and that name is Ty Law. 33, he may be, but his skill was never in his speed. I would love to see him there to read passes like a book again. And for all the people out there who keep saying “Asante is better”, NO HE’S NOT! Ty Law would not have dropped Eli Manning’s pass on that last drive. Was it an easy catch for anyone to make? No, it wasn’t, but if you want to be considered among the league’s elite corners, it should have been routine. Ty Law would have caught it AND run it back. Bring him back, if it’s possible.

He wouldn’t even have reached it. Can we please stop rehashing that play?

There were at least a half-dozen other plays that should have been made on that drive that were both more routine and more badly botched. At least two lineman had a chance to sack Eli on the play that resulted in Tyree’s incredible grab and they failed. Why don’t we beat those dead horses for a while? Or maybe we can go to Rodney, and how, if he wants to be considered one of the league’s elite safeties, then he should have been able to knock the ball away.

Both Law and O’Neal are old and slow. They bring veteran brains to the field but are best considered mentors and early-season stop-gaps, not long term (or even playoff) solutions to our cornerback situation. The DB’s, along with the o-line, are probably going to look pretty shaky for the the first part of the season. Neither Law nor O’Neal would be able to fix that.

Any while I’m on this rant, I may as well continue: The reason Ty Law is not now in a Patriots’ uniform is not because Pioli wouldn’t want him. It’s because the Ty Law of 2008 wants as much money as the Ty Law of 2003 was worth. Pioli and Belichick are never going to make that dumb deal because it would be a stupid waste of cap space and financial resources. And it would send the message to the rest of the FA market (including those soon-to-be FA’s currently on our own roster) that the Patriots are desperate and are gearing up for one more run before it all falls apart.

That would be the complete antithesis of everything that has created the dynasty that we now enjoy. This team is not being assembled just to compete for a Super Bowl this year. It is being assemble to be competitive for the next five years. Right now, that means new youth in the defensive backfield and linebacking corps at the expense of depth on the offensive line and experience in the defensive backfield. Next year, I expect that in addition to shoring up the contracts along the offensive front, some high-ranked youth is brought in there as well.

In the meantime, you go into the season with the team you have—not the team you wish you had (now scouring my hands with pure gasoline). And if we’ve come so far as to be bitchy about this roster then it’s time for a reality check. Between Hochstein and Yates, we should be able to plug the hole on the right side of the line. I suspect that they’ll have a decent enough year—not like last year’s but still better than good.

The defensive backfield’s ability to cover the pass is going to take some time to get into synch. This includes the interface between linebackers and backs. Lots of new faces and a fistful of rookies. But by late October, I think we’ll be seeing a team that is bound for the playoffs and bound to do some damage once there.

I don’t understand this concern over age that some columnists have. Are they even looking at the roster? Where there is age (defensive back field, line backers) we went out and started a youth movement. Everywhere else is solid. Sure, we need some more depth on the o-line. And while we may not get it this year, we’ll get it next year. What we have there is pretty high-quality beef-on-the-hoof.

As for the quarterback situation, I think it’s in pretty good shape. Gutierrez, though dynamic, was mechanically suspect, impulsive and superficial in his reads. Cassel is a hold-the-fort (and the clipboard) bridge between His Bradyness and the QB of the future—which looks a bit like it just might be Kevin O’Connell.

So everyone just relax, and treat these first three games as if they were the real preseason. We might drop a couple of them, but it’s a good chance to officially work out the kinks, take stock with a bye week, then enter the season in earnest.