AzPatsFan

The Patriots are about ready to officially release their usual second half "Secret weapon". The sports pages are now full of moaning, wailing and gnashing of teeth in any NFL cities as the cry about their injured players lost for the season.

Belichick never cries about his; It 's even difficult to know who, and for how long, players are injured. Only when they are placed on IR do we really know what is going on.

Any way Belichick is about ready to unleash his ultimate weapon--- the 53+ man roster.

While all the others like the Washington Redskins are loading up on a few stars and hoping to fill out a 22-25 man roster of "starters", Bill and Scott have been finding good but not great veterans and groomed players to fill out their 25-53+ roster spots. As injuries are decimating other teams at this point in the season, the Pats merely insert another one of their adequate to good reserves, into a spot vacated by a good but not great starter, who has been injured.

Because he eschews blue-chip Stars, whose sphere of play is bigger than the usual player, its much easier for a reserve to come in and cover for the non-star, red-chip, injured player. This is a corollary that makes his "Secret Weapon" even more effective. The system has prepared them as well, as BB does not allow his stars to outgrow their positions; he wants all to "...just do your job...".

As he unleashes his secret weapon, a team with "..no holes anywhere...", the Patriots face teams riddled with injuries with now glaring holes created by the absence of injured star players. Other teams fill with dreg and scrubs inadequately prepared, attempting to fill the holes and with no cap space to do anyhting about it.

What a gleeful time for the finishing kick !!

JoeSixPat

Well I think we do have good depth but not as good as in some previous years...

But regardless I expected your "secret weapon" to be Chad Jackson, who BB was talking up post-Packers game, talking about how far he's come etc...

Look for Jackson to have a much bigger role in the coming weeks- but I'd still caution to keep expectations reasonable - he's still a rookie.

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RayClay

This is definitely our strength. Good point. we've had better depth at LB and DB, but some teams have gaping holes everywhere once starters go down.

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vyrago

Clearly the secret weapon is Ken Walter.