Mr. automatic. The best quarterback in the National Football League hands-down. A guy who almost did what Earl Morral and Bob Griese did in their Miami Dolphins undefeated season. And a top pick in every fantasy league draft in America. Tom Brady is gone for the year. ("Gone Baby Gone" sums up the Patriots season appropriately because Dennis Lehane wrote that Boston-set book, which became a very good Ben Affleck-directed movie last year.)
Will the Patriots make the playoffs this year with Matt Cassell behind center? We put that on our Mason & Ireland page as our poll question yesterday, and here are the results as of this morning.
How many games will New England win without Tom Brady?
12 wins or more - 7%
9-11 wins - 45%
8 wins or less - 48%
On Monday's show, we also talked with Michelle Tafoya who was doing sidelines on the Green Bay/Minnesota game. She says that they can absolutely be a playoff team. ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth also joined us, and he says no way, no how the Patriots get to the postseason without their "golden boy."
There are some interesting questions about the loss of Brady. If the Patriots win 10 games and get deep into the postseason, what does that say about Brady? Maybe it means that the system is better than the quarterback. If The Patriots fall apart, what does it say about Bill Belichek? As a caller pointed out on Monday, this jerk has never won anything without Brady. And, if Matt Cassell succeeds, what does it say about the USC football program? To see a guy from the Trojan program, who never started a game, is still good enough to start for and win with the defending AFC champions would be remarkable.
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