When Tom Brady went down with a torn ACL in the first game of the 2008 season, Patriot fans panicked. Memories of past Super Bowls and hopes that they held for the season ahead flashed before their eyes. Some wept, some walked away from the TV, and some tried to watch the game and pretend that everything was going to end up okay.
As Matt Cassel jogged onto the field and went under center, nobody gave him an ice cube's chance in a sauna (we're tired of the snowball/hell line) to be any good. Sixteen weeks later, the league was singing his praises as the lifelong backup had thrown for a total of 3693 yards and 21 touchdowns.
As Brady recovered from offseason surgery, Cassel left New England for Kansas City and a guaranteed starting job, leaving the Pats with quarterback whose injury status was uncertain and no real backup. In the third round of the previous year's draft, the Pats had picked up San Diego State's Kevin O'Connell, the highest the team had picked a quarterback since Drew Bledsoe in 1993. At SDSU in 2007, O'Connell threw for 2810 yards with 14 touchdowns and an impressive passer rating of 122.93. He's a strong-armed quarterback blessed with tremendous size, though struggles with the accuracy of his throws.
O'Connell's role is no secret to him or to Patriot fans; Kevin will be a clipboard jockey for the fore-seeable future. Patriot management was convinced that a patient learning approach was the key to Cassel's unexpected success in 2008, so they will seek to follow the same learning course with O'Connell this season.
