Pass Happy Patriots

One thing about the Patriots, they are good but can be beaten but they get better as the season goes along and are nearly unbeatable in the playoffs under Tom Brady. Under Brady the Patriots have only lost two playoff games in his career. The 2006 AFC Championship and the 2008 Super Bowl. So if you are going to beat the Patriots like the Jets just did, do it early because eventually once the offense gets jelling and Brady gets over the mental tentativeness of his ACL injury and the young defense starts to come together under the professor of defense Bill Belichek.

Right now at 1-1 the Patriots are in good shape. New England should be 0-2 and looking at a schedule with a lot of teams with short memories looking to exact some revenge on the Patriots minus guys like Harrison, Seymour, Bruschi, and Vrabel. Add in Jerrod Mayo and the Pats defense is not only inexperienced but short on top of the line talent. Although the former Patriots included two converted college defensive ends playing linebacker they were mentally tough and knew their roles. This Pats defense does not have that reputation. Although the one shining element of the Patriots 16-9 loss this past weekend in the Meadowlands to their division rival Jets the defense did perform admirably.

Eventually the Patriot offense is going to put it all together. They have talented receivers in veterans Joey Galloway, all-world Randy Moss, Mr. bubble screen and slant Wes Welker, along with tight end Ben Watson who took advantage of the receiver coverage in week one to catch two touchdowns in the final two minutes of week one to defeat the Buffalo Bills. The Pats have a very underrated rushing attack with Jaguar import Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, former first rounder Lawrence Maroney who needs to eventually get out of the doghouse and take back the #1 back position. The offensive line has been together for some time and is still young enough where they can adequately protect Brady but has been so focused on the passing game averaging 50 passes a game, yes that is right 50 passes a game!

Passing too much is exactly where the problem is going to lie with the Patriots offense which is expected to out score the opponents while the defense gets acquainted with each other. Time to go back to the fundamentals Coach B, time to start running the ball. Brady is no longer superman, he might say he is healthy but for anyone with an ACL injury the fear is in the back of the mind to not re-inure the knee thus the focus is not only playing the game but favoring the knee. Also teams that were shellacked by the Patriots in 2007 under Brady are looking for revenge and they will be pinning their ears back rushing Brady and taking some shots at Superman to see how many hits he can take before he starts to get "happy feet".

This Patriot team is reminiscent of the "greatest show on turf" glamorized by Kurt Warner, Tory Holt, Isaac Bruce and Ricky Proehl a the turn of the centurty with super back Marshall Faulk. Once the Rams became one dimensional with the pass teams started pinning back their ears going after Warner who was knocked silly and the team became just "another mediocre team on turf".

Transitioning to a more balanced attack where the Pats can utilize their depth at running back with Taylor, Morris and Maroney they are going to have to infuse a fullback into the offense for better blocking or depend on stretching the field with their receivers. Not to many teams have been successful in the NFL with the single back system.

So get the Patriots now they can be beaten. The Jets proved it after talking the talk all week. The Bills gave the game away to the Pats in week one. The Pats might have to be lucky this year to get into the playoffs and the victory over the Bills is the exact luck they will need because putting up record setting numbers is a thing of the past. Teams have adjusted and the Patriots aren't as good anymore. If the Patriots are going to win this year, the offensive line is going to have to remember how to run block, easier said than done. The running backs are going to have to break tackles at the line of scrimmage to take the rush off of Brady until he gets comfortable and ready to carve up offenses. Changes seem to be a theme these days and that includes the Patriots because if they don't the playoffs might just make another pass on the Patriots.

Right now the Patriots need to focus on each game. Otherwise Belichek might have a Jim Mora playoff blow up!