TOM WHO?:

Cassel doing OK job for Pats and an untapped QB market (Peter King, 10/21/08, Sports Illustrated)

I came here to get my first live look at Matt Cassel. Relatively speaking, the view was mostly positive from New England's surprisingly one-sided 41-7 win over the Broncos. Cassel is being asked to be almost exactly what Brady was asked to do when Brady took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe seven seasons ago -- don't lose the game. Last night Cassel completed 18-of-24 mostly risk-free passes, for 185 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. [...]

I went back after the game and compared the young Brady to Cassel. These numbers -- for Brady's first six starts in 2001 and Cassel's first six games (he played the majority of the opener when Brady went down for the year) -- tell a remarkable story:

Player/Year W-L Comp.-Att. Pct. Yards TD-Int
Brady '01 4-2 120-190 .632 1,105 10-4
Cassel '08 4-2 110-166 .663 1,095 6-4

Eerie.