You could literally feel the air being sucked out of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Sunday afternoon. Every New England Patriots fan in the stands were holding their breath as the franchise quarterback Tom Brady lay on the turf in the first quarter of the Pats contest against the Kansas City Chiefs. As Brady writhed in pain holding his left knee, Patriots Nation saw their season ending before the campaign was even one quarter old. New England fans who had been counting down the days until September 7, after seeing their team lose the Super Bowl in February, were stunned. Their faces resembled their fallen leader’s filled with anguish and pain. After what was only a few moments but seemed like forever, Brady was helped to his feet, and assisted to the Patriots locker room. He never returned.

As of this writing we still do not know the extent of Brady’s injury which occurred when Chiefs saftey Bernard Pollard tackled last year’s NFL MVP. But for one game, at least Brady’s seldom used back-up Matt Cassel, had what it took for New England to hold on and defeat Kansas City 17-10. The win starts New England out 1-0 as they try to defend their AFC crown and return to the Super Bowl.

Being the back-up quarterback to Tom Brady may not keep you in mothballs as much as the “Maytag Repair Man” is but it’s not that far off. In the previous three seasons Cassel had thrown just 39 passes in total. But his inexperience did not seem to bother him as the reserve went 13/18 for 152 yards with 1 touchdown and no picks. Brady who sat out the entire preseason with a bruised foot looked sharp before he got hurt going 7/11 for 76 yards.

The Patriots scored first as Cassel hit wide receiver Randy Moss with a 10 yard pass for a touchdown with 11:45 remaining in the second quarter. After Steven Gostkowski kicked the extra point it was 7-0 New England. The touchdown was number 126 for Moss tying him with Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown. Kansas got on the board with just 17 seconds in the half, as Nick Novak hit a 40 yard field goal to make it a 7-3 contest at the half.

The Chiefs lost their starting quarterback late in the third quarter as Brodie Croyle left the game with a banged up shoulder. He was replaced by Damon Huard. New England increased their lead to 14-3 with as Cassel took command again in a third quarter drive. Running back Sammy Morris did a little five yard sprint into the end zone for the TD. Kansas City scored early in the third as Huard connected with Dwayne Bowe on a 13 yard pass, and with the point after it was a 14-10 contest with 13:06 left in the game. New England’s defense, and a Gostkowski field goal with 2:26 remaining were enough for the Patriots to hold on.

It remains to be seen if Brady will be able to be back in the saddle next Sunday for the Patriots. New England will be facing division rival, the new look New York Jets, who have some guy named Favre behind center. Brady being the competitor he is will want to be starting, the only question is will his body let him?

© Copyright 2008 thesackattack.net