Am I crazy? I’m actually kind of hoping the Patriots win

Self-promotion first: Check out my latest post at Bugs & Cranks.

The big story all week has been Tom Brady having a season-ending injury. I’m definitely not a Patriots fan, and was rooting for the Giants to beat them in the Super Bowl. Longtime readers of this blog know I’m a big fan of underdogs. The Patriots, who have been the best franchise in the NFL in recent years, aren’t exactly underdogs.

Yet I have gone crazy it seems — I actually kind of want the Patriots to win now.  I’m not a big NFL fan, but I have long held a few related beliefs about football:

1) Quarterbacks are overrated and given way too much attention and hype.
2) Tom Brady isn’t the only reason the Patriots won all those games and scored all those points.
3) Football is a team sport, most positions go relatively unnoticed (anyone on defense, the offensive line) and it’s those guys who make the quarterback, running back and wide receivers look good.

This is the perfect way to test what I’ve always thought was true. Not only is Brady out, he’s being replaced by a guy who hasn’t started a game since high school in Matt Cassel.

This is almost like a scientific experiment to me. I know, my views are far from radical, many of you out there agree with me. It just doesn’t always seem that way.

If Cassel guides the Patriots to a great season, what does it say about Brady? Or what does it say about how good the Patriots are about how important having a star quarterback really is?

I’m actually interested in watching the Patriots play the next few weeks — something I wouldn’t have said if Brady was still playing.