Worst... Patriots Win... Ever

I'm still sick over seeing Tom Brady limp off the field on Sunday early on in the Pats 17-10 win over the Chiefs. Though you'd never hear a Pats fan say it, an injury to Brady has always been the unspoken ultimate fear. Even more so after watching Matt Cassel's lackluster turd of a preaseason.

Well, the unthinkable has happened. We don't know how bad it is but it's probably safe to assume we won't be seeing Uno Dos until October at the earliest. And that's probably the best case scenario.

The worst? Tom Brady being done for 2008 after just one quarter. But let's not call this season a complete bust just yet.

Brady will get an MRI Monday, they'll give it a day for the swelling go down and then we should know more. If there's a Daunte Culpepper or Joey Harrington signing in the next couple days it will probably be safe to assume Brady will miss significant time. And that's assuming they don't put him on IR which would end his season.

Unlike his performance in the preseason, Cassel wasn't horrible. He actually made a couple throws. But still, the offense was a shadow of what it is when Brady's back there. 

One long bomb to Randy Moss does not mean Cassel suddenly has the downfield cannon that Brady does. Cassel dinked and dunked for the most part. Got a couple first downs with his legs and was aided tremendously by solid special teams play and some timely long runs.

Can Cassel keep the boat afloat for the next month or so? With the Pats schedule of @ Jets, Miami, bye week, then San Francisco it's not too tall of an order to think Cassel could get them to 3-1 by the time they face AFC rival San Diego. For that one they're going to need 12.

Despite the loss of Brady there were some positives to take from Sunday, the biggest of which being the defense. Though they had to mount a goalline stand at the end of the game to prevent overtime, they looked  faster than they did in 2007 with a run defense that looked like they were already in playoff mode. They kept Larry Johnson in check and made Kansas City work for every single inch on the field.

New addition Deltha O'Neal made a pass breakup that sealed the win. Jerod Mayo rarely left the field. Lewis Sanders was solid. And team whipping boy Ellis Hobbs contributed with a huge kick-off return and a timely interception. The running game also looked solid, with both Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris ripping off big gains.

The bottom line is that we can thank the Football Gods that the Patriots have the schedule that they do. Even a marginal NFL quarterback like Cassel should be able to keep the team in the playoff hunt on the strength of their running game and defense.

We have no way of knowing how severe Brady's injury is, despite the endless speculation that is already going on all over the football blogosphere. 

Until then we can only sit back and pray that 2008 will not be a lost year in the Patriots dynasty. Until Tuesday...