Tribal Warfare
10-01-2011, 01:44 AM
Cassel tries to put mistake behind him (http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/30/3177781/cassel-tries-to-put-mistake-behind.html)
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Former NFL quarterback Dan Fouts cringed last week when, while broadcasting the game for CBS, he saw Matt Cassel throw the avoidable interception that ended the Chiefs’ chance at victory in San Diego.
Fouts has been there and done the same thing, so he knows what a chore it can be to get past such a mistake.
“You’re talking to a guy who threw a lot of interceptions,” Fouts said. “Unfortunately, I was in that situation a few times. It is tough to get over it.”
Fouts also won many games for his team, the Chargers — so many that he eventually wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Cassel doesn’t have that background. It is a play that at worst can ruin a quarterback’s career or at best linger in his mind for awhile.
So Cassel did the only thing he knew how to do this week. He picked up the pieces as best he could and prepared for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Arrowhead Stadium.
“Obviously, there’s disappointment,” Cassel said. “Anytime you play the quarterback position in the NFL, you put yourself out there each and every play. You go out there and you try 110 percent throughout the entire game, and sometimes things don’t go like you’d like them to go.
“Unfortunately, that last interception is something that you’d like to have back, but it does happen, so you’ve got to have a short memory.”
Monday morning, it was back to work.
“I got in here on Monday like I always do, worked out, made my corrections and then tried to work on some stuff to get ready to go for this week,” Cassel said. “I think you just have to try to keep things in perspective. Some are harder than others, but at the same time, you really do have to learn how to turn the page in this league, and you can’t let it hold you down or hold you back because there’s another game coming on Sunday.”
After falling behind twice by 10 points, the Chiefs had pulled to within three points at 20-17 and were driving toward a potential tying field goal or winning touchdown.
On first down at the San Diego 43, with about a minute left, the Chiefs called a screen pass to Dexter McCluster. Cassel initially tried to look off the rush, as he is coached to do. But when he looked back to the left toward McCluster, he evidently didn’t see safety Eric Weddle, who had been blitzing but peeled off when he recognized that the screen was coming.
Instead of throwing the ball to the ground and living for another play, Cassel threw the ball to Weddle, and the Chiefs were finished.
Fouts recalled that happening to him on at least one occasion.
“I had a goal-line pass intercepted one time when we needed a touchdown to win a game,” he said. “One of the reporters came to me after the game and asked what happened. I said I just didn’t see (the defender).
“The next day, one of my teammates had made up a hat for me that said, ‘I didn’t see him,’ and then he put it in my locker. The idea was I wouldn’t have to answer the question anymore. I could just put on the hat. That helped me when guys were trying to make light of a tough situation.”
Nothing like that happened at the Chiefs’ practice facility this week. But neither did teammates or coaches pile on Cassel.
“He knows he’s going to play (well),” wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said. “Matt’s been doing a great job all week of handling the ball. You just learn from your mistakes.”
Offensive coordinator Bill Muir indicated there was plenty of blame to go around in the loss to the Chargers.
“As bad as that play was, I think the one point we tried to make with Matt was there were other plays that (also) made the difference,” Muir said. “That play was significant, but it didn’t lose the game for us. We had other opportunities.
“I don’t think you can pat anybody on the back, even myself or another player, and say, ‘Hey, it’s all right. Forget about it.’ That hurt, and we’re not going to forget about it easily.”
Playing the Vikings on Sunday might be good therapy for Cassel … as long as he doesn’t make the same mistake again.
“You just go back to work,” Fouts said. “You just show your teammates you care and that it was a mistake and that you’re going to communicate and do all the right things and that you’ll get it right the next time. There’s nothing else you can do.
“That’s the beauty of the NFL. You always have another game the next week and another chance to make it right.”
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Former NFL quarterback Dan Fouts cringed last week when, while broadcasting the game for CBS, he saw Matt Cassel throw the avoidable interception that ended the Chiefs’ chance at victory in San Diego.
Fouts has been there and done the same thing, so he knows what a chore it can be to get past such a mistake.
“You’re talking to a guy who threw a lot of interceptions,” Fouts said. “Unfortunately, I was in that situation a few times. It is tough to get over it.”
Fouts also won many games for his team, the Chargers — so many that he eventually wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Cassel doesn’t have that background. It is a play that at worst can ruin a quarterback’s career or at best linger in his mind for awhile.
So Cassel did the only thing he knew how to do this week. He picked up the pieces as best he could and prepared for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Arrowhead Stadium.
“Obviously, there’s disappointment,” Cassel said. “Anytime you play the quarterback position in the NFL, you put yourself out there each and every play. You go out there and you try 110 percent throughout the entire game, and sometimes things don’t go like you’d like them to go.
“Unfortunately, that last interception is something that you’d like to have back, but it does happen, so you’ve got to have a short memory.”
Monday morning, it was back to work.
“I got in here on Monday like I always do, worked out, made my corrections and then tried to work on some stuff to get ready to go for this week,” Cassel said. “I think you just have to try to keep things in perspective. Some are harder than others, but at the same time, you really do have to learn how to turn the page in this league, and you can’t let it hold you down or hold you back because there’s another game coming on Sunday.”
After falling behind twice by 10 points, the Chiefs had pulled to within three points at 20-17 and were driving toward a potential tying field goal or winning touchdown.
On first down at the San Diego 43, with about a minute left, the Chiefs called a screen pass to Dexter McCluster. Cassel initially tried to look off the rush, as he is coached to do. But when he looked back to the left toward McCluster, he evidently didn’t see safety Eric Weddle, who had been blitzing but peeled off when he recognized that the screen was coming.
Instead of throwing the ball to the ground and living for another play, Cassel threw the ball to Weddle, and the Chiefs were finished.
Fouts recalled that happening to him on at least one occasion.
“I had a goal-line pass intercepted one time when we needed a touchdown to win a game,” he said. “One of the reporters came to me after the game and asked what happened. I said I just didn’t see (the defender).
“The next day, one of my teammates had made up a hat for me that said, ‘I didn’t see him,’ and then he put it in my locker. The idea was I wouldn’t have to answer the question anymore. I could just put on the hat. That helped me when guys were trying to make light of a tough situation.”
Nothing like that happened at the Chiefs’ practice facility this week. But neither did teammates or coaches pile on Cassel.
“He knows he’s going to play (well),” wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said. “Matt’s been doing a great job all week of handling the ball. You just learn from your mistakes.”
Offensive coordinator Bill Muir indicated there was plenty of blame to go around in the loss to the Chargers.
“As bad as that play was, I think the one point we tried to make with Matt was there were other plays that (also) made the difference,” Muir said. “That play was significant, but it didn’t lose the game for us. We had other opportunities.
“I don’t think you can pat anybody on the back, even myself or another player, and say, ‘Hey, it’s all right. Forget about it.’ That hurt, and we’re not going to forget about it easily.”
Playing the Vikings on Sunday might be good therapy for Cassel … as long as he doesn’t make the same mistake again.
“You just go back to work,” Fouts said. “You just show your teammates you care and that it was a mistake and that you’re going to communicate and do all the right things and that you’ll get it right the next time. There’s nothing else you can do.
“That’s the beauty of the NFL. You always have another game the next week and another chance to make it right.”