In Bill we trust.

Or was it Scott?

In any event, Scott Pioli is now in Kansas City, where he has quarterback problems of his own stemming from Matt Cassel's preseason knee injury that sidelined Tom Brady's former clipboard carrier for the season opener at Baltimore.

In Cassel's place, the Chiefs used Brodie Coyle, who now is 0-9 as a starter following a 38-24 setback that was the 24th loss in the last 26 games for K.C.

The Chiefs also have Tyler Thigpen available.

The Patriots, in contrast, currently have only undrafted rookie Brian Hoyer to backup Brady.

Rex Ryan's Jets most certainly will be coming after Brady in the Meadowlands on Sunday, so the Patriots would be wise to go after a more experienced QB.

The already-slim pickings are quickly getting much thinner.

The Eagles have signed Jeff Garcia as insurance after Donovan McNabb broke a rib in the opener at Carolina. If McNab can't play in Sunday's home opener against New Orleans, Philly is expected to start Kevin Kolb, a second-round draft choice in 2007. They will be able to activate Michael Vick after Week Three.

Let's run through this again: the Eagles have McNabb; Garcia -- a four-time Pro Bowler who has been a starter in San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit, Philly, and Tampa; Vick, a three-time Pro Bowler who was the first player taken in the 2001 draft; and Kolb. The Patriots have only Brady and the undrafted Hoyer.

A.J. Feeley, until recently another Philly backup, was considered a candidate to come to New England. But he just signed with Carolina, which lost its backup QB, Josh McCown, for the season with a foot injury against the Eagles over the weekend.

Feeley may find himself contending for the starting job in Carolina, where Jake Delhomme, after a disastrous performance in the playoffs last season, threw four interceptions in Sunday's loss to Philadelphia in Charlotte.

Ryan earned his shot as a head coach by directing the defense in Baltimore. He is the son of Buddy Ryan, who, as defensive coordinator for Mike Ditka's Chicago Bears in the mid-80s, developed the dominating "46" defense the Bears used to overwhelm the AFC champion Patriots in Super Bowl XX.

In his first game in New York, Rex Ryan employed a blitzing defense to harass Houston QB Matt Schaub. Given the problems that Patriots left tackle Matt Light had Monday night containing the Bills' Aaron Schobel, Ryan is sure to use a variety of schemes to bring pressure to bear on Brady.

Schobel threw Light aside to intercept a pass which he returned for a touchdown, broke up another pass near the goal line that forced the Pats to settle for a field goal, and also had a sack while generally wreaking havoc whenever Brady dropped back to throw.

Teams learned from the Giants' success against Brady and the Patriots' prolific offense in Super Bowl XLII that the only way to keep New England from lighting up the scoreboard is to pressure the QB with rushers and blitzers.

Given that Brady now is 32, and is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him virtually all of last season, it seems overly optimistic to assume he'll be available to start all 16 games this season.

McNabb, in his personal blog, wrote: "Adding Jeff Garcia to the roster is a great idea. He knows our offense and how we do things around here."

That's what the Pats need behind Brady -- someone who knows the offense and how they do things. The sooner they get somone who can start doing that, the better.