Do we even really need to write this preview? Be honest with us. If there’s any team this side of Dallas that gets over-saturation in the media, it’s New England. Apparently they have this guy named Brady who is supposed to be pretty good and is coming back from a knee injury. Not that we’ve heard anything about that. Maybe ESPN will mention it at some point before the season starts.
Joking aside, Brady is the real deal. In his last healthy season, he broke the single-season record for touchdowns. With him at the helm, it takes an astounding effort (see: New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII) to shut down their offense. Randy Moss is a very good receiver when he decides to play. Harking back to his days in Minnesota when he said he “took some plays off,” one has to wonder if this didn’t happen at times last year when Cassel was at the helm. In our opinon, Wes Welker is the more dangerous receiver on the team. Welker owns the underneath routes and has the speed to turn a 2-yard dump-down into a 20-yard gain.
Behind the top 2, the Patriots brought in Greg Lewis from Philadelphia and Joey Galloway from Tampa. Given that Brady is back and the Patriots running game doesn’t exactly scare anyone, it’s likely that they’ll be operating out of the shotgun in 3- and 4-wide receiver sets much of the year. Ben Watson is a capable receiving tight end, and adds a dimension to the passing game with his ability to work the middle of the field. In short, the Pats passing game has it all, with a stellar quarterback that can get the ball out quickly to avoid being sacked and receivers more than capable of making plays after the catch.
The weak point on offense is the running game, and should the Pats find themselves in a cold-and-windy situation, their offense will look ordinary. The Pats did bring in Fred Taylor from Jacksonville to work in tandem with Lawrence Maroney, who has been significantly less productive than the Patriots had hoped, but when your offense is built around passing, it’s difficult for running backs to get into a rythym (see: Arizona). Behind Taylor and Maroney is 3rd down back Kevin Faulk, who we think is actually the most dangerous of the three. Faulk brings it all to the table. He can catch, run, and block and is probably the most under-acknowledged weapon that the Patriots have.
This team does have a weakness, and it is on defense. They have been trying to replace their veterans with young players, and a defense that was once full of Pro-Bowlers is now a hodge-podge of veterans and young players. Last year’s defensive rookie of the year Jerod Mayo is the anchor at inside linebacker and he flies all over the field making plays. Adalius Thomas has been disappointing since coming over from Baltimore, and the team will need more than the 5.0 sacks he put up last year to justify keeping him as the undisputed #1 OLB. Defensive End Richard Seymour led the team in sacks last year with 8, and he anchors their run defense with nose tackle Vince Wilfork.
In the secondary, the Pats brought in Leigh Bodden (formerly of Cleveland and Detroit) to be their #1 corner. Bodden doesn’t exactly scare anyone as a “shut-down” corner, and he’ll be tested this year against the likes of Roddy White, Reggie Wayne, and Andre Johnson. Strong safety Brandon Merriweather led the team in interceptions last year, and the Pats are going to need a strong performance out of him once again this year.
To be honest, the Pats will likely be very good again on offense, but age is starting to catch up with them and their secondary isn’t exactly going to scare anyone away from passing the ball. Their run defense, with the retirement of Teddy Bruschi, will be mediocre at best. The Pats will likely see a lot of shoot-outs this year, and they have the offense built to succeed in those situations. However, as we saw two years ago in the Super Bowl, having a good offense can only take you so far, but defense wins championships.
Ian’s Prediction: 12-4
The Patriots are going to be good, and they play in one of the weakest divisions in football (besides the AFC West), so they’re going to rack up a bunch of division wins. They do have a trip to London to take on Tampa Bay, and even with the bye week that comes afterwards, no team has ever won their next game after a London game. Granted, that’s a home game against Miami this year, but Miami has been the only division team capable of beating the Pats in the last 5 years. The Patriots will face everything the league has to offer this year from great running teams (Atlanta, Carolina, Tennessee) to great passing teams (New Orleans, Indianapolis, Houston) to top defensive teams (Tennessee, Baltimore). This team seems poised for another deep run in the playoffs, and a possible AFC Championship rererematch with the Steelers.
John’s Prediction:
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