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Without Brady, Cassel takes control of Patriots' offense

Sep 9, 2008 - 6:56 PM New England (1-0) at NY Jets (1-0), 4:15pm, EDT

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The balance of power in the AFC East may have shifted dramatically.

The New England Patriots begin life without Tom Brady on Sunday when they visit the New York Jets, who are coming off a 20-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Brett Favre's debut.

One of the most durable players in NFL history, Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week's 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. He was officially placed on injured reserve Monday and will require surgery.

Brady was knocked out of Sunday's game midway through the first quarter after he was hit in the back of the left knee y safety Bernard Pollard. The four-time Pro Bowler crumpled to the turf following the hit and clutched his knee.

It is a potentially devastating blow for the Patriots and could put their five-year reign as AFC East champions in jeopardy The Patriots enter Sunday's contest with an NFL-record 20-game regular-season winning streak.

In 2007, Brady set an NFL record by throwing 50 touchdown passes in leading New England to a perfect 16-0 regular-season record, the first in league history. However, the Patriots' campaign ended with a crushing loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

Brady did not take a snap this preseason due to an injured foot and was unable to make it through the first game of the regular season. He had started 128 consecutive regular-season contests, the third-longest streak in NFL history behind only Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

The Patriots' offense will now be in the hands of Matt Cassel, 26, a career backup who has not started a game since high school. He backed up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern California.

The Patriots still have a number of weapons, including wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Walker and running back Laurence Maroney, and reports of their demise may have been exaggerated.

"I'm not trying to be Tom Brady, I'm just trying to be Matt Cassel," he said. "I don't know where that's going to take us."

Numerous reports have stated that the Patriots invited quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay to work out and potentially join the team. But coach Bill Belichick vehemently denied those reports.

"In spite of what some people are putting out there, we haven't worked out anybody," he said. "We had a lot of people call us."

New York guard Brandon Moore was asked if he thinks the Jets should now "bury" the Patriots.

"That's laughable," Moore said. "You can't bury the Patriots just because Tom went down. I honestly feel like they're loaded on offense. They have a lot of veterans on offense, the offensive line and the running backs. On defense, they've always been good and solid. I don't think that one piece missing is going to make a huge difference."

Favre played well, if not spectacularly, in his Jets' debut, completing 15-of-22 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns. He threw a 56-yard TD pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the first quarter and a 22-yard scoring strike to Chansi Stuckey in the second period.

Thomas Jones spearheaded New York's running game with 101 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

However, New York turned conservative in the fourth quarter and nearly squandered a 20-7 lead. The win was not secured until cornerback Darrelle Revis intercepted a pass by former Jet QB Chad Pennington in the end zone with five seconds remaining.

The Jets are just 2-12 against the Patriots during the Brady era.