SPECIAL TEAMS SPECIALISTS:
K Stephen Gostkowski
P Ryan Allen
LS Joe Cardona
Matthew Slater (WR)
Brandon King (LB)
Dewey McDonald (S)
Grade and outlook: A unit that has the most reliable kicker in the league (Gostkowski) a perpetual Pro-Bowl gunner (Slater) and a worthy Pro Bowl punter in Allen gets high marks. King is an intriguing player, he got a ton of one-on-one instruction at training camp from STs coach Joe Judge. McDonald was just signed.
The coverage units have been very solid this season, if there is one area that could use a boost in the second half of the year is the kick and punt return game. Grade A-
The Patriots get high marks, as they should for getting to the halfway point of the season and being 8-0. The only game that they were seriously challenged was the Jets game. The rest they’ve pretty much dominated and had them won fairly convincingly. Bill Belichick and his coaching staff have done a fantastic job thus far. But the hallmark of Patriots teams with Belichick has been their play after Thanksgiving, when they feel they should peak as a team.
If this team follows that tradition, then the second half of 2015 is shaping up to be quite a ride. Overall team grade A
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
