When New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went down with a torn ACL in Week 1 of the 2008 season against the Kansas City Chiefs, quarterback Matt Cassel stepped in. Throughout the season, Cassel threw for 3,693 yards and 21 touchdowns. The Patriots finished the season 11-5, but missed the playoffs because the Miami Dolphins won the AFC East.
Matt Cassel’s Collapse: The Cassel Story
In 2009, Brady returned from injury, and Cassel’s time in New England was done. He was signed by the same team that gave him his shot, the Chiefs, in 2009. He started 15 games for the Chiefs, throwing for 2,924 yards and 16 touchdowns.
While those numbers were impressive, his numbers in 2010 were much more impressive. He threw for 3,116 yards and 27 touchdowns with just a career-low seven interceptions. The Chiefs finished the season with a 10-6 record and won the AFC West. Unfortunately for Kansas City, they would lose to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card round by a final score of 30-7.
There were big expectations for Cassel moving forward in Kansas City. Many thought he could possibly be the franchise quarterback. That’s when it went down, however.
In the 2011 and 2012 seasons, he played only nine games each and combined to throw for 3,509 yards, just about 400 yards more than he threw in the 2010 season alone. He also threw for only 16 touchdowns in that span.
Then came quarterback Alex Smith, who was benched for Colin Kaepernick in Week 11 of the 2012 season. While Smith sat on the bench, Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII, where they lost to the Ravens.
After the season, Smith was traded to the Chiefs and Cassel was on his way out of Kansas City. The Minnesota Vikings picked up Cassel and he was named their starter for the 2013 season. Again, he only started nine games for the Vikings that season. He threw for 1,807 yards and 11 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
The Vikings knew they couldn’t rely on Cassel to lead them to the playoffs, so with the 32nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, a pick in which they acquired from the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, the Vikings selected quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Cassel was named the starter, but in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Cassel broke his foot after scrambling. Bridgewater took over and the rest is history. He would throw for 2,919 yards and 14 touchdowns in the 11 games he started. He was also named the Pepsi Rookie of the Year.
Cassel was traded to the Buffalo Bills, where he would never even get a start. In 2015, Cassel spent a lot of time with the Dallas Cowboys. Quarterback Tony Romo went down with a collarbone injury Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles and Brandon Weeden took over.
After just four starts, however, Weeden was benched for Cassel. Cassel started eight games for the Cowboys. He threw for 1,276 yards and five touchdowns with seven interceptions. He was eventually benched at the end of the season for Kellen Moore. None of the quarterbacks would win a game for the Cowboys.
Today, Cassel is a member of the Tennessee Titans, where he will sit on the bench as a backup to Marcus Mariota. There’s no clear cut answer about what happened to Cassel and what caused his demise. He went from the Chiefs franchise quarterback to a third-string quarterback in Dallas in the span of a few seasons.
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