This is the first of a two-part series on the 2000 Patriot midterm grades. Today: the offense. Thursday: the defense, special teams, and coaching.
The palm for “most informed Patriot fan” of the first half of the season has to go to none other than little Stu Bledsoe.
His “Daddy fall down” comment summed up the 2000 season for the Patriots better than anyone here ever could. No doubt Mom Maura winced a bit at each sack her husband’s offensive line surrendered this year.
Such has been the way of the world for Dad Drew and the Patriot offense this year. The offense is still groping for a personality, or rather a positive one at that. The Patriot offense has been inconsistent, harmful to Bledsoe’s health, and always one play short of winning a close ball game.
The second half of the year for the Patriots, if one might assume that the word “rebuilding” applies, must also include plans to keep The Franchise walking properly and breathing at all times. Whoever is in there to block for Bledsoe must have the man’s chance for a long life, never mind his worth to the team, in the back of his mind.
Obviously, it wasn’t often there in the first half. Our offensive midterm grades will reflect that, naturally.
Quarterback
Despite living life very dangerously, Bledsoe continues to be the pulse of this team, and its one key to greatness if that particular window should ever open up again in Foxborough. Because he has spent a great deal of time this season flat on his back, many folks think a more mobile quarterback is a better choice to lead this team. Watching Bledsoe come up short in final drives in games against Tampa Bay, the first Jet game, Minnesota and Miami anger all of Bledsoe’s detractors.
Will these Bledsoe-haters never get it?
Bledsoe needs the supporting cast, yes, but so does anyone else (go bend Brett Favre’s ear someday). When given the time to throw, Bledsoe can still deliver in the clutch and run a vibrant offense. Bledsoe at times throws the ill-advised pass in hurried situations, but those instances are down this year. He does have six interceptions, but while still a bit too many, there are nine starting AFC quarterbacks with more.
Bledsoe is seventh in the AFC in passer rating with an 80.3 rating. This is a remarkable figure given that he is constantly under siege from blitzing defenses, and that teams know he is going to throw most of the time (he is third in the AFC in pass attempts). He has thrown ten touchdown passes; only four AFC quarterbacks have thrown more.
One other thing that the Bledsoe-haters need to chew on is that Michael Bishop has not set the world on fire when he’s been in there on third and short yardage. Sunday’s game exposed Bishop’s short yardage experiment as predictable and better left out of the playbook. The option play has no place in the NFL, period. Bledsoe has been better at short yardage these days, anyway.
But Bishop cannot be ignored. His Hail Mary pass against Indianapolis was stunning, especially on its accuracy. He still has never gotten a chance to test NFL front line defenses for anything other than third and short. The man has an arm, we all know that. The biggest concern right now is that Bishop has a hard time getting a mental handle on the playbook.
In the end, it just might happen that Bishop leaves the Patriots someday, bringing a high draft pick in return. Tom Brady becomes the backup, and Stu Bledsoe’s dad hopefully will still be healthy to play another eight to ten years.
Quarterback grades:
Drew Bledsoe: B
Michael Bishop: C+
Running Backs
We’re all sick and tired of seeing Curtis Martin in that Jet green.
But many more of us are sick and tired of hearing about how unlucky the Patriots were with the injury to Robert Edwards. Like we all still want to be reminded of the most grisly Patriot injury since Darryl Stingley? Stingley’s was more tragic than Edwards’, but Edwards’ was far more unlucky.
As Edwards continues his gallant and highly admired regimen to return to the NFL someday, the Patriots still are without Martin or an adequate replacement. One may have finally popped up this Sunday, but as Bill Parcells once said, “What, one game and you’re already sending this guy to Canton?”
Right now, J.R. Redmond looks totally foolish for becoming the first holdout of the Bob Kraft Era. That ill-advised holdout is perhaps the only thing right now that is keeping Redmond from being a contender for AFC Offensive Rookie Of The Year. The last Patriot to win that award was…aw, why do I even bother to bring that up.
Redmond gained 97 yards Sunday against Indianapolis. A lot of it was the offensive line sealing off gaps and opening up holes for him. But Redmond finally looked like he belonged here, and knew what to do with those holes. By his own admission, Redmond remarked that the NFL is like college except “much faster”. That “much faster” part was enough to cause him lots of grief, not to mention a lot of carries for zero of negative yardage.
Kevin Faulk will eventually fit in nicely as the modern day Dave Meggett. Faulk is fun to watch run, as he hits holes with his low center of gravity and plows through tacklers. On kickoffs, he is especially dangerous with his style of running.
He is dangerous to his own team as well. He still coughs up the ball. His fumble early in the second Jet game directly led the way to defeat. Faulk still displays lousy technique in cradling the ball while running. File this in the “terrible Bledsoe footwork” category, but this is a problem that can’t be fixed fast enough.
In Charlie Weis’ system, fullback is de-emphasized. This is also becoming a league-wide trend, a fact borne out by the disappearance of the esteemable Sam Gash. In Tony Carter and Chris Floyd, the Patriots have average to fair blockers who don’t always pick up their blitzers like they should. Carter makes a carry now and then, and can catch the ball. Floyd was de-activated for the second Colt game, a bad sign for one of the guys we got for Martin.
Running Back Grades:
J.R. Redmond: C
Kevin Faulk: C
Tony Carter: C-
Chris Floyd: D
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Would everyone quit waxing poetic over Ben Coates. Has he done anything yet for Baltimore? He hasn’t even called out the National Guard in any Raven win yet. The loudmouth that starts ahead of him at tight end probably has.
But it would be nice if the Patriots had a reasonable facsimile. Neither Rod Rutledge nor Eric Bjornson can carry vintage Ben’s jock. Both men are fair at one thing and lousy at the other. This is not a position of strength on the club.
Rutledge did catch three passes on Sunday. Patriot Nation fainted each time. This is a definite anomaly, but one also has to wonder about the fitness of Bjornson to make three catches in a game. In reality, Bjornson averages 2.5 catches per game, but all anyone remembers about Bjornson is how he got beaten badly on the last play of the Miami game.
Not having Coates to make the tough catch on third down while being held by two defenders puts a lot more pressure on Terry Glenn, Tony Simmons and Troy Brown to produce. Not that they haven’t been trying, though.
Brown is not an every-down receiver. But miraculously, both he and Glenn are tied for fifth-most receptions in the AFC with 39 catches each. Brown, who is better suited for third down slot patterns, has had to be asked to make tough catches over the middle that should be handled by someone like Simmons. Adding his punt returns to the mix, Brown remains one of the most vital cogs on this Patriot team, as well as one of its most beloved.
Glenn is staying healthy this year, and he is having a decent, albeit not spectacular year. Part of the problem is Bledsoe’s inability to throw the deep ball with consistency, but Glenn has been making a lot of hay with quick slants and intermediate range passes. Glenn has a great nose for the sideline and can make the acrobatic catch with the best of them. Bledsoe needs more time to allow a deep Glenn pattern to develop, though defenses double-team Glenn most of the time if he runs the deep routes.
This is where Simmons was supposed to step up and be the big stud. But instead he has been a big dud. Other than the Hail Mary and a few bombs here and there, Simmons drops more than he catches, and is being branded as an unreliable receiver who still can’t run patterns correctly. Watching Bledsoe chew him out against the Jets pretty much summed up Simmons for everyone who has seen him during his career.
Chris Calloway has been cut. Something to watch for in the second half of the season is the usage of Sean Morey, Shockmain Davis and Dane Looker. One of these guys should be given the chance to step up and be the number two man Simmons could never be.
Wide Receiver/Tight End Grades:
Terry Glenn: B+
Troy Brown: A
Tony Simmons: D-
Rod Rutledge: C
Eric Bjornson: C-
Offensive Line
This is the same franchise that once boasted a line of Leon Gray, John Hannah, Dr. Bill Lenkaitis, Sam Adams and Shelby Jordan. Pete Brock backed up Lenkaitis as a rookie. Yikes.
The 1976 Patriot team had three 700+ yards rushers (okay, make a liar out of me, Andy Johnson had 699). The team averaged five yards a carry. That’s Jim Brown-ish. And get this: that team averaged 210 yards rushing per game. Yes, folks, these are Patriot stats.
Hannah and Brock still follow their old team closely to this day. Lenkaitis probably does also. What must they be thinking when they see Bledsoe sacked so often and nobody who can run the ball worth a lick?
The Patriot offensive line, once the heart and soul of the success of the Chuck Fairbanks Era, has become the scourge of the Bill Belichick Era. You can look at the paucity of talent all you want, but the evolution of the line as it is today is the by-product of poor drafting and salary cap mismanagement.
Bruce Armstrong almost wasn’t a Patriot this year, thanks to salary cap downsizing. Army agreed to come back at a reduced salary. But the veteran war horse has broken down, and can no longer play at his old All-Pro level. He will break Julius Adams’ record for most games as a Patriot, then in all likelihood will call it quits after this year. Let’s hope his going-away party is befitting of this man, who has seen a broad spectrum of Patriot history in his great career.
Greatness today is found only at center. Losing Dave Wohlabaugh was needless and the result of poor strategy, but the Patriots got lucky with local guy Damien Woody. The former BC product has solidified the middle, and will be the foundation for a great run blocking unit if quality guards should happen by some day.
The guard position is still in limbo at the moment. No one is expecting another Hannah any day now, but the combo of Joe Andruzzi and Sale Isaia is a bit of a stretch for NFL starters. The injured Todd Rucci should return soon, but he has lost a step from his better days of four or five years ago. The cutting of Jason Andersen perhaps paved the way for Rucci’s return, though Andersen was a nice backup to have who could play a lot of positions but wasn’t really good enough at any to start.
Here is where poor drafting hurt the Patriots. Damon Denson and Derrick Fletcher were lousy picks, period. These guys could be those building blocks along with Woody, but instead they turned out to be big, oversized busts. Signing Rucci to the contract he got also hurt the team, but the hurt there was in lack of cap room to get players for other positions. Rucci has become a team liability because of this, but this never should have happened if Denson and Fletcher had been what Bobby Grier imagined they’d be.
The tackle position looks bright, if injuries aren’t a factor. The long term view of tackles right now looks to be Adrian Klemm and Greg Robinson-Randall. Grant Williams is holding down the fort while Klemm heals and Randall learns. Randall was the darling of the 2000 training camp, but his NFL indoctrination has had some poor moments along with some good. Williams is at best an adequate fill-in, nothing more. If Randall develops well, and if Klemm heals up and also develops like he should, the Patriots are two guards away from a return to the glory days of the offensive line.
One has to wonder about Rucci’s partner in bad capology, Max Lane. Lane started at right tackle this week, but one day will lose his job to Randall. Lane has dabbled in guard with no success. He’s a better tackle, as long as he’s not matched up against Reggie White. Both Lane and Rucci killed the Pats’ cap by being overpaid; today Lane remains the new Jason Andersen, a versatile man without a position he can truly start at.
Offensive Line Grades:
Bruce Armstrong: C+
Joe Andruzzi: C-
Damien Woody: B+
Sale Isaia: C-
Grant Williams: C-
Greg Robinson-Randall: C+
Max Lane: D+
Defense, special teams and coaching midterms will appear on Thursday.
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Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139
