When fantasy turns to nightmare: Tom Brady done for the season
Adam Schefter is reporting that Tom Brady is done for the season with a torn ACL. A sad and bitterly ironic end to the reigning MVP’s season. Following an offseason where Brady dodged the media and didn’t appear in any preseason action, the rumors were rampant that his secretive foot injury was worse than we expected. When the Patriots initial injury report came out this Wednesday, it was disclosed that Brady had a broken bone in his foot. Despite that, Brady suited up for Week One and seemed ready to play.
And then, in the blink of an eye, he was hit on the knee by Kansas City Chiefs’ safety Bernard Pollard.
This isn’t just a loss for the New England Patriots, it’s a loss for the entire league as Brady has become one of the faces of the league. From a fantasy perspective, 8%-10% of the world’s fantasy owners just lost their first round pick; and are probably feeling sick to their stomach to have gone against the grain and drafted a QB in the 1st round. A lot of good it did them.
So what does this mean for the Patriots going forward?
- QB Situation – For now, the Patriots will go with backup Matt Cassel. Cassel played reasonably well today (13/18 for 152 yards and a TD to Randy Moss) and has been interning under Brady for years. It wasn’t long ago that Brady was the inexperienced, relatively unknown backup to Drew Bledsoe but can the Patriots catch lightning in a bottle twice? If Cassel falters, the Pats may look toward Chris Simms, who is allegedly ready to sign with New England tomorrow presuming he passes his physical.
- WR Randy Moss — Moss is a special player but he’s also someone that needs to be focused and have his mind right. Will this devastating injury cause Moss’ focus to linger? Time will tell but it’s now unrealistic to expect Moss to come anywhere close to last year’s numbers, which makes his status as a 1st round fantasy pick this year a losing proposition most likely. The good news is Moss caught a TD pass from Cassel today; they seemed to be on the same page.
- WR Wes Welker — Welker is a possession receiver and it would seem the Patriots will now alter their run/pass ratio considerably to take some of the pressure off the inexperience QB. Welker could suffer the most from this injury.
- RB Laurence Maroney — Maroney may benefit from this IF (a big IF) the Patriots passing game doesn’t fall completely off a cliff. The Pats are a versatile team and Bill Belichick alters the scheme to suit the teams strengths and weaknesses. To that end, I would expect the Patriots to increase their rushing attempts and pare back the passing attempts to create balance and a more conservative, ball-control offense.
How do you see this playing out? Does this dramatically alter your expectations for Moss, Welker, Gaffney, Maroney and company? If not, do you have that much confidence in the Patriots coaches or are you simply a fan of Matt Cassel? Let’s hear your thoughts…
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