Mission to Rebuild and Restore Starts in 2010 for the New England Patriots
No one should really be debating anymore as to whether the New England Patriots dynasty is done or not. It is. The Patriots head into their sixth year without a championship, which is a blink for some teams, but the bottom line is, many key parts of those three championships in four years are gone.
Tedy Bruschi, Asante Samuel, Deion Branch, Rodney Harrison, assistant coaches, you name them, they’re all gone. The only constant is Tom Brady, who’s getting up there in age and many feel his career has peaked. Although you can’t ignore the fact that he’s still one of the best quarterbacks in the league year in year out.
There is still prosperity in Foxborough. While the team has not won the Super Bowl in five years, they have still been contenders every one of those five years in which they have gone without a Super Bowl. They have made the playoffs in four of the five seasons since their last championship. In fact, the only year they missed the playoffs was in a season without Tom Brady and the team still finished 11-5; the first time an 11-5 team didn’t make the playoffs.
The team still has some key components for their ability to stay in contention: Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Vince Wilfork and the evil genius Bill Belichick.
Heading into the 2010 season, the Patriots are coming off a solid 10-6 season with another AFC East division title, only to suffer an embarrassing 33-14 loss to the Ravens in which many finally gave up on the Patriots as being an elite team in the NFL.
Now let’s get to the X’s and O’s of the 2010 season. On offence, the Patriots are of course still led by Tom Brady. Brady’s offensive weapons in recent years have allowed the offence to shatter records, but if they want to win another Lombardi trophy, they’ll have to find the balance that led them to their dynasty in the first place.
Randy Moss and Wes Welker provide a dangerous duo by themselves. Welker, who is coming off a torn ACL, may miraculously be ready to start the season. The team has also added veteran Torry Holt at wide receiver, and the young Julian Edelman showed promise last season, catching both touchdown passes in the Patriots lone playoff game.
Randy Moss at 33 years-old is slowing down and is not attracting the same attention from defenders that he did a few seasons ago. The Patriots anticipate his soon-to-be departure, which is why they drafted Brandon Tate and Tyler Price to eventually replace him.
The Patriots will look to balance their offence by improving the running game. Laurence Maroney has shown flashes of brilliance as a power runner. However, he’s inconsistent and often injured and has a fumbling habit. The Patriots are stacked with running backs with Fred Taylor and have some good role players in Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk.
The Patriots offensive line (O-line) will try to anchor the offence, led by Matt Light, Stephen Neal, and Dan Koppen. The Patriots even added Alge Crumpler at tight end. Crumpler is a solid blocking tight end. Overall, the offence is still in very good shape.
The defence got its share of the blame for the Patriots sub-par season last year (sub-par by their standards). They were fifth in points allowed, but lacked a true pass rusher, making it difficult for their young secondary.
On the line, Vince Wilfork is the best nose-tackle in the game and is a perfect fit for Belichick’s complex 3-4 scheme. Wilfork and Ty Warren are experts at stopping the run, but do not get to the quarterback often.
He is joined by Damione Lewis and Gerard Warren, neither of whom is a viable pass rusher and have spent the majority of their careers in a 4-3 scheme.
It would’ve been wise for the Patriots to go after Julius Peppers in the offseason, but instead they re-signed veteran line backers Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess.
The Patriots secondary may have been their weak link last season. Cornerback (CB) Leigh Bodden gives receivers too much space and Darius Butler was very inconsistent last year.
At safety, Brandon Meriweather is the rock of the secondary and has become one of the top-tier ball hawks in the league. They are hoping Patrick Chung, their second round pick, can start at strong safety next to Meriweather.
Jerod Mayo will also have to be a formidable leader at linebacker. He is one of the Patriot’s best young players and can provide a spark for the defence.
Stephen Gostowski is reliable and has gained experience. It’s already been five years since he replaced Adam Vinatieri. Zoltan Mesko, the Pats’ fifth round pick, is expected to take over punting duties while the return job is wide open amongst Faulk, Tate, or Edelman.
The Patriots still have a very strong team and have many key components on both offence and defence. In some divisions, they’d win it easily, but in the AFC East, improving Miami Dolphins and New York Jets teams may be too much to overcome along with their tough schedule. They still have a great team, but not an elite team. They’ll have to stay healthy and find the balance they’ve been lacking to stay on top. They'll also have to prove they can beat the league's best teams like they were unable to do last year.
Tags: