Relive Matt Cassel's Last Start. Nine Years Ago. In High School

Matt Cassel will make his first NFL start this week against the Jets. That the Patriots, a team that won 18 consecutive games a year ago, are underdogs to a team that won four, pretty much tells you all you need to know. That's what happens when your future Hall of Fame quarterback is lost for the season and is replaced by a guy who last started a game in 1999. As a high school senior.

It's been well established that the new Patriots No. 1 QB spent his time at USC buried on the depth chart behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, but ESPN.com's Tim Graham dug up some Los Angeles-area coverage of Cassel's last start.

Cassel already had committed to USC when he led the Chatsworth Chancellors into a Los Angeles City Invitational playoff game against the state's most prolific passer, Palisades Dolphins junior David Koral, on Nov. 24, 1999.

The Los Angeles Daily News predicted a high-scoring affair given the QB matchup, and it was right. Palisades won, 49-42. Koral threw a touchdown pass with six seconds to play

Cassel completed only three of 11 passes for 46 yards, "but made smart decisions throughout to keep Chatsworth in the game," the Los Angeles Times reported. Koral, who went on to UCLA, was 22-of-29 for 424 yards and four touchdowns.

Hmm. Three of 11 (but smart!). Maybe the Patriots should think about signing David Koral. No idea how he'd do on the Sunday Times crossword, but he threw for 424 yards and completed 76 percent of his throws. You know, as long as we're projecting NFL abilities based on one high school playoff game.

Who knows how this whole Cassel experiment ends; maybe New England's soft schedule and bevy of offensive weapons mitigates the concerns at quarterback. That's the hope, anyway. In terms of comparisons, there's really not much to go on. The closest example would be Eagles backup A.J. Feeley. He didn't start a game his senior season at Oregon because of John Joseph Harrington, but that's a little different than sitting on the bench for eight straight years before being asked to replace Tom Brady.