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Tom Brady limped off the field under the worried stares of Patriots fans. The thing they feared most finally happened -- losing the NFL's reigning MVP to injury.
And the team they love more than any other plummeted from an exclamation point of an unbeaten 2007 regular season to a huge question mark in 2008 after it held on to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 Sunday.
Brady hurt his left knee when tackled by safety Bernard Pollard midway through the first quarter. He went to the locker room and didn't return. Matt Cassel, who had thrown only 39 passes as Brady's backup the past three seasons, took over.
And he did surprisingly well, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown after failing to lead the Patriots to a touchdown in 17 possessions during four exhibition games.
But New England needed solid defense at the end to keep the lead.
Damon Huard, playing after Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle left with a shoulder contusion late in the third quarter, completed a 68-yard pass to Devard Darling to the Patriots 5 with 53 seconds left. But they moved no further with two incompletions, a run for no gain by Larry Johnson and a poorly aimed pass toward Dwayne Bowe that sailed to the ground wide of the end zone on fourth down.
Brady hurt his right foot and missed the four exhibition games, all losses. In Sunday's season opener, he was 7-for-11 for 76 yards.
Last season, the two-time Super Bowl MVP set an NFL record with 50 touchdown passes, but it ended in disappointment with the Super Bowl loss that left the Patriots at 18-1.
For the first time in 57 games, Brady wasn't listed on the Patriots' injury report coming into Sunday's game. Now his streak of 128 consecutive starts, third longest in NFL history, may be in jeopardy.
With the game scoreless, Brady was hurt when Brandon Flowers hit him low on the left leg as the quarterback heaved a 28-yard completion to Randy Moss. But Moss fumbled the ball away and Brady clutched his knee.
After a few minutes, he was helped off the field.
Cassel was very impressive on his first possession, starting at his 2. With a third down at the 1, he threw a 51-yard completion to Moss. Eight plays later, they hooked up for a 10-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
It was Moss' 126th touchdown, tying Jim Brown for eighth most overall, and 125th on a reception, tying him for fourth in NFL history.
The Chiefs cut the lead to 7-3 on a 40-yard field goal by Nick Novak with 17 seconds left in the half.
Cassel then led another impressive drive, covering 80 yards in which he completed all four passes. Sammy Morris ended it with a 5-yard scoring run for a 14-3 lead.
Moments later, Croyle walked to his locker room with his injury. Huard, the backup in Brady's first three seasons as a starter from 2001-2003, came in.
On his first series, Huard threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe, making it 14-10. Stephen Gostkowski added a 37-yard field goal for the Patriots with 2:26 left.
The injury marred the Patriots season opener for the second straight year.
They won 38-14 at the Jets in last year's first game, then were punished by the NFL after an employee was caught filming Jets defensive signals. Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000; the team was fined $250,000, and the Patriots also lost a first-round draft choice.
And the team they love more than any other plummeted from an exclamation point of an unbeaten 2007 regular season to a huge question mark in 2008 after it held on to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 Sunday.
Brady hurt his left knee when tackled by safety Bernard Pollard midway through the first quarter. He went to the locker room and didn't return. Matt Cassel, who had thrown only 39 passes as Brady's backup the past three seasons, took over.
And he did surprisingly well, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown after failing to lead the Patriots to a touchdown in 17 possessions during four exhibition games.
But New England needed solid defense at the end to keep the lead.
Damon Huard, playing after Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle left with a shoulder contusion late in the third quarter, completed a 68-yard pass to Devard Darling to the Patriots 5 with 53 seconds left. But they moved no further with two incompletions, a run for no gain by Larry Johnson and a poorly aimed pass toward Dwayne Bowe that sailed to the ground wide of the end zone on fourth down.
Brady hurt his right foot and missed the four exhibition games, all losses. In Sunday's season opener, he was 7-for-11 for 76 yards.
Last season, the two-time Super Bowl MVP set an NFL record with 50 touchdown passes, but it ended in disappointment with the Super Bowl loss that left the Patriots at 18-1.
For the first time in 57 games, Brady wasn't listed on the Patriots' injury report coming into Sunday's game. Now his streak of 128 consecutive starts, third longest in NFL history, may be in jeopardy.
With the game scoreless, Brady was hurt when Brandon Flowers hit him low on the left leg as the quarterback heaved a 28-yard completion to Randy Moss. But Moss fumbled the ball away and Brady clutched his knee.
After a few minutes, he was helped off the field.
Cassel was very impressive on his first possession, starting at his 2. With a third down at the 1, he threw a 51-yard completion to Moss. Eight plays later, they hooked up for a 10-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
It was Moss' 126th touchdown, tying Jim Brown for eighth most overall, and 125th on a reception, tying him for fourth in NFL history.
The Chiefs cut the lead to 7-3 on a 40-yard field goal by Nick Novak with 17 seconds left in the half.
Cassel then led another impressive drive, covering 80 yards in which he completed all four passes. Sammy Morris ended it with a 5-yard scoring run for a 14-3 lead.
Moments later, Croyle walked to his locker room with his injury. Huard, the backup in Brady's first three seasons as a starter from 2001-2003, came in.
On his first series, Huard threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe, making it 14-10. Stephen Gostkowski added a 37-yard field goal for the Patriots with 2:26 left.
The injury marred the Patriots season opener for the second straight year.
They won 38-14 at the Jets in last year's first game, then were punished by the NFL after an employee was caught filming Jets defensive signals. Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000; the team was fined $250,000, and the Patriots also lost a first-round draft choice.
