Matt Cassel Is Week 1’s 7th Best QB

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Some Kansas City Chiefs fans were once again calling for QB Matt Cassel’s head following three turnovers in a Week 1 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but if the experts at ESPN are to be believed, Cassel was the week’s 7th best signal caller.

ESPN has released their weekly QB rankings and Matt Cassel came in 7th and he is with some elite company. The KC QB came in just behind his old pal Tom Brady, with a rating of 87.1. The QBs ranked ahead of Cassel were:

Matt Ryan, Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, Peyton Manning, RG3 and Brady.

My guess is that ESPN realizes what I’ve been saying since the game ended: the loss wasn’t Cassel’s fault. In fact, while he is charged with three turnovers, really only one of them was on him. The fumble was Branden Albert’s fault, Cassel never had a chance. The tipped pass that got intercepted was on Tony Moeaki’s guy: on the play, the Atlanta LB was clearly early. Cassel’s throw was on target but Moeaki couldn’t bring it in.

Caseel had a great game for the Chiefs. He accounted for three of the team’s four TDs, throwing two and running in one himself. Failures on special teams and defense eventually doomed the Chiefs.

It is just one game, but it appears Cassel is primed to flourish in Brian Daboll’s offense.