New England Patriotism- Daniel Phillips
Only one team in the history of the modern 16 game NFL season has achieved perfection: The New England Patriots. Last year Tom Brady was derailed in the first game of the season, which virtually shattered any hopes of a repeat performance from this unit. With Tom Brady looking fully mended from his knee injury, the Pats seem confident that they will return to being the unstoppable powerhouse from 2 seasons ago. Nobody these days would dare to create a power ranking of the league without putting the Patriots at number 1, but is this team back? Can they roll over the league in shoot out type wins like they did only two seasons ago?
Gridiron Experts believes the Patriots should see a successful 2009 season, however nowhere near as fruitful as 2007; schedule strength, division growth, roster, and the health of Brady and his supporting cast will be the reasons why.
In 2007 the Pats arguably had a difficult schedule, facing many prolific teams of that year, such as: the Cowboys and Colts (13-3), Chargers (11-5), Browns, Steelers and Giants (10-6). Six of the 16 teams they faced that year had at least 10 wins, seven had winning records. This means that the Pats truly were a dominant force, only receiving a well earned break when playing their division. This year again the Pats will face six teams who have earned 10 plus wins the previous season: the Panthers, Dolphins, Falcons, Titans, Colts, and the Ravens, along with two others with winning records. The Patriots will have their journey to the Super Bowl littered with roadblocks and detours, but the only real difference this time will be in their own back yard.
One thing that afforded the Pats perfection in 2007 was the poor play of their division. The Bills, Jets, and Dolphins had combined 12 wins, the next year they had a combined 27. The Jets have lost Brett Favre, but have strengthened many other areas of need. The old gun slinging Favre might have been a blessing in disguise, as his arm had fallen off down the stretch last season. As always it’s tough to predict what one is going to see out of this Bills team, however T.O. vs. Randy Moss should create some interesting battles for being the best. The Dolphins should continue to shock and awe their way into winning more games, adding more pieces to the puzzling Wildcat offence, while continuing to be the underdog on defence in the league ranking 1st in turnover ratio. This division is nowhere close to the level it was playing in 2007, which in turn makes the schedule much more
difficult for New England. We feel the AFC East teams could steal as many as 2 wins away from New England this year.
This is not the same Patriot roster from 2007 either, but may be arguably much deeper. For instance at the RB position: Laurence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and Fred Taylor will all get carries in a massive rotation. Being originally a run first team, look for a stronger running game to drain quarters opposed to having Brady throw all day. The core of wide receivers has only gotten stronger and wiser with the addition of Joey Galloway. The Pats have always had dominant O and D lines, and they will continue to do so this year. As well there are more than a plethora of line-backers; defensive rookie Jerod Mayo will be more confident in his second year, while youth in Pierre Woods will fill in the hole left by Mike
Vrabel. The only thing that really stands out as a big shake-up from the 2007 season is the loss of the starting cornerbacks, Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs. New England has addressed this sufficiently with the addition of Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs, but only time can tell if this tandem will be as successful as its prior counterparts.
The Pats have incredibly deep roster at most positions, but is it deep where it counts? Tom Brady doesn’t have a magic remedy named Matt Cassel this year. And if Bodden or Springs go down or struggle, the next best option is third year Mike Richardson at corner?
This is still a team to be reckoned with, but there is no way they are repeating a perfect season. It is highly unlikely that we will ever see a perfect season again from any team, but some loyal fans are convinced that these Patriots can do it again. With an arguably weaker team, harder schedule, and recovering knee at quarterback, we don’t see this happening. Many quarterbacks struggle in their first year back from major knee surgery, just look at Daunte Culpepper, Carson Palmer, and Donovan McNabb. Tom Brady did injure himself in week 1 and will have more time to heal, but to think re-injuring his knee isn’t worrying him a little would be a lie. The Patriots are projected to win 12.5 games this season, but we think it’ll be more like 10 or 11.
Scoring an impressive 25 on the Wonderlic, he beat out all wide receivers by at least 10 points. Maclin’s work ethic is second to none, evident by his dedication to improvement over two seasons, and praise from his quarterback Chase Daniel and Coaches on said improvement. He is a grounded individual with solid background, and has shown great instances of character, such as crying at his press conference on his decision to turn pro, speaking of his love for the Missouri family.
The knock on this Missouri star is his route running ability, or lack thereof. He has only played in college for two years, and seems to rely almost entirely on his athleticism rather than pure football knowledge. He will need to develop into a more consistent and fluid route runner in order to succeed at the pro level. Mizzou plays in a spread offense, so this will create problems for Maclin in adopting an NFL system. Before the Broncos had announced that Cutler will in fact be changing addresses, we had Maclin pegged as a Bronco; the system that is being installed is a type of spread offense that Jeremy Maclin could flourish in. Until a trade can be made for Cutler many mock drafts are on hold, but Gridiron Experts is fairly confident he will go within the top 15.
