ESPN: Matt Cassel has best day, but one play will haunt

[Dave_in-NC]

Is it too much to ask of a backup quarterback to not throw games away by throwing a couple of pick sixes in two out of three games?

Of course not. But that isn't the reason we lost last night. Our defense forced Bradford (let that sink in, Bradford) into zero mistakes last night.
One series Murray ran the same play three times in a row for good yards, THREE. It was craziness. Hardy was working against a rookie, ZERO sacks.
Cmon man.

 

[JoeKing]

Cassel was as good as he's capable of being, which is average at best.

Not good enough. Nothing we can do about it until Romo returns.

 

[JoeKing]

Of course not. But that isn't the reason we lost last night. Our defense forced Bradford (let that sink in, Bradford) into zero mistakes last night.
One series Murray ran the same play three times in a row for good yards, THREE. It was craziness. Hardy was working against a rookie, ZERO sacks.
Cmon man.

Hardy did have a sack.

 

[Wizarus]

Take away that pick six and we win this game.

TWO pick sixes that were back breakers. Two HORRIBLE decisions. Yet people still have the audacity to defend this scrub.

You say that like Romo's never had a pick 6 or made stupid decisions before.

No one is saying Cassel is perfect but you can only expect so much from a backup, and he was decent this game. This loss is on the defense, that let the team down on multiple occasions, and didn't give the offense a chance for the second OT game this year.

 

[RunDMC]

Of course not. But that isn't the reason we lost last night. Our defense forced Bradford (let that sink in, Bradford) into zero mistakes last night.
One series Murray ran the same play three times in a row for good yards, THREE. It was craziness. Hardy was working against a rookie, ZERO sacks.
Cmon man.

Again the defense was bad, but not so bad they couldn't win. It if wasn't for that pick six we will have only allowed 20 points and the Eagles needed an additional touchdown to take it into overtime. If Williams catches that ball in the end zone the game is over. You can't kill the defense and not put any blame on the offense because that right there was too opportunities to put the game away and they couldn't do it.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Hardy did have a sack.

My mistake, must have been when I was clicking back and forth to the Walking Dead. Still one? Against that shuffled line?

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Again the defense was bad, but not so bad they couldn't win. It if wasn't for that pick six we will have only allowed 20 points and the Eagles needed an additional touchdown to take it into overtime. If Williams catches that ball in the end zone the game is over. You can't kill the defense and not put any blame on the offense because that right there was too opportunities to put the game away and they couldn't do it.

I'm not dismissing all blame from the offense. But I'm not putting it on Cassles shoulders either.

 

[RunDMC]

You say that like Romo's never had a pick 6 or made stupid decisions before.

No one is saying Cassel is perfect but you can only expect so much from a backup, and he was decent this game. This loss is on the defense, that let the team down on multiple occasions, and didn't give the offense a chance for the second OT game this year.

Do you have to be perfect to not make a dumb decision like that? TWO in three games. Let that sink in. This loss is on both units. The defense stunk, but the offense couldn't close the deal. Like usual. They put up gaudy numbers, but once again they left a TD on the field and gave the Eagles a freebie.

 

[JoeKing]

My mistake, must have been when I was clicking back and forth to the Walking Dead. Still one? Against that shuffled line?

Yeah I know, like that one sack made a difference.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Do you have to be perfect to not make a dumb decision like that? TWO in three games. Let that sink in. This loss is on both units. The defense stunk, but the offense couldn't close the deal. Like usual. They put up gaudy numbers, but once again they left a TD on the field and gave the Eagles a freebie.

He threw three against the Giants and still had us in position to win. Harris 100 yard return/game.

 

[RunDMC]

He threw three against the Giants and still had us in position to win. Harris 100 yard return/game.

And if he doesn't throw that pick six it's a tie game.

If he doesn't miss McFadden on fourth down we are right in position to kick a winning field goal.

How about missing a wide open Beasley down the middle that would've given us an opportunity to beat Seattle?

Cassel is terrible. You can't win with such poor QB play.

 

[tyke1doe]

The play was dumb. He wasn't open. That route is not a route you put air under it.

Cassel's delivery is slow-but his foot speed is pretty good. Also pass protection was mediocre last night, definitely not good to great. Smith was beaten 2-3 times around the edge and the pocket collapsed several times.

That ball NEVER should have been thrown. Cassel had predetermined to throw the ball to McFadden.
McFadden gained NO separation, and the linebacker was basically in his hip pocket with a clear view of the quarterback's eyes and the ball.
Cassel has to basically fire that ball to the sidelines even to come close to McFadden. And even then, the Eagles linebacker has the best vision on the ball because he's looking right at Cassel.

Cassel got too confident and temporarily lost his understanding of the speed of the game. You can't throw that pass against NFL players who have the speed to get a jump on a pass play like that.

That was Pick 6 City no matter who was defending the play. And it was a HUGE momentum shift in the game because we were moving the ball well up and could have taken the lead.

 

[Wizarus]

Do you have to be perfect to not make a dumb decision like that? TWO in three games. Let that sink in. This loss is on both units. The defense stunk, but the offense couldn't close the deal. Like usual. They put up gaudy numbers, but once again they left a TD on the field and gave the Eagles a freebie.

We made it to OT with 27 points on the board with no turnover points and you're saying the offense couldn't close the deal? The offense didn't get a chance to close the deal in OT.

This isn't Aaron Rodgers we're talking about this is a backup QB. And even he threw an INT in the redzone when under pressure on Sunday.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

3TD-1INT

thats good enough to win if your defense isnt enjoying a suck fest

 

[Dave_in-NC]

And if he doesn't throw that pick six it's a tie game.

If he doesn't miss McFadden on fourth down we are right in position to kick a winning field goal.

How about missing a wide open Beasley down the middle that would've given us an opportunity to beat Seattle?

Cassel is terrible. You can't win with such poor QB play.

Did you see the packers game? One of the top three QBs in the NFL missed a wide open WR for the loss. Wide freakin open.
We are talking about a back up who has played a few weeks here.

 

[RunDMC]

We made it to OT with 27 points on the board with no turnover points and your saying the offense couldn't close the deal? The offense didn't get a chance to close the deal in OT.

This isn't Aaron Rodgers we're talking about this is a backup QB. And even he threw an INT in the redzone when under pressure on Sunday.

Damn right because we had given up only 20 points. What is so hard to grasp? You score on more TD and don't throw that horrendous pick and you win the football game. He doesn't need to be Aaron Rodgers to not throw such a back breaking interception.

 

[RunDMC]

Did you see the packers game? One of the top three QBs in the NFL missed a wide open WR for the loss. Wide freakin open.
We are talking about a back up who has played a few weeks here.

We're not talking about a guy who has missed an open reciever once. He's done it TIME and TIME again. When do the excuses hand? Does the guy have to be elite to miss wide open men time again? Does he have to be elite to not throw dumb picks and gift teams points?

 

[tyke1doe]

As for those pointing to Cassel's stats and saying it wasn't Cassel's fault, the goal of a backup quarterback is not to lose the game. That means no high-risk throws.
The pass that went for a Pick 6 was a high-risk, low-reward throw.
Cassel can't give up scores like that. He's NOT Romo, or Peyton or Brady or Rodgers. These quarterbacks can overcome costly throws like that. Cassel cannot.
He failed in his No. 1 goal.

But Cassel is who he is. I blame Garrett more. Why is it we go away from the running game when we're doing so well moving the ball? We get inside the 15, and we pass three times, forcing us to kick a field goal.

Why can we not just get behind Smith and Collins and just ram the ball down the Eagles' throats?
Why did Garrett not design rollouts and allow Cassel to run the ball when we're in the red zone?
He showed he was tough enough to take a hit.

It's like we forget all about the running game when we get close to the goal line, especially when it's the run game that got us there. It's frustrating.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

We're not talking about a guy who has missed an open reciever once. He's done it TIME and TIME again. When do the excuses hand? Does the guy have to be elite to miss wide open men time again? Does he have to be elite to not throw dumb picks and gift teams points?

He's a back up for a reason. Why can't you understand that? If you want to blame some one blame JJ, he failed at finding a better back up.

 

[RunDMC]

He's a back up for a reason. Why can't you understand that? If you want to blame some one blame JJ, he failed at finding a better back up.

I understand he's a backup. I get that man, but even backups don't throw game changing interceptions like that routinely. I do blame Jerry. He gave up a fifth round pick for this bum. He believed in Brandon Weeden when nobody with a brain does. This is all comes back to him. He failed to get a compatent backup. He's routinely given Garrett a pass when the dude has one winning season in five years. He is an absolute atrocity as a GM and has been for twenty years.