Cassel's BEST game as a Chief and Haley was Mr. Classy today!

[DaneMcCloud]

Cassel played extremely well today. I was really impressed with his vision and his play under pressure. We've all seen him gradually improve this season, even if it's been one step forward, two steps back at times. I can honestly say that even though I had high hopes with him working with Charlie Weis and expected improvement, I never thought I'd see Matt Cassel play as well as he did in Seattle this season.

And as for Todd Haley, sitting on the ball with 2:00 minutes left in the game was ****ing awesome! That's class, Folks, and more than makes up for the Denver faux pas.

Bring on the Broncos!!

[teedubya]

I didn't call Cassel, Casshole once today

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

That's a good observation. I think it has a lot to do with the sample size in football being relatively small in comparison with baseball. The larger sample size in baseball means that statistics can say more things concretely. Plus, the game of baseball lends itself better to statistical interpretation in general. There are a lot more moving parts on a football field to take into account.

Stats aren't worthless in football, but the eye tells the most complete tale.

That's fair, and I'm not going to pretend that stats tell the whole story, especially not passer rating, but you can sure pick out a trend. Here are the top 7 in the NFL:

Vick
Brady
Rivers
Roethlisberger
Garrard
Cassel
Rodgers

The Eagles are in first place. The Patriots are in first place. The Steelers are in first place. The Jaguars are in first place. The Chiefs are in first place. The Chargers and Packers are in second place and have the two largest positive point differentials in the NFL.

[DeezNutz]

That list would look more convincing if Garrard weren't on it.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

He's been "around this zone" all fucking year.

No he hasn't. The last 2.5 games he has been very good before that he was shit

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

That list would look more convincing if Garrard weren't on it.

Maybe he's an outlier, but they are 6-4 with him as the starter, and they are in first place.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by FAX

Cassel looked like a pro quarterback today. He showed more poise in this game than he displayed over the course of the last 20 games combined. He actually seemed to actually go through actual progressions. He was accurate for the most part and demonstrated command of the offense, good judgment, and heart.

I'm not sure how to feel about it, to be honest.

FAX

He's been consistently getting better all season. I don't understand how people can't see the progression.

[DeezNutz]

No, I agree with your point. It's a different angle on the debate and one that is certainly pertinent.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

No, I agree with your point. It's a different angle on the debate and one that is certainly pertinent.

See post #109.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Maybe he's an outlier, but they are 6-4 with him as the starter, and they are in first place.

And until the past two weeks, the Chiefs success could be predicated almost entirely on the running game and the defense. Take the vaunted 22-4 TD to INT ratio that Cassel has. The TDs are products of the offense in general (this includes the running game) doing pretty darn well for itself. Lots of YAC, too. The 4 INTs is the stat that is considerably more impressive to me. That bears out with what we all witnessed for much of this season: even when Cassel was playing like dogshit early on, he was being smart with the football.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by tonyetony

Uhmm are you really that ****in stupid.........do you mute the tv and recite Cassel hate prayers to your cat?

Yeah, Cassel has managed to look all pro against two of the worst teams in the NFL. He looked decent against other shitty defenses prior as well, not as good as the last two weeks, but pretty good nonetheless. BTW, are you aware of the gif'd up thread? I suggest you go take a gander at the thread and see Cassel's amazing QB skills on full display throughout the season. Also, your posts lack in substance a little, but you haven't proven to be a complete reerun like Pawnmower and Saul Good yet.

[Pants]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

And until the past two weeks, the Chiefs success could be predicated almost entirely on the running game and the defense. Take the vaunted 22-4 TD to INT ratio that Cassel has. The TDs are products of the offense in general (this includes the running game) doing pretty darn well for itself. Lots of YAC, too. The 4 INTs is the stat that is considerably more impressive to me. That bears out with what we all witnessed for much of this season: even when Cassel was playing like dogshit early on, he was being smart with the football.

The leash was very tight.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

No, I agree with your point. It's a different angle on the debate and one that is certainly pertinent.

Thanks. I'm not trying to crown his ass, but I am tired of the hypocrisy that goes on around here. He is somewhere in the middle third of the NFL in terms of starting QBs, and he is trending towards the top third. The QB position should be a pretty boring topic. It's pretty good but not great. Nothing to see here... Instead, the best that he seems to get is backhanded complements. I think this is more about people not wanting to admit that they are wrong as it does Cassel's play. (I don't mean you, BTW.)


I will summarize my feelings about the Matt Cassel experience thusly: We could trade Cassel today and get more than we gave for him.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

See post #109.

I was responding to Saul.

He hasn't been "consistently getting better." That's a falsehood. It appears, at least tentatively, that something clicked when he was amassing impressive garbage-time numbers in Denver. He's played well the last two weeks, today especially. Before this, he was average at best, and the staff went to great lengths to hide him.

Let's hope that we're now seeing the actual progression and metamorphosis into an NFL QB thing.

[tk13]

I think the biggest thing is he just hasn't been turning the ball over. And that's probably part of the reason we're winning, the turnover thing is cliche but it does bear out a lot of the time. He's had struggles with inaccuracy, but he has kept from making too many bonehead decisions. In his last 7 games, Cassel has 18 TD and 1 INT. That's pretty tough.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

And until the past two weeks, the Chiefs success could be predicated almost entirely on the running game and the defense. Take the vaunted 22-4 TD to INT ratio that Cassel has. The TDs are products of the offense in general (this includes the running game) doing pretty darn well for itself. Lots of YAC, too. The 4 INTs is the stat that is considerably more impressive to me. That bears out with what we all witnessed for much of this season: even when Cassel was playing like dogshit early on, he was being smart with the football.

I suppose that this is fair, but I still think you are selling him short. He has taken the second fewest sacks in the league. That's big. Even if you want to say that his yardage stats against Denver are inflated by playing against the prevent, that makes the fact that he threw 4 TDs and no INTs even more impressive. The prevent is designed to take away the big play. Generally speaking, a QB playing against a prevent will put up more yards, fewer TDs, and more INTs.

Cassel was dogshit for the first two weeks, and we won both games while he was on an impossibly short leash. I don't know if the play was a result of the leash or vice versa, but he has been well above average since week 3.