Bye, Bye Brady: Reigning MVP Tom Brady Possibly Out For Season

Tom Brady’s right foot is okay. The problem now is his left knee. And the outlook for Brady’s season is far worse after week one than it ever was this preseason, when the quarterback missed every game with a foot injury.

In the first quarter of New England’s season opener, the team watched as Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard hit and rolled Brady’s knee. Brady immediately hit the ground, clutching his knee. By all accounts, the injury left players on the field fairly sure the reigning NFL MVP was done for at least the day. He needed help to get off of the field and was in very visible pain. The hit left a sour taste in the mouth of some Patriots’ players, understandably, who felt the play was dirty. No team likes to lose a player of Brady’s caliber for any amount of time. But replays show Pollard going for Brady while he still had the ball, making it a legal and clean play.

While Brady’s exact condition is still unconfirmed, ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer was contacted by a Patriots player and told, “Cassel’s our quarterback for the rest of the year,” referring to back up quarterback Matt Cassel. It is believed that Brady tore his ACL and will likely need season ending surgery. Randy Moss specifically stated after the game, “I know the show must go on. Hopefully Matt Cassel is ready to step in. I know the team is ready to embrace him and let him lead us.”

While coach Bill Belichick kept any information to himself in the post-game press conference, clearly the Patriots locker room is coming to grips with the idea that their star field general may not take another snap this season.

Even though New England was able to go on without Brady and win their season opener, the rest of the season looks suddenly daunting. Already playing with a bull’s-eye on their backs, the team that outscored their opponents by an average of 19.7 points per game in 2007 now faces the challenge of getting back to a Super Bowl without their best player.

Watching the rest of their division on Sunday shouldn’t have eased the Patriots nerves any either. While the New York Jets and Brett Favre didn’t disappoint, taking down the Miami Dolphins in Favre’s much anticipated first game for his new team, Buffalo came out firing to dismantle the Seahawks 30-10.

Already having tougher competition looming in their AFC East, it may be impossible to call New England favorites to win the division now. It’s a devastating reality for a team that recorded a perfect 16-0 regular season in 2007. They came into Sunday with high expectations, fully expected to at least return to the playoffs. Halfway into their first quarter of football, the Patriots had to reevaluate their entire 2008 season.

The injury opens the door for the Jets and Favre to have a magical season. It would be hard to pick New York over Brady and the Patriots. Favre and the Jets over Cassel and the Pat’s, however, doesn’t sound as farfetched. Although his statistics were not overwhelming in week one, Favre showed that he’s still the same gunslinger, just in another jersey. Throwing two touchdowns, including a 56 yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery, Favre gave New England plenty or reason to start sweating.

Buffalo did a lot of the same, impressing with a strong week one. Trent Edwards was 19/30 with 215 yards passing and a touchdown, with at least three completions to five different receivers. As a team, Buffalo had 338 net yards, forced two turnovers, and only drew one penalty. Even more impressively, they only let Seattle convert on third down 3 of 16 times and looked like a team ready to take a big step forward this year.

Obviously New England is going to have to improvise if they wish to stay ahead of the blossoming teams around them. They are expected to have unemployed quarterback Chris Simms in for a workout and physical on Monday. It’s unclear exactly how likely a deal is to get done.

One other rumor sure to be chatted up on at least a few internet message boards will be the Patriots trying to reunite recently retired quarterback Daunte Culpepper with Randy Moss. So far though, there is no indication that New England would consider bringing in Culpepper.

What is for sure though is that Matt Cassel is the starting quarterback for the defending AFC champs right now. Tom Brady is definitely hurt. And two teams within the Patriots division are 1-0 and off to exciting starts.

It’s not impossible, or unthinkable that the Patriots will go on and win out the AFC East anyway. Belichick has proven time and time again that he is one of the best in the league when it comes to plugging guys into holes. The Patriots have experience on their side and aren’t likely to wallow on the loss. And whoever is throwing the ball for them, they do still have a dominating 6’4” receiver named Randy Moss who put up 116 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. Without Tom Brady’s 50 touchdown arm though, the odds certainly have gone down. Along with the Patriots expectations for 2008.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.