A game can change in an instant
One of the reasons we love football is its suddenness. There is an immediacy involved when any play can alter the course of the game. When Tom Brady's knee buckled under Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard's hit, the Patriots-Chiefs game abruptly turned into a slugfest. New England quickly changed from a highly aggressive aerial assault to a conservative-run based attack. The Patriots were lucky to get a 17-10 win at home against the Chiefs. The record setting Patriots of 2007 were dead. They were replaced by an outfit reminiscent of New England's efficient 2001 team; the season Brady replaced the team's injured star quarterback early in the season.
A season can change in an instant
Immediately Patriots, players, coaches, season ticket holders, and Brady owners feared the worst. And their fears were realized by 7:15 ET, when Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports broke the news. Torn ACL, with more ligament damage possible. Brady's season was over. Suddenly the Patriots were just another team hoping to claw for a playoff spot. Suddenly Randy Moss and Wes Welker were just another pair of awesome receiver talents who could be held back by shaky quarterback play. Moss goes from the clear-cut number one receiver to something less. An every week fantasy starter, a WR1, but one filled with uncertainty. Will Moss stay as well behaved under Matt Cassel? Welker figures to get hurt more than anyone. His timing with Brady was practically telepathic. Welker had five targets in the first two drives with Brady, then only five more the rest of the game. He and Cassel appeared to miscommunicate on a pair of attempts. One of the steadiest players in fantasy last season, Welker now looks closer to an excellent WR3 rather than a possible top-15 wideout.
Brady was supposed to be the "safe pick" in fantasy leagues, but we should know by now there is no such thing. His owners have almost no choice but to pick up Matt Cassel. There is good reason to doubt Cassel's competence - he hasn't started a game since high school - but he played well in relief Sunday. His snazzy 8.4 yards-per-attempt average actually bested Brady's first quarter work. Considering the weapons at Cassel's disposal, he can be a top-15 quarterback or greater. There is plenty of boom-or-bust to him, though. He could flame out or provide sneaky yardage on a team built to pass first. Even risk-taking owners of other shaky QB2s like Jason Campbell, Vince Young, and Jeff Garcia should consider Cassel.
The Patriots will run the football more. The first eight offensive plays were passes Sunday. When Brady left, their pass:run ratio was 11:4. After he left, the ratio was 17:27.
Brady is part of our Week 1 Injury analysis recap on Season Pass.
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Make no mistake; the Patriots should be able to run well. Logan Mankins is as fierce a run blocker as there is in the game. Even without Kevin Faulk available Sunday, the Patriots used their backfield depth with Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan, and Heath Evans getting into the mix. As any Laurence Maroney owner will bemoan, Morris actually played more than the Patriots starter. Morris, in fact, is nearly as good a pickup as Cassel depending on your team needs. He should be owned in all leagues. Maroney owners shouldn't consider this injury a positive. No Patriot fantasy owners should. The team will score less, which doesn't help. New England may run more, but it's clear they will spread the ball around their backfield. Maroney's workload seems likely to be inconsistent and he'll be a dicey RB2. He had three carries in the first half against the Chiefs.
The Patriots didn't wait until the end of the day to call Chris Simms in for a tryout. Like the Patriots, Brady owners must quickly move on. The pity party ends Monday. Fantasy football teams have won countless championships with average quarterbacks. It's an easier spot to fill running back. Evaluate if the hole on your roster would best be filled through a trade or waivers. Then act quickly, because the fantasy football season is short.
A career can change in an instant
Ten minutes of NFL game action ago, Brady led the Patriots on a sure-to-be-timeless drive. It was a 12-play march into the teeth of a ferocious Giants defense that was capped by a Randy Moss touchdown. Who else? It was to be the postcard picture from a perfect season.
Such a short time later, it's fair to wonder if we will ever see the same Tom Brady again. When the 2007 MVP returns, he will be 32 years old and coming off major reconstructive surgery. We were never likely to see anything close to fifty touchdowns again from Brady anyhow.
Keeper and dynasty league owners doubly feel Brady's pain because their untouchable asset now looks fragile. Sure, he'll probably play at a high level again. But would you rather own Brady in a keeper league or Tony Romo? How about Peyton Manning? How about (gasp) Jay Cutler? The solid-but-unspectacular numbers Brady put up before 2007 seem like a reasonable goal for Brady in a post-surgery world.
A league can change in an instant
The sooner you forget about 2007, the better. The Colts and Chargers lost at home to NFC teams who missed last year's playoffs. Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood gained 282 more yards Sunday than Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. Willie Parker is a touchdown-scoring machine again. Matt Cassel is at the controls of the former greatest offense of all time.
If you are a true football fan, Tom Brady's injury was tough to swallow. But with that disappointment comes the knowledge that this season will be irrevocably different than the last. It is new, it is wide open and unpredictable; it will change in an instant again and again. And that's not all bad.
Head over to Rotoworld Monday for my comprehensive look back at everything else in Week 1: The Morning After. (In easier-to-read list form!) And go to Season Pass for our game recaps with exclusive analysis, along with our injury update, target report, workload report, and much more.
