching this game?

I am never reading comments on these articles again. KNEE JERKERS. OMG we lost a game, let's fire BB and Pioli and go back to the dark ages.

You folks are really fickle. This is a team that didn't lose a reg season game since December of '06 and you want to blame blame blame. They're not gonna go 16-0 every season, OK?

EVERY TEAM has injuries, loses key players, this happens to at least 5 - 7 teams EVERY SEASON. It was our turn this year. You don't see those other fans and teams FOLDING UP just becuase Jake Delhomme or Donovan McNabb goes down. They fight to the finish. So will the Patriots and hopefully so will our fickle, wannabe a fan base.

MAN it bothers me when people head for the exits - literally and figuratively - at the first sign of trouble.

When the defense has had an off game and the offense has had to play catch up, there have been several times over the past seven to eight years that the Patriots have smelled badly on both offense and defense. It does not happen very often, but when it does, the result is terrible. Tom Brady lost his second game pretty badly, 30-10. He has been beaten by Miami 21-0 and Buffalo 31-0 in the past, too.

To me, the game I saw looked like a few of the games where the Patriots got behind. Matt Cassel did miss what looked like a sure TD to David Thomas, wide open in the right midfield with no one around him. Randy Moss looked like he was coasting and not prepared for a pass that Cassel drilled in to him on another play. The team was just out of sync. Face it and move on. If this happens repeatedly it may be indicative of serious issues. Right now I believe it is indicative of the fact that our beloved Patriots are, in fact, human, prone, even in their excellence, to have emotional let downs. This one was big.

Bill Belichick has lost his fastballl. There i said it, cuz everyone else is waffling about like frisbees. Its not Cassels fault. He is what he is. The fact that he was kept around 4 4 years when this is the best he could have been is troubling. The head coach and player personnel Scott Pioli saw what???. What i've seen of Cassel in the 3 years was not promising. But i don't make the decisions, so i'm not accountable. Belichick and Pioli are. Does anybody want to discuss how slow and unaggressive the defense has looked for 2 years. Nah, cuz that'll go back 2 Belichick also. So we have a problem, and ... it starts at the top