Several myths around this and other boards early this year have been resoundingly debunked. Let's go through them:
1.) Brady lost his passion for football/Football isn't a priority for him anymore - I never got this one. Was Brady supposed to be living his life as a monk? Fact of the matter is no one works harder than Brady. His offseason life may be different from when he was a 26 year old swing single, but the guy is the first one at Gillette and the last to leave.
2.) The game has passed Belichick by - Another head scratcher. The Pats haven't won less than 10 games since 2002 even without Brady in 2008. Belichick once again has shown he is ahead of the curve than anyone else when it comes to putting together a winner. The Pats are currently one of the best teams in the NFL and this is the third or fourth major overhaul in the Belichick era.
3.) Belichick should have hired an experience coordinator, but his ego is too big to do so and it will undo the team - Well technically, his ego could have stopped him from hiring an experienced coordinator, but ultimately it was the right choice. I think if the Pats hired a guy like Mike Nolan or another experienced guy, this team might be another year away from doing what they are right now. What Belichick did this year is masterful by really fitting the system to adapt to the changing parts. I don't know if a veteran coordinator set in his ways would be nearly as mallarable as Belichick has been this year.
4.) McCourty was a horrible pick - People cried about getting another CB. People cried about not drafting a pass rusher like Jerry Hughes. People cried about not getting Dez Bryant. Right now they were all wrong. McCourty is a rookie stud and could be a shutdown CB for the next 10 years. Bill Polian admitted on his web show that he made a mistake taking Hughes who has been Vernon Gholston-like so far. Dez Bryant has shown flashes of greatness, but probably never fit the Pats' system.
5.) The loss of Moss will not stretch the field and take away the short passing game severely crippling the Pats defense - After this team got used to the adjustment of life without Moss, this offense has been as good as the 2007 offense. Brady is playing better over the last month than he did in 2007. The loss of Moss has not been a negative effect.
6.) The signing of Woodhead was just gamesmanship with the Jets and he will be cut in a few weeks - I personally thought he might be able to take some plays away from Faulk before Faulk went down, but even my expectations have been great surpassed. Woodhead may actually be better than Faulk in almost every phase of the game other than blocking.
7.) The Patriots haven't been able to draft since the Super Bowl win years - Yes, you can argue that the 2006, 2007, and even 2008 drafts haven't produced much in actually draft picks; but the last two drafts have been spectacular. People forget that every team have bad spells in the draft. Right now there are three rookies on this team in the discussion for ROY. There are about a dozen first and second year players making impacts.
