Everyone is saying that this will be a "make it or break it" year for Matt Cassel.  And it seems that our 28-year old, 6 foot, 4 inch, 240 Ibs. quarterback has an equal amount of fans for him as against him.  After the jump I'll compare not only Cassel's stats in Kansas City and New England but also his main competition in the AFC West.  Are you ready for this?

Now when looking at those statistics, what jumps out at you the most?  The number of times he has been sacked, the number of fumbles, the number of interceptions, the passing yards, the number of TDs, his quarterback rating, his rushing yards, or average yards per pass play? 

Now remember how everyone always mentions that Cassel was a product of the New England system...What does that mean exactly?  The had a better offensive line, a better receiving corp, or better blocking running backs? (All the above information to process...Now think about it.). 

Why did Cassel throw 16 interceptions, fumble 14-times (losing 3), and have a completion rate of 55% last year???  BECAUSE his offensive line collapsed, especially in the first half of the season; BECAUSE he pressed and tried to make a play happen, especially when it was 3rd and long; BECAUSE his receivers dropped 45-balls; and perhaps BECAUSE our offense was formulated last minute since we fired our offensive coordinator at the last possible moment...

For the heck of it lets take the average of his last two seasons to estimate his upcoming 2010 season and compare it to that of our AFC West competition:

Would you behind Matt Cassel with those statistics?  How about even lower sacks?  What areas will be better in your estimation?  Will he have over or under the above:  TDs, INTs, and Rating, etc.

Now lets compare this 2010 estimate to the 2009 AFC West quarterbacks (keeping in mind JaMarcus Russell was a joke):

Phillip (Phyllis) Rivers:

Now his statistics are boosted because he played us twice as well as other poorly ranked defenses, and he is the reason Scott Pioli and Todd Haley drafted they way they did.  Eric Berry and the new, true 3-4 Romeo Crennel defense will not allow for Phyllis to have these statistics again - atleast not against us.

Kyle (Kayle) Orton: 

JaMarcus (THE BUST) Russel:

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Here is what an 8-8 AFC West Quarterback Stats would be (averaged of Phyllis and Kayle's stats from 2009):

NOW do you think our new, Charlie Weis offense can achieve these numbers or better with our added weapons of Dexter McCluster and Thomas Jones, with our improved offensiveline, and the drafting of a blocking/receiving TE?  Do all these numbers have you anxious and optimistic OR worried?  What are your thoughts?