Cassel guided the Patriots' two-minute attack for 2 1/2 quarters with Brady-like precision and decisions. He wasn't a game manager; he was a gunslinger who racked up a career-high 400 yards passing and three touchdowns and added 62 yards on eight carries.
"Yeah, we just sat there, and we tried to throw up a wall, and he was just picking them apart," said left guard Logan Mankins. "He'd find the right receiver, or if no one was open he'd take off. He did a great job of that. He ran our two-minute offense to perfection last night."
The Jets gambled that Cassel, unlike Brady, wasn't a good enough quarterback to beat them and they lost that gambit and very nearly the game.
Jets coach Eric Mangini schemed to take away Moss and Wes Welker and force Cassel to find the open man. Cassel, showing how much he's evolved since he made his first career NFL start against the Jets in Week 2, responded to the challenge, throwing to Jabar Gaffney (seven catches for 86 yards and a touchdown) and Benjamin Watson (eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown).
"I think that's how they approached it in the first game as well," said Cassel, who set career highs in completions (30) and attempts (51). "I think they went out there and said, 'Matt, we're going to try and take away your guys and see what you can do.' We were able to have some production. We gave ourselves an opportunity at the end and that's all you can ask for."
You can't really ask anything more of Cassel than what he did Thursday night. Brady, Brett Favre, or Sammy Baugh couldn't have performed much better given the circumstances.
Twice Cassel executed flawless two-minute drills, once before the end of the first half, and in the final 1:04 of regulation, when he led the Patriots 62 yards in eight plays with no timeouts to tie the score, 31-31, on the touchdown pass to Moss.
