preseason football ... if that is what you call what we have been exposed to the past month ... is over for the new england patriots ... last evening's 19-14 loss to the new york giants was the end ... thankfully ... the patriots preseason record was 0 wins and 4 losses ... and their play looked more like a cluster fuck than football much of the time ... tom brady (qb) played 0 minutes this preseason ... and he's been away from foxborough more than he has been there the last 10 days (longtime mentor in ill health <> child's first birthday <> closing on land for future estate ... take your pick) ... so how are the patriots going to do this season ... well, i think they're gonna be pretty damn good ... they still have belichick and brady ... moss, welker and faulk ... wilfork, seymour and warren ... so they still have a boatload of talent ... but, reality is, i haven't a clue at this point ... the talent and depth seems to be there ... the "team" will evolve thru the season ... my biggest question about the 2008 new england patriots ... have they made progress in getting younger before they get too olda year ago at this time ... i firmly believed the patriots were an amazing assemblage of talent ... and i had no doubt the talent added in the previous offseason ... adalius thomas (olb) <> randy moss (wr) <> wes welker (wr) <> donte stallworth (wr) <> kelly washington (wr) <> sammy morris (rb) ... would make the 2007 new england patriots the favorites to win super bowl xlii
right now ... i think the 2008 patriots will be fine on offensive side of the ball ... tom brady will be tom brady ... the running backs will be a veteran force <> laurence moroney <> kevin faulk <> sammy morris <> lamont jordan <> heath evans ... the wide receivers will be excellent <> randy moss <> wes welker <> jabar gaffney <> chad jackson <> kelly washington ... the tight ends should also be excellent <> benjamin watson <> david thomas ... the offensive line ... well, this is where the questions begin ... matt light (lt) has only been on the practice field the last few days ... rumors out of foxborough suggest light was sentenced to 30 days of watching super bowl xlii over and over ... since he never actually showed up for the game ... stephen neal (rg) will miss at least the first 6 weeks of the season (pup) ... nick kaczur (rt) had a troublesome offseason ... who knows how long he'll last without the oxyconton ... and #1 back up on the right side depth chart ryan o'callahan (rt/rg) is already done for the season (ir) ... considering how poorly this line ... which includes 3 pro bowl players <> light <> logan mankins (lg) <> dan koppen (c) ... played in last february's super bowl (and in several other games leading up to their ultimate failure) ... there are questions yet to be answered for sure ... i am not convinced the breakdown of the offensive line in super bowl xlii was an anomoly ... the other concern on the offense would be the back up quarterback spots ... the simple reality is the patriots win nothing with matt cassel, matt gutierrez or kevin o'connell under center ... that said, i wouldn't be surprised to see a veteran quarterback (chris simms) replace cassel between now and opening day ... and o'connell will end up on the practice squad
on the defensive side of the football ... i feel much uncertainty ... but i have faith the defensive geniuses ... bill belichick and dom capers ... will have a respectable unit in place by opening day ... there should be little concern about the veteran and star studded defensive line <> vince wilfork (nt) <> richard seymour (de) <> ty warren (de) <> jarvis green (de) <> mike wright (de) ... the linebacking corps will either be very experienced ... or not so much ... all at the same time <> mike vrabel (olb) ... you know him if your team has been vrabelized by the human touchdown machine <> adalius thomas (olb) <> tedy bruschi (ilb) <> victor hobson (ilb) <> rookie jerod mayo (ilb) <> rookie shawn crable (olb) <> rookie bo ruud (ilb) <> young pierre woods (olb) ... the secondary ... for me this is where questions abound ... the safeties will be a mix of veteran (and aging) big names and seemingly talented kids <> rodney harrison (ss) <> john lynch (fs) <> james sanders (fs) <> brandon meriweather (ss) ... and the cornerbacks ... beyond the much maligned and only returning member of the unit ellis hobbs (rc) ... are players i know nothing about <> fernando bryant (lc) <> lewis sanders (lc) <> rookie terrence wheatley (rc) ... rookie jonathan wilhite (rc)
in closing out my first look at the 2008 new england patriots ... there are several thoughts rolling around in my head i should make note of here ...
- roster trimming around the nfl this weekend will change some of the names ... the patriots will be cutting 20 players before sundown tomorrow night ... as will every other team ... so the patriots will be watching the lists of free agents ... particularly for quarterbacks, offensive linemen and cornerbacks
- injuries can change the names ... the depth ... and the outlook in a heartbeat
- the patriots will begin the regular season with 4 potentially "preseason extra" games ... kansas city chiefs (4-12 last season) at gillette <> new york jets (4-12) at the meadowlands <> miami dolphins (1-15) at gillette (and not in the september heat of south florida) <> san francisco 49ers (5-11) at candlestick park (after a bye week) <> history says the jets game down in the toxic swamp that is new jersey should be the patriots strongest challenge ... the more challenging part of the regular season will start in week 6 when the patriots face the san diego chargers at qualcomm ... after spending the week following the 49er's game practicing and game planning somewhere on the left coast
- where is ty law ... is he unemployed ... hmmm
No comments:
Post a Comment