The New England Patriots are much more than just a roster of 53 built on paper. The main reason as to why the Patriots have been successful over the last decade or so is Bill Belichick. He has an unbelievable knack for being able to get the most out of a roster and it must be commended.
Of course, everything starts with Tom Brady at the quarterback spot. We saw what happened to this team when Brady was injured for all but one game in 2008. Belichick was able to get as much as he could out of Matt Cassel (enough to fool the Chiefs into giving him a big contract), but it was clearly not the same team.
Randy Moss will be the primary threat yet again as he looks for yet another 1000 yards season of receiving. At 33, Moss is not showing any signs of slowing down, but he may have a tougher season depending on the health of Wes Welker. After major knee surgery, can Welker get back to the form that’s allowed him to catch over 100 balls each season for the past three years? If not, the Pats will hope that Julian Edelman can step up to catch more balls.
It’s hard to figure out what the running game might look like in New England. Laurence Maroney is just not performing like the Pats would have hoped for when they drafted him a handful of years ago. Fred Taylor provides veteran leadership, but how much does he left at this late stage of his career? While the runners themselves may not be the best on paper, the offensive line is talented enough to make any running back in the NFL look good.
However, even if the run game was only mediocre, the Patriots are still capable of having a Top 5 offence in the NFL since they’ve never really relied on having a run game. They were Top 5 in total yards/total passing yards and the best in the NFL in first downs and time of possession.
If the Patriots are going to have problems, it will most likely be with their defence and more specifically, their secondary. Ever since losing Asante Samuel to the Eagles via free agency, they haven’t been able to fill the cornerback spot with another game-changer. They will be susceptible to giving up big plays against pass-oriented offences. They will have to rely on a good defensive line and linebacking corps to stop the run and to get pressure on the opposing quarterback.
Two players to look out for in camp are Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Both are young tight-ends that have impressed so far in training camp. If they’re able to take their pre-season form and bring it over to the regular season, they will add another dimension to an already impressive offence. The last thing that the rest of the NFL wants is for Tom Brady to have more targets to choose from.
2010 Prediction: 9-7