Quote:
Originally Posted by Autumn
I think they can gameplan for him plenty, in the sense of "gameplan for a backup QB who nobody needs to worry particularly about." I think a defensive gameplan vs the Brady Patriots is a lot different than a gameplan vs. Less Than Average QB Patriots. He's essentially a rookie, and they'll do all the pressure they put on rookies, making him make the reads and plays that Brady usually would and Cassel probably won't.
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I'm sure the blitz percentages will be upped a bit, but you need to know what formations the Pats will be running to scheme effectively. And now even I don't know how they'll look the next few weeks. A big point talked about for why Cassell is the starter is that he knows the system, which is highly spread-heavy, implying they'd keep running the same basic package of formations. At the same time, it's natural to run the ball more and employ more max-protect schemes, but those would be out of what, an I-formation (I think we used an I twice all last year). We also don't really have the TE depth/quality we used to to run a stereotypical ball control 2-TE offense. The final factor, if we stay in the spread, is that under Brady his strength was getting 5-6 yards every play. Under Cassell, it was big-play dependent (SSS obviously). Do you really want to blitz and leave Randy Moss (and to a lesser extent Welker short) in 1v1 coverage deep? That's about as big a gift you can give any inexperienced QB, as the chances of him hitting a couple bombs is IMO greater than sustaining the 5-6yd chunks-type drives the Pats were known for under Brady. Add in the main RB Maroney being more boom/bust than we'd want to see, I would be tempted to play a pretty straight defense and make Cassell beat you every play by making the right timing throw than letting him mess up 50% of the time and get bailed out with big plays.