Going into the 2008-2009 NFL season, can there possibly be a bigger enigma than the New England Patriots ??? Tom Brady (68.9%, 4806, 50/8) is coming off the biggest individual statistical season in league history but did not participate in even one OTA and did not take a snap in the Pats 0-4 preseason while nursing a foot injury. An already old defense is a year older and depth is a big question mark.
Super Bowl losers are notorious for bouncing negatively the following year. The 2006 Bears finished 13-3 before getting spanked by the Colts and followed that up by winning their final two games last year to post a 7-9 season, six wins less than the previous year. Since 2000, Super Bowl losers are a whopping 40 short of what they posted in the regular season they went to the Super Bowl.
The vaunted Pat offense has other question marks besides Brady. Wes Welker (112 catches) and TE Ben Watson have been dinged all summer and will be less than 100% for the Chiefs. Donte Stallworth has moved on to Cleveland leaving Jabar Gaffney the third option. We may see more Laurence Maroney running behind an offensive line that also had off-season issues.
New England lost their best defensive player as Philly showed Asante Samuel the money, $57 million worth. Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison, and Teddy Bruschi are all a year older and a year slower. The fact that geriatric John Lynch was brought in speaks volumes of where the Pats are defensively. Can Junior Seau be far behind ???
Can the Pats flick the switch and smoke the league in the regular season again ??? Absolutely, they play arguably the easiest schedule in the NFL. Maybe not a repeat of last years 16-0 but 13-15 is a very real possibility but ….. teams like the Pats and the Colts have to pay their big boys to keep them. Both teams have killer starters but not much depth.
The AFC East is much improved and a Pat 6-0 sweep is no longer a given. New England is a couple of injuries away from 10-6 and one injury away from 8-8 or even a sub .500 season. We all know that shhhhhhhh errrrrrrrrr stuff happens. Play the under 12.5 wins.
Forums
