FOXBOROUGH - There wasn't much more real estate to work with. Officially, the ball was on the 1-yard line, but it was really a quarter of a yard from the end zone. On the wrong end of the field.
This was the situation facing backup quarterback Matt Cassel yesterday.
Tom Brady had crumpled to the Gillette Stadium turf on the prior series, clutching his left knee while shouting in pain. It was a scoreless game, late in the first quarter, and he wasn't coming back.
So if the Patriots were to beat the visiting Chiefs on the NFL's opening weekend, they'd have to do it with Cassel - who hadn't played in the first quarter of a regular-season game since high school in Northridge, Calif. - at the helm.
He entered in the toughest of spots, but delivered the biggest of throws.
After two runs that went backward, coming dangerously close to a safety, Cassel was looking at third and 11 in a stadium that had gone eerily quiet following Brady's injury. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels radioed the play into Cassel's helmet, calling for a play-action pass, the hope to freeze the linebackers and safeties just enough to give receiver Randy Moss a chance to find open space downfield.
Cassel sold it nicely, pretending to place the ball between the "3" and "4" on Sammy Morris's jersey before dropping into his own end zone, never the place a quarterback wants to be.
With blockers holding up at the line of scrimmage, Cassel surveyed his options and noticed Moss had broken off his "go" route to the right because the coverage was in the spot Moss was supposed to be - and the safety and cornerback were standing flat-footed. So Cassel stepped into a laser that arced over the head of cornerback Patrick Surtain and into the arms of Moss.
It was a huge play, not just for what it ultimately set up - a touchdown to put the Patriots ahead, 7-0 - but also for what it meant to Cassel.
"After that pass, it definitely calmed the nerves down a bit and I said, 'I can do this', " Cassel said.
As it turned out, Cassel did enough to help the Patriots to a 17-10 victory over the Chiefs, one of the NFL's bottom-dwelling clubs. He finished 13 of 18 for 152 yards and one touchdown.
Equally as important was this stat: 0 interceptions.
The 26-year-old didn't make the killer mistake that so often accompanies a player with limited experience, while at the same time coming up with a few gutsy scrambles, none larger than his 9-yard scamper on third and 3 midway through the fourth quarter to extend the drive that set up Stephen Gostkowski's 37-yard field goal.