QB Cassel rises to occasion with Patriots

Matt Cassel, a career backup in college and the pros, is the real deal.

What do you know? The New England Patriots appear to have saved their season with a former seventh-round draft pick, a choice that some teams seem to treat as throwaways.

One Cardinals player is hardly surprised about this.

Quarterback Matt Leinart beat out Cassel to be the starting quarterback at USC in 2003.

He did so, barely, as Leinart tells it: “I won but I didn’t even win convincingly. It was close.”

Beyond this, “I had to play well to keep my job.”

Before this duo competed, Cassel had the misfortune of having to back up Carson Palmer, Leinart pointed out.

“Carson Palmer is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL,” Leinart said.

“I’m not going to talk about myself in that way. But I ended up having a pretty good career there.

“The cards never really fell into place for him. But he always did well. He could always play.”

Eyes were opened at the pre-draft “pro day” at USC where prospects could show their stuff, Leinart recalled.

“I was there. He was lights out throwing the ball.

“And everyone was saying, 'Who is this guy?’ ”

Cassel, as Leinart describes him, “has always been a capable player. He’s a really good athlete, with a big arm. He can move. And he’s smart.

“It’s not really a surprise that he’s doing what he’s doing … He’s playing great. He’s going to basically get that team to the playoffs.”

Coach Bill Belichick said the Patriots couldn’t make much of a determination on Cassel based on his college days, when he only threw 33 times.

But team officials saw that impressive workout in 2005, then met with him and talked with his college coach.

“Pete Carroll was very positive in his recommendation, and certainly Pete knows what pro quarterbacks need to be able to do, Belichick said.

“So I don’t think the question of talent was one with Matt; it was really one of opportunity.”

With the Patriots, Cassel worked at his craft through the years and got his opportunity when superstar Tom Brady went down in the team’s first game this year.

“Matt’s the type of player that has improved every time he’s really done anything for us, whether it’s in practice, or meetings or watching film or playing in games.

“He learns from his experiences on and off the field. He’s a better player today than he was yesterday.

“He learns from his mistakes and recognizes things a little quicker and makes decisions a little bit quicker.

“He’s grown through the course of the season, probably at about the rate most good players do. You should be better in December than you are in August.”

Coach Ken Whisenhunt noticed Cassel while watching videotape of the Patriots playing the St. Louis Rams earlier this season.

“He’s really continued to improve as the year’s gone through.

“He looks a lot like Tom Brady now, and that’s scary.”

EXTRA POINT: Cassel went through the death of his father last week. Belichick talked to Cassel through these most difficult days, before the Patriots won easily at Oakland.

“I think Matt, as he always does, handled himself very professionally and was really able to focus on what his job was and his commitment to the team. And he came through in a big way.”

ARIZONA AT NEW ENGLAND

11 a.m. Sunday, Channel 10