There's a lot of rumors swirling that he's out for the year. After seeing the hit about 15,000 when they replayed it during the game, I have a hard time believing that it's season-ending. He walked off the field pretty quickly and was hit from the outside which would make an MCL injury far more likely than an ACL. I think that worse-case it's an MCL tear and he could be back by the end of the regular season. He's a QB not a running back or wide receiver.

Multiple news sources are saying its a torn ACL and he's indeed out for the season!

Ahhhhhhhhhh that sucks bad for New England and the fans. You guys could be doomed with Cassel. They are saying you are bringing in Chris Simms tomorrow, but he's not that great either.

It will take some work for the Pats to make the playoffs, that's for sure. It is possible though since they are still a great team and have a super easy schedule. What an unlucky thing to happen.

Yeah, this sucks big-time. I still want to hear it from the Patriots though. All these reporters have been shaky-at-best in their reports.

We gotta upgrade from Cassell and even Chris Simms. We should be working the phones with Cleveland all night for Derek Anderson. I think he'd put us back in true Super Bowl contention and right now he's just sitting on the bench in Cleveland. I'd gladly surrender a 2nd round pick for him this year with the thought that if he has a great year and Brady returns, we'd be able to get that pick back in a trade for him.

Well... the Press conference is at 3PM ET today. I don't see how he's not out for the season, every single news outlet is reporting he is. Who knows with Billy Boy though... I bet he'll try to give everyone the runaround lol.

Are you talking about Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson? I only ask because DA starts in Cleveland and BQ rides the pine. Regardless, I think either of them would be a good fit for the Pats. At least, better than any other options we are hearing about.

Deep down, I really hope they lure Daunte Culpooper out of retirement. I always liked him... Daunte to Randy Part II baby!

Oh, I thought Cleveland was giving DA the boot because of the overwhelming pressure to start Quinn. After checking things out, you're right. Still, I think Cleveland could be tempted to start preparing Quinn for the right price. Especially if they suck it up the first few weeks.

DeROK wrote:

Yep, Brady to IR. He's done. That's a bummer.

DA would be awesome on the Pats, if that's who you are saying they should trade for (I think you are.)

I can't believe the Browns signed DA for so much in the first place after drafting Quinn. I definitely could see them trading him...

Yeah, I think they should trade for DA.

That being said, we have a creampuff schedule and are still stacked at pretty much every position except cornerback and now QB. It's not too hard to throw to Moss and Welker. They just need somebody halfway decent and I'd think they'd still be the favorites. As is, I still have Super Bowl hopes.

DeROK wrote:
Hopefully you are not offended but I think Pittsburgh or Jacksonville comes out of the AFC. Who knows though, Cassel could be alright. Maybe. At least the rest of the team is great, as you said.

No, I'm not offended in the least. It's why I said Super Bowl hopes, not "I still think we'll win the Super Bowl".

I think if Cassell can just avoid screwing up and make the throws that are there, the team will be fine. We've got a lot of talent on offense to take the pressure off him.

Here's the way I see it...

You've got Peyton Manning and that's about it as far as elite quarterbacks go right now.

Then you've got Philip Rivers and Rothxcvndonodreberger who are very good, but certainly not elite. I wouldn't even put Garrard here yet. When you break it down, only one team has a massive advantage over the Patriots at quarterback assuming Matt Cassell just holds down the fort and doesn't outright suck. And even if he does, he'll end up getting yanked for somebody else who doesn't suck. We're definitely giving something up in the QB department against Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, and San Diego, but I think they're also giving something up to us on multiple other areas of the field. I don't look at any team, even Indy right now and think "there's no way we beat them". It's certainly nowhere near a sure thing, but I'd still put our chances of winning the whole thing around 20% right now. Going into Sunday I would've been in the 70's at least.

So while losing Tom Brady certainly hurts and hurts big, I think it more moves us down to the level of everyone else vs. making us so much worse than these other AFC teams. We were already two steps above the crowd.

Good analysis DeRok. I certainly can't really disagree with that.

Hopefully Moss doesn't get pissed and give up on the team if you start losing a game or two. I don't think he would, but you never know. I'm not sold on your defense either. It might not be worse than last year, but its certainly not better.

Should be interesting... that's why ya gotta love the NFL!

I know we lost Asante, which is why everyone is down on the D, especially the corners, but I actually think we might be better defensively this year than last.

We probably have the best D-Line in the league with Seymour, Ty Warren, and Wilfork. They are all 1st round draft picks and beasts in their own right.

Then you've got Adalius Thomas, the #1 defensive free agenst last season as a LB. Bruschi and Vrabel are back there too, and while older, are solid playmakers. Jerod Mayo is our 1st rounder this year, 10th overall and has been a complete beast thus far.

Rodney Harrison has lost a little bit off his step, but is still solid at saftey and Sean Merriweather last year's 1st rounder has improved by leaps and bounds. We dont' have any big name corners, but Asante was very overrated, especially last season. I don't expect him to light it up in Philly. He's good, but he was more of a product of the system like Deion Branch, than a flat-out stud.

Guys like Harrison, Bruschi, and Vrabel are all a year older, but the D-line is healthy and rock-solid and guys like Mayo and Meriweather have definitely infused some new life into this team.

Combine that D with Moss and Welker at WR, a pretty solid O-line, and a slew of solid-but-not-great backs in Maroney, Sammy Morris, and LeMont Jordan, and I don't think you need Tom Brady at QB to be very successful. Matt Cassell basically needs to not suck and just play some decent football. If he can't do that, then we've got 20 weeks until the Super Bowl to find somebody who can.

I'm just glad this happened Week 1 and not Week 15. Brady has a full year to recover and we've got plenty of time to get the QB situation ironed out before the games start counting. Our next 3 opponents are the Jets, Phins, and Niners, with a bye in there as well, so we should be able to hang in there.