NFL Turned On Its Head

       The Bears, Cardinals and Titans are all in first place. Kyle Orton beat Peyton Manning. Brett Favre led the Jets to victory. Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco, combined, have as many touchdowns as Peyton and Tom Brady. And oh yeah...Brady is out for the year. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...the 2008 NFL Season!

    Everything is upside down after the first Sunday of the season. But the biggest story - really the biggest possible story anyone could have imagined - is that Tom Brady will likely miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. The Patriots are still the Patriots - complete with a roster of Super Bowl players - but they are anything but complete without Brady at the helm. Matt Cassel has been Brady's backup and will be called upon to fill his shining shoes. Cassel played well yesterday, but can he really take the Patriots back to the Super Bowl with the Colts and Chargers ready to steal the Pats' AFC title? It doesn't really need to be said that Tom Brady isn't just a quarterback. He might be the best quarterback of all time and either way, he is the leader of this team. Envisioning a tough game without him, let alone a full season, is almost impossible. Cassel or possibly Chris Simms will step into the starting lineup one of the best teams of all time. They'll have Randy Moss drawing double coverage and Wes Welker in the slot. They'll have Maroney on the ground and one of the best defenses in the league to give them a little leeway. But still, neither one is even close to being in the same vicinity as Tom Brady. With the Jets and Bills breathing down New England's neck in the AFC East and the Colts and Chargers seeing Super Bowl, things got a lot bleaker in Boston yesterday.

    More to come...