Calling the 2009 New England Patriots season a “trainwreck” would be doing a disservice to creativity as well as to the actual confusing and awkward nature of the beast. I’d be more inclined to compare it to something like a strained lower back. Sometimes, even though I know my back is tweaked and needs rest, I can talk myself into thinking it’s not so bad. Make sure I don’t bend this way, try to hold myself a certain way – it almost seems like everything is normal. Then, all it takes is one quick movement without thinking and BAM! There I am, frozen in position ready to cry like a little girl. Even though the Pats had some rather obvious weaknesses this past year, I think many fans and pundits managed to talk themselves into the whole “Well, we have Brady and Belichick, so everything will work out” mentality. Then, along comes the first Jets game, BAM! Oh, here come the Denver Broncos, SNAP! What’s that, fourth and two, GAH! The Miami Dolphins, OUCH! And finally, the Baltimore Ravens just blew the whole thing out and there we all are in traction, wondering what the hell just happened even though the signs had been there the whole time.
Yesterday, I covered the defense – today, we look at the offense and what happened there.
OFFENSE
Overall Offense: 3rd / Passing Offense: 3rd / Rushing Offense: 12th
At the beginning of the season, a lot of people (myself included) were trying to talk themselves into this offense as being just about the same as the one that scored a kajillion points in 2007 and carried the team right up the doorstep of a fourth Super Bowl win. Ah, those were the good old days, weren’t they? When optimism reigned supreme and rainbow sherbert flowed from the sky. Turns out that a two wide receiver rotation doesn’t quite cut it in the NFL, and that when your best option at runningback goes down, having Laurence “Gregory Hines” Maroney step in to fumble and dance his way through the season just doesn’t make the nut.
The Moss-Welker tandem was what made the offensive run in 2007, but having that third and fourth receiver who could make a valuable contribution is what made the whole thing click. Joey Galloway couldn’t cut it, and aside from a converted college quarterback, they had no backup plan. New England still has Randy Moss under contract for another year, and considering no one knows when Welker will recover fully, chances are he’ll be sticking around. No doubt he’s lost a step or three, but with his speed that still puts him in the top tier of wide receivers and faster than many corners in the league. The problem is, it’s all straight line speed and he’s never been physical – if he gets pushed around enough or blanketed down the field, he’s done for the day. The other problem here is that he’s worn down towards the end of the season all three years he’s been with the team, which doesn’t bode well for the playoffs. Julian Edelman has proved to be a seventh round steal – his second, third, and fourth efforts on the reception he made (the one that was called back) for a first down against the Ravens was enough to get me excited about his prospects for next year. Other than that, it appears they may have more Bethel Johnsons than Calvin Johnsons on the roster. I don’t even want to discuss Welker at this point, because just considering the worst case scenario made me throw up in my mouth a little bit…
Personally, I think Ben Watson needs to be arrested – he’s been stealing money ever since he was drafted. That play against the Ravens where he was looking for a flag was a disgrace – he might’ve been touched, but the ball was, like it has been a hundred times before, ON HIS HANDS. That catch was worth six if he could wrap those stone gloves around it and fall backwards into the endzone. But as usual, when the fat hits the fire, Watson can’t hang onto the ball and once again causes New England fans to wish evil upon him. With an offense like this, a great tight end might not be a necessity, but it’d be nice to have someone who can hang onto the ball occasionally. Cut this jerk now.
Speaking of cutting, how about we throw Laurence Maroney overboard as well? Watching him over the past few years has turned me into a worse human being – I’ve discovered deep places of loathing in myself that I’d rather ignore. This dreadlocked softy finally got some carries this year without getting a hangnail, but as if to compensate for not being a complete waste of space, developed a neat little fumbling issue near that always reared up and bit the team in the ass near the endzone. Four years this guy has had to prove himself and he’s come up with 2,430 yards rushing, or as I like to put it, 421 yards more than Chris Johnson ran for THIS YEAR ALONE. I could care less whether they have to eat his salary or take a cap hit next year – getting rid of his negative karma will be worth the price. I like Fred Taylor, but I wonder whether or not he can make it through another season. Kevin Faulk gets a free pass from me until one of his legs falls off. If anyone gets a shot at running the ball next year, I wouldn’t mind seeing my man Law Firm, Benjarvus Green-Ellis, get a chance. He’s not fancy, he’s not fast, and both work to his advantage – he knows it and runs straight ahead through the hole. No dancing, no prancing, just power running. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt to get someone in the draft – preferrably someone without a nickname related to a sugary beverage that comes out of a pouch and who can take more than one hit before heading off to IR for the season.
I’m a big believer in building from the offense line and moving backwards. A great line can make a good quarterback and runningback look great. Most of all, it just makes sense to protect your biggest investment (your franchise quarterback) from having 300-pound gentlemen gang tackling him every other play. I’m no expert on who should stay and who should go here, that much I’ll confess – I’d just like to see Brady remain upright more often than not.
Which brings us to the $64,000 question – is Brady the same quarterback he used to be? Has success ruined him? Does he care less about football and more about his supermodel wife? Somehow, I find that hard to believe. After all, if you’re not all that interested in the sport anymore and have several million dollars in the bank… why spend your Sundays getting the crap kicked out of you? I’d think a quick retirement and a move to a warmer climate would be in order, no?
I happen to think that the biggest problems Brady had this season were recovering from his knee surgery (and regaining his confidence in the fact he wouldn’t get injured everytime he was hit), not having a lot of confidence in the guy calling the plays, and being too zoned in on getting Moss and Welker the ball. The first one is easy to understand – the physical healing is the first step, but not having the injury in the back of your head constantly lingers. Like I said yesterday, Peyton Manning took a little under half a season to come back from a minor surgery – Brady had two out of three ligaments in his knee torn. Considering that, I think he came along pretty well. The second point I’ll talk more about tomorrow, but let’s just say that I think those slumped shoulders late in games had more to do with the fact even he knew the defense had their number late in games.
As for the Moss-Welker thing, I think it relates back to not having any other viable targets. It was always said that Brady’s favorite receiver was the open one – he spread the ball around to anyone and everyone, which made it that much harder for defenses to gameplan for. Without a decent third or fourth option (with the exception of outlets to Kevin Faulk), the only reliable receivers he had this season were Randy Moss and Wes Welker. As a result, he become more concerned with looking for them than looking for an open guy. Back in the day, Drew Bledsoe would force the ball into quadruple coverage because Ben Coates was his guy. This year, Moss and Welker became his guys. That works some of the time, but eventually it’ll bite you in the ass.
Essentially, the Pats have a lot of needs on offense – wide receiver, runningback, a couple lineman, and that’s not even getting into the idea of what happens post-Brady down the road. Good thing they’ve stockpiled draft picks, right? Stay tuned for the last installment tomorrow.
