It looked like the Patriots had some sort of plan in training camp. Bring in veteran corners (Springs, Bodden) to hold the fort until the young corners (Butler, Wheatley, Wilhite) were ready to take over. Hope Merriweather becomes a poor man’s Ed Reed and replace Vrabel and Bruschi with upstart Jerrod Mayo, speedy Gary Guyton and vet pass rusher Derrick Burgess. And don’t forget Adalius Thomas would be back healthy after injuring himself again in 2008. But then the Seymour trade happened. Immediately the Patriots got worse. His impact is finally being felt in the locker room and on the field. He had 8 sacks last year and tied up lineman. Jarvis Green has proven that he is nothing more than a reserve end. Why this move? Did Belichick think he could coach up this unit and the offense would do the rest? Did he see that 2011 pick as a top 10 pick and get greedy? Did he think they couldn’t win this year? We’ll never know, but the secondary has gotten worse as the season has gone on, the pass rush has never materialized and is the big reason why this team will be watching most of the NFL playoffs. Thomas, by the way, has been a bust given his contract dollars.
2) The minuses have not been replaced with pluses or anything else. The 2007 Patriots had Stallworth at 3rd wideout and Jabar Gaffney at 4th. The 2009 Patriots have special teamer Sam Aiken at 3rd and some guy named Stanback at 4th. The Patriots have gone from Asante Samuel to Leigh Bodden to Jonathan Wilhite to Darius Butler. Any way you want to look at it, it’s not good enough. Burgess and Banta-Cain are not Mike Vrabel. Richard Seymour has been missed, I hope that pick turns out to be a stud or this trade will be a read disaster. So to recap, not enough weapons on offense, no weapons on defense.
3) Bad Drafting, Cheap, Bad Scheme or Arrogant. The jury is still out on the 2009 draft, but there is no doubt that there have been many more misses from 2006 to 2008. Dynasties end when you can’t replace good old players with good young players, ask the Dallas Cowboys. Imagine, a linebacker group of Laurinaitis, Beason and Mayo?
The cheap word has been thrown around by a few media outlets. I don’t buy it completely but when they are opting for 2011 picks over 2010 picks, letting All-Pros like Asante and Seymour walk, not locking up Tom Brady, not locking up Vince Wilfolk and not even throwing soft money at Jabar Gaffney you have to wonder what the plan is. They did spend money on Springs and Taylor which is an old Bruins trick, 5 players making 2 million over 1 making 10 million. I hate using the Patriots and Bruins in a sentence together but I will to make the point, that the Patriots are too good, to be thrifty at a time when the cap is at its highest point. And by the way, don’t get too excited for 2010, this ownership seems way too involved with the new labor deal, and that won’t be a good thing for offseason spending. Imagine Tom Brady going into his final season a free agent. Imagine that same Tom Brady a free agent, no salary cap, and Jerry Jones and his 1 billion dollar stadium lurking.
Finally, on the scheme, I see coordinators/failed head coaches like Greg Robinson and Mike Nolan come into New Orleans and Denver and turn the defenses around in one season using aggressive schemes with similar personnel to the Patriots. Dean Pees, was a failure at Kent St. as a head coach and yes it is Belichick’s game plan, but maybe its time to change. True genius adapts over time. What worked in 2004, might not work in 2009, clearly Bill thinks it’s a more offensive league. Could it be time to change the defense? It couldn’t hurt but don’t hold your breath, people who enjoy success as long as Bill can become arrogant. And when I say arrogant immediately a negative connotation comes to mind. It shouldn’t in this case; it’s his arrogance that made him great.
