Time is on their side
If the Patriots need to make some changes, they’ve got some time to do it.
With the bye week looming, New England doesn’t play again until Oct. 5 against the 49ers. They’ve been given the gift of 11 days to try and fix what ails them, lest they suffer the same fate as they did last Sunday against the Dolphins. Here’s a quick look at what they’ll likely be focused on between now and then:
Making Matt Cassel comfortable: Cassel did some good things against Miami early on — not including his first-half interception — but was really exposed after the Patriots fell behind by double-digits. Playing from behind is a skill that doesn’t always come naturally to a quarterback. Still, there was enough there to make Patriots coach Bill Belichick sound encouraged about the way his young quarterback is progressing.
“Well, I think if you take away the interception in the first half, he’s 15 for 20,” Belichick said of Cassel’s performance against the Dolphins, where the quarterback ended up going 19-for-31 for 131 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble. “I thought he actually threw the ball pretty well. We got behind in the game that skews a lot of things, how you approach the game, how you play it and how you have to play it.
“They stuck with Cassel for three years — I think they have to play it out for a while more,” said NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. “But he certainly does need help. His first pass after Brady went down was for 51 yards down the right sideline. Since then, he hasn’t aired one out since. I think they need to let him play.”
Implementing a backup plan: If New England doesn’t swing a deal in the next day or so, it appears the Patriots will stick with Cassel as the starter, at least for the foreseeable future. But that’s not to say they won’t improve their depth at the quarterback position for several reasons, according to Mike Tanier, a writer for the legendary web site Footballoutsiders.com.
“They may bring in a veteran just to have a player on the bench who can step in at a moment’s notice,” Tanier said. “Veteran backups require fewer practice reps than novices, and the Pats don’t want to have to waste a lot of reps on [rookie quarterback Kevin] O’Connell when they have to get Cassel ready.
“I don’t see them pursuing [Daunte] Culpepper — there’s baggage, including the expectation that he will compete for a starting job. I could see them going after a player like Tim Rattay: cheap, has been around the league, can win a game or two off the bench, and not the kind of guy who divides a locker room.”
Fixing whatever it is that’s ailing the defense: The defensive numbers are astonishing to contemplate. The Patriots yielded an astonishing 461 yards against Miami. In addition, the 25-point loss was the worst in Gillette Stadium history, and New England’s worst home loss since it was beaten by Atlanta 41-10 on Nov. 8, 1998, at Foxboro Stadium. Miami picked up 23 first downs, and converted 44 percent of its third down opportunities. In addition, the Dolphins were a perfect 4-for-4 in red zone scoring chances.
The veteran defense has always been able to bounce back from subpar efforts in the past — in 2006, the average margin of victory for the Patriots in a win following a regular-season loss was better than 30 points per game. It appears they have their work cut out for themselves once again.
“We have concern — we’re all human. We need to get better. We need to work,” said defensive lineman Jarvis Green. “We have a bye coming up, so I think it’s a really great time for us to start over and get better on the things that we messed up on.”
