Tom Terrific Goes Tumbling

While the Giants were methodically taking advantage of a flat Redskins defense in the first half (which led to victory) on Thursday and the Jets hung by a thread to pull out the contest against the Miami Dolphins (Sunday) the Patriots were dealt a knockout punch that might kill their 2008-09 season.

It seemed like an odd opponent to go down against. The Kansas City Chiefs just drafted Glen Dorsey, out of LSU, to help one of the worst pass-rush defenses in all of the League. Yet, it was not him who forced quarterback, Tom Brady, to the sidelines for the rest of the year with a torn ACL.

Regardless of the kind of talent New England exhibits on a week-to-week basis, Brady is irreplaceable because he is the best quarterback in the League. The weapons he was provided were extraordinary because Brady tossed the ball to those receivers and opened up the running game for Sammy Morris and Laurence Maroney.

While New England still has Randy Moss and Wes Welker at the wide receivers' position having a USC third string starter should not soothe the worries of fans in the Boston area.

Who is Matt Cassel?

He was the backup quarterback for two Heisman Trophy winners at the University of Southern California: Carson Palmer (the signal caller for the Bengals) and Matt Leinart (the backup quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals). The last time Cassel started a game was in high school. He's only thrown 57 NFL passes in a little more than three years.

Note this: the Patriots have a rookie backup and just signed a third stringer, Matt Gutierrez , who was their third fiddle last year.

There is no doubt Tom Brady's torn ACL gives Jets and Bill fans huge hope in winning a division title. The last season the Patriots did not win the division was in 2002 when the Jets blew out the Packers in the last game of the season and the Patriots succumbed to the Dolphins in Miami.

Brett Favre and Trent Edwards have to be infinitely better than Matt Cassel for the two squads to overtake the Patriots because in spite of losing Asante Samuel during the offseason, the Pats always refuel.

In the end, The Jets will probably win the division because of the acquisition of Brett Favre and the seasons injury to Mr. Brady.