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Its been a while, so I may be rusty…and maybe even concise and brief…but I doubt it.
As we head into the season opener next Sunday, the prevailing image of the 2008 edition of our New England Patriots is that… its still a mystery to ALL who follow it. The fact is that none of us have a real clue as to what kind of team we will be following this season. Will it be the heir of the juggernaut 18-1 season, or will it be son of the preseason, that saw the first team offense and defense get outscored by 60 odd points over a 0-4 pre-season . Logic tells us that reality lies somewhere in the middle, but JUST where that “middle lies is what we are about to discuss.
The Pessimist’s overview – The Superbowl loss took the heart out of the Pats. That in combination with the wear and tear of going deep into the playoffs for so many of the lasts 5 years, along with an aging defense and the losses in the secondary of Samuel, Wilson, & Gay; all spell the end of the current Patriots dymasty and the beginning of their slide back to mediocrity
The Optimist’s overview – BB has orchestrated a brilliant scenario and is once again leading the rest of the league and the media down the “garden path”. Acknowledging the wear and tear of what amounts to almost an extat season over this run, BB has strategically kept his key players off the field during preseason. He has purposely kept his defensive and offensive game plans very vanilla. And has concentrated this off season into getting a great rookie class a lot of work, and not caring about the what the score of the game is.
Facts to consider:
1. The league has now had a full off season to develop effective defenses to at least slow down what WAS the best offense in NFL history. Remember they were well on the way to doing this by the end of the season, and it culminated with the meager 14 point performance in the Superbowl. Now with an additional 6 months to work on the problem, it would be ludicrous for any Pats fan to think that the Offense will come close to matching last season’s prodigious production.
2. That doesn’t mean though that the offense can’t be as “effective”, but it probably has to be different. We aren’t looking to keep 5 RBs for just show. I think BB is looking to create an offense that will be less explosive, but a more productive ball control unit. He/ll do it to counter the defenses that his opponents will show him, and he’ll do it to protect a defense that will take some time to develop into the playoff ready defense we will see in December.
Team Personal Evaluation: (compared to last season)
OFFENSE
QB- DECLINE - Brady hasn’t thrown a pass this preseason. He is clearly hampered by a series of nagging foot injuries. It is kind of ironic that the 2 most successful QBs of this decade, guys who have NEVER missed a game once they became starters, are BOTH finally showing some signs of wear and tear. Brady hasn’t missed a game in this run, but it would be surprising if his streak continues this season, especially the way its started. Cassell isn’t as bad as the media reaction would have us believe, but he doesn’t appear to be as good as we hoped. Gutts is not the answer, despite the good game he had against Philly. O’Connor is a nice prospect, but IMHO was drafted 2 years too soon, and with the perfect 20-20 hindsight that my fandom affords me, wouldn’t a nice 3rd round Olineman look right now.
If I’m GM I keep Brady, Cassel and O’Connor. I would fully expect Gutts to make it though waivers and onto the PS. O’Connor might not make it through waivers. A team like SD with a real good back up might think he’s too good a value not to pick up as a #3.
RB – IMPROVEMENT - This could be the best and most versatile group of RBs we’ve ever had. The only problem is that given the fact that ALL of them have had a history of injury problems, so it is very likely that we will NEED all 5 of them before the end of the years. I’ve always liked Jordan, so that pick up was great one. I think he and Faulk give us 2 very good receivers out of the backfield and I wouldn’t hate it we threw the ball to Moroney more
If I’m GM we keep all 5 guys. IF they decide to keep just 4 I would probably drop Morris. His skills are most easily duplicated. The Evans would seem to be the most likely to go, since Jordan can also play that position, but he also plays a big part in special teams, so he gets the edge over Morris if they only go with 4 RBs.
TE- IMPROVEMENT - Here is where I make up the roster spot. I keep only 2 TE’s. I know this seems like heresy on a BB team, but I think this is the year to do it. First I think the plan is to run from passing formations more this year. In other words make the defense defend the Pass by formation and run at them. That means more single TE formations, and less 2 and 3 TE formations. And for those times when you want to load up with 3 TE’s for SY situations, I can assume they can find plenty of volunteers from the OL subs. Still with all the attention that Moss is going to see this year, the field SHOULD open up to Watson and Thomas. I think Thomas’ return really boosts the TE position and is why I deem it Plus. I would find the best TE available for the PS
WR- DECLINE – Last season Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and Gaffney was powerful foursome that remained fairly healthy the entire year. This season the foursome of Moss, Welker, Gaffney, and Jackson is less formidable, especially with Welker’s injury status. This assessment would immediately change as we see more signs that Chad Jackson can begin to tap his potential. Here again is a place where we can save a roster spot by keeping only 5 WRs. That 5th spot is interesting Ray Ventrone is making a great case to take Kelly Washington’s spot given he has even MORE versitility than Washington
OL – DECLINE – The fact that Light missed most of camp hurts the OL. Even worse, the loss of Steven Neal kills the running game on the right side, so even when Light is back to 100%, we will be a predominately left handed running attack. No RT has taken control of that RT position over the last few years, and while Kazcur was adequate, he was definitely the weak link of what was a very good OL last season. Finally the injury to Russ Hockstein hurts the depth of the OL at TWO positions. I would feel better if I knew how much Wellbourne and Flynn have left in the tank. If they can play, I’d feel better, if they can’t then we are in trouble.
As we head into the season opener next Sunday, the prevailing image of the 2008 edition of our New England Patriots is that… its still a mystery to ALL who follow it. The fact is that none of us have a real clue as to what kind of team we will be following this season. Will it be the heir of the juggernaut 18-1 season, or will it be son of the preseason, that saw the first team offense and defense get outscored by 60 odd points over a 0-4 pre-season . Logic tells us that reality lies somewhere in the middle, but JUST where that “middle lies is what we are about to discuss.
The Pessimist’s overview – The Superbowl loss took the heart out of the Pats. That in combination with the wear and tear of going deep into the playoffs for so many of the lasts 5 years, along with an aging defense and the losses in the secondary of Samuel, Wilson, & Gay; all spell the end of the current Patriots dymasty and the beginning of their slide back to mediocrity
The Optimist’s overview – BB has orchestrated a brilliant scenario and is once again leading the rest of the league and the media down the “garden path”. Acknowledging the wear and tear of what amounts to almost an extat season over this run, BB has strategically kept his key players off the field during preseason. He has purposely kept his defensive and offensive game plans very vanilla. And has concentrated this off season into getting a great rookie class a lot of work, and not caring about the what the score of the game is.
Facts to consider:
1. The league has now had a full off season to develop effective defenses to at least slow down what WAS the best offense in NFL history. Remember they were well on the way to doing this by the end of the season, and it culminated with the meager 14 point performance in the Superbowl. Now with an additional 6 months to work on the problem, it would be ludicrous for any Pats fan to think that the Offense will come close to matching last season’s prodigious production.
2. That doesn’t mean though that the offense can’t be as “effective”, but it probably has to be different. We aren’t looking to keep 5 RBs for just show. I think BB is looking to create an offense that will be less explosive, but a more productive ball control unit. He/ll do it to counter the defenses that his opponents will show him, and he’ll do it to protect a defense that will take some time to develop into the playoff ready defense we will see in December.
Team Personal Evaluation: (compared to last season)
OFFENSE
QB- DECLINE - Brady hasn’t thrown a pass this preseason. He is clearly hampered by a series of nagging foot injuries. It is kind of ironic that the 2 most successful QBs of this decade, guys who have NEVER missed a game once they became starters, are BOTH finally showing some signs of wear and tear. Brady hasn’t missed a game in this run, but it would be surprising if his streak continues this season, especially the way its started. Cassell isn’t as bad as the media reaction would have us believe, but he doesn’t appear to be as good as we hoped. Gutts is not the answer, despite the good game he had against Philly. O’Connor is a nice prospect, but IMHO was drafted 2 years too soon, and with the perfect 20-20 hindsight that my fandom affords me, wouldn’t a nice 3rd round Olineman look right now.
If I’m GM I keep Brady, Cassel and O’Connor. I would fully expect Gutts to make it though waivers and onto the PS. O’Connor might not make it through waivers. A team like SD with a real good back up might think he’s too good a value not to pick up as a #3.
RB – IMPROVEMENT - This could be the best and most versatile group of RBs we’ve ever had. The only problem is that given the fact that ALL of them have had a history of injury problems, so it is very likely that we will NEED all 5 of them before the end of the years. I’ve always liked Jordan, so that pick up was great one. I think he and Faulk give us 2 very good receivers out of the backfield and I wouldn’t hate it we threw the ball to Moroney more
If I’m GM we keep all 5 guys. IF they decide to keep just 4 I would probably drop Morris. His skills are most easily duplicated. The Evans would seem to be the most likely to go, since Jordan can also play that position, but he also plays a big part in special teams, so he gets the edge over Morris if they only go with 4 RBs.
TE- IMPROVEMENT - Here is where I make up the roster spot. I keep only 2 TE’s. I know this seems like heresy on a BB team, but I think this is the year to do it. First I think the plan is to run from passing formations more this year. In other words make the defense defend the Pass by formation and run at them. That means more single TE formations, and less 2 and 3 TE formations. And for those times when you want to load up with 3 TE’s for SY situations, I can assume they can find plenty of volunteers from the OL subs. Still with all the attention that Moss is going to see this year, the field SHOULD open up to Watson and Thomas. I think Thomas’ return really boosts the TE position and is why I deem it Plus. I would find the best TE available for the PS
WR- DECLINE – Last season Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and Gaffney was powerful foursome that remained fairly healthy the entire year. This season the foursome of Moss, Welker, Gaffney, and Jackson is less formidable, especially with Welker’s injury status. This assessment would immediately change as we see more signs that Chad Jackson can begin to tap his potential. Here again is a place where we can save a roster spot by keeping only 5 WRs. That 5th spot is interesting Ray Ventrone is making a great case to take Kelly Washington’s spot given he has even MORE versitility than Washington
OL – DECLINE – The fact that Light missed most of camp hurts the OL. Even worse, the loss of Steven Neal kills the running game on the right side, so even when Light is back to 100%, we will be a predominately left handed running attack. No RT has taken control of that RT position over the last few years, and while Kazcur was adequate, he was definitely the weak link of what was a very good OL last season. Finally the injury to Russ Hockstein hurts the depth of the OL at TWO positions. I would feel better if I knew how much Wellbourne and Flynn have left in the tank. If they can play, I’d feel better, if they can’t then we are in trouble.