Spent five days looking for the silver lining, and I think it’s this. Tom Brady’s left knee ligaments being turned to spaghetti finally graced us with a Patriots-Jets game devoid of comparisons between Bill Belichick and his estranged, bulbous clone, Eric Cartman errrrrr Mangini.

OK, so maybe Brett Favre accomplished that over the spring and summer by holding the Green Bay Packers hostage and getting himself traded to sports’ great fishbowl. Favre is, after all, probably the only running mate who would have given John McCain a heftier bump than Sarah Palin. God bless his overrated, gun-slinging, comfortable jeans-hawking soul.

One borderline shoulder pad to the patella later, today’s 4:15 p.m. kickoff at Jimmy Hoffa Stadium isn’t about narcissistic leaders, Hall of Fame quarterbacks or $12-an-hour videographers.

It’s all about Matt “Clipboard” Cassel, a quarterback who hasn’t started a game since the Clinton administration solely because he wasn’t better than Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart or Tom Brady.

Is that such a crime? Well, maybe Leinart is a bad example. From what I recall, before winning the Heisman automatically made him good-looking and before he discovered Hollywood starlets and beer bongs, he had mad skills.

The fact remains that we don’t know how good or god-awful Cassel is. Thanks to our friends deriving a paycheck from the 24-hour news cycle, we’ll never have a fair chance to find out, either.

Every move Cassel makes today will be hyper-analyzed, from the time he hits the snooze button until Chris Berman inflicts him with an awkward, unfunny nickname courtesy of a song that was a hit 40 years ago. As if today’s performance is the final arbiter, anyway.

Did he choose Lucky Charms or Total? Why isn’t he lined up in the shotgun? Did Sammy Morris only gain three yards instead of four on that play because he didn’t like the way Cassel stuffed the ball into his breadbasket? Wait, was Randy Moss just rolling his eyes after running that route?

It’s a quarterback-driven league, you know. Not that you didn’t hear that 862 times this week as a parade of jealous ex-jocks tripped over one another to twist the knife in Patriots’ knee. Um, I mean back.

Really?

Random list of quarterbacks that have steered their team to a Super Bowl appearance in my lifetime: Rex Grossman, Kerry Collins, Stan Humphries, David Woodley, Vince Ferragamo, Trent Dilfer, Tony Eason, Matt Hasselbeck, Brad Johnson, Eli Manning.

Sorry, had to throw in that last one.

What’s funny is that so many of these talking heads are former linemen, defensive backs, receivers and coaches who would rip you or me to shreds for putting too much emphasis on one aspect of the game.

If they’ve told us once, they’ve told us XLII times: Defense, a consistent running game, special teams, coaching and chemistry win Super Bowls. Brady’s Hall of Fame credentials notwithstanding, that list covers 95 percent of the reason that the Patriots beat the Rams, Panthers and Eagles in the Big Game With the Roman Numerals At the End. And 99 44/100 percent of the reason the Giants knocked off the Patriots seven months ago in Glendale.

Had the offending, extraneous late-and-low shot come from the helmet of a Miami Dolphin in December, I’d be madder and more depressed. Even if the Patriots were 13-0 or 12-2 when Cassel traded his ball cap for a helmet with Josh McDaniels in stereo, they would have zero chance of regrouping in time for a playoff run.

Perhaps no team in NFL history looks thinner at quarterback than the 2008 Patriots, but no team ever has been better equipped to hide it.

Laurence Maroney, Morris, LaMont Jordan and presumably Kevin Faulk give New England the deepest backfield in the league. Randy Moss and Wes Welker provide their equal at receiver.

The defense suddenly has a young, hungry element to balance last year’s grizzled, cantankerous personality. With lower-scoring and closer games likely, Stephen Gostkowski finally gets a chance to try some meaningful kicks.

And if you don’t believe Belichick will design an offense that plays to Cassel’s strengths and allows him to manage the game, you haven’t been paying attention.

Brady or not, the Patriots will go about business as usual, making the rest of the league and its compensated endorsers look stupid. Starting today.

Kalle Oakes is a staff writer. His e-mail is [email protected].