Matt Cassel Rebounds In Chiefs Victory
Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel has taken a lot of heat (including quite a bit from this website) over the last two weeks but he rebounded nicely to quiet critics in the Chiefs 31-10 victory over the San Fransisco 49ers Sunday.
Cassel looked much more like the QB the Chiefs hoped he would be when they traded a second round pick for him last offseason. The Chiefs signal caller rebounded from a rough start to finish the game throwing for 250 yards and 3 touchdowns for a passer rating of 111.7.
“I think we just executed well,” said Cassel told reporters when asked what made Sunday’s game more productive for the offense than the previous two games. “I’ve said this before, the offensive line did a great job. We got ahead on first and second down which put us into manageable third down situations. We hit some big plays. The receivers made big plays throughout the day and it’s just one of those things where we came together as an offensive unit. With the defense playing the way that they did, and our special teams continues to step up week in and week out, it’s a great feeling to come in here 3-0.”
The major criticism of Cassel heading in to Sunday’s game was his questionable decision making and a tendency to avoid throwing down field. While Cassel did have a few bad passes, one of which was intercepted by CB Shawntae Spencer, he did a nice job of distributing the ball to his play-makers.
Speedster Dexter McCluster lead the way, catching 3 Matt Cassel passes for 69 yards and a touchdown.
“Dexter is a guy, as you guys watch and see every week, that he is pretty special,” said Cassel of his rookie WE. “He’s got great physical talent. He’s a guy that works hard and never complains and we’re lucky to have him on the team. He’s a guy that has great ball skills and can go up and get the ball. He made quite a few plays today that were outstanding for us.”
Cassel may not have convinced all of his critics Sunday but like his young Chiefs teammates, Cassel is still growing and trying to get better. For now at least, he is good enough to have his team 3-0 and atop the AFC West.
“To be 3-0 at this point, we’re all excited,” said Cassel. “We’re going to enjoy this one, but as I’ve said before and as Coach (Haley) continues to tell us, ‘Hey, we’re not satisfied at 3-0 and there’s a long season left to go and we have 13 more games.’ We’re not going to be happy, we’re just going to keep working.”