New England Patriots: Questions for 2009, Part I

by MaPatsFan on Jul 19, 2009 1:40 PM EDT in Opinion/Analysis

I try not to play armchair Head Coach. Bill Belichick is one of the best and smartest coaches of the last decade, so who am I to even think I know what I'm talking about? Well, this is a fan site - we discuss and debate the team we love. So sometimes, I have no issues sitting at my computer, tapping away about things I can only understand as a fan. So be it. For now I'm Bill. Not in a weird, creepy, existential sort of way but in a...

Questions after the jump.

Will the departure of Josh McDaniels hurt? Josh was with New England for a long time. There are some things about him that make me cheer and other things that infuriate me. For example: In Super Bowl XLII, it was clear the Giants were getting into the backfield far too often. We could call this an offensive line breakdown, but I believe McD should've adjusted and instructed Brady to checkdown more, go for the options and slants. Instead, he stuck with the game plan. Maybe Belichick's stats guru, Ernie Adams, instructed him to do so. Who knows. On the cheering side, he took the 2008 team, racked with injury after injury, and made a contender out of it. We lot Tom Brady, Laurence Maroney for roughly 12 games, and LaMont Jordan for a significant portion of the season. Josh also had to work hard with Cassel to keep us competitive. Bill O'Brien, technically the Quarterbacks Coach, could be the heir apparent to OC. Will Belichick whisper plays in his ear or will O'Brien take the reins?
Will Defensive YAC be a problem again? In 2008, we were hammered by defensive YAC (yards after carry). Leading the league (not a good thing for defense YAC) with 7.3 yards per carry when rushing the passer, we simply had trouble reading plays and bringing down receivers once they had the ball in their hands. Handling the middle of the field is typically the responsibility of the inside linebackers, Tedy Bruschi and Jerod Mayo in this case. Sometimes the strong safety (Rodney Harrison or Brandon Meriweather in 2008) is used to support the ILB's. Could the use of Tank Williams in a hybrid safety/linebacker role help with this problem?
Will our new wide receivers take the heat off? Let's face it - the receiving tandem of Randy Moss and Wes Welker is tops for the Patriots, if not the league. I hate the term #1 and #2 (I prefer to differentiate receivers based on roles), but it's the truth. Greg Lewis and Joey Galloway are the prospects for removing pressure from Moss and Welker. The term decoy comes to mind. Let's face it: teams would be stupid to not swarm Welker and/or Moss. If Galloway can run the sidelines and make opposing backfields nervous, all the better for Moss. If he can be productive, backfields will be scrambling to figure out how to cover two deep threats. Greg Lewis will be an ideal decoy for Welker. He's productive with slants, can go downfield, and will, in my opinion, be deadly in the middle. Many predict the three wideout set of Welker/Galloway/Moss as deadly, but what about Welker/Lewis/Moss?
Where's our workhorse running back? I find it somewhat crazy many rival fans don't realize what a strong rushing attack the Patriots had in 2008. Sixth in the NFL and first in the AFC East, New England quietly put up one heck of a season on the ground. So why don't we get any credit? Because many teams in the NFL mistakenly rely on one star back for the majority of their production, ex: Colts. Their reliance on Joseph Addai will kill them when he's out as he was for four games in 2008. The Colts ranked an abysmal 31st. To the contrary, the Patriots have used a backfield-by-committee approach and it works. The question should actually be, "Do we NEED a workhorse running back?"
Are we all set at nose tackle? Technically, Vince Wilfork is under contract and has to play for 2009. The Patriots don't need to negotiate a contract until then. But, it is good business sense to work it out as fast as possible. I believe a lot of players in this situation are big, whiney, babies. They're looking to get out of something they signed years back (Jay Cutler, anyone?) and get a bigger slice of the pie because they did well. So, if they did poorly, would they allow the team to re-negotiate a lesser contract? Anyway, I think Wilfork is approaching this with class by trying to get all this stuff out of the way before the season starts. Both the team and Vince know he's valuable, so why not work it out before it becomes a distraction? The next question would be if we DO have issues with Vince, will Ron Brace be up to the task?

That's it for now. As I was writing this, I realized there's FAR more than five questions to grapple with, so I added a "Part I" to the title. Look for a "Part II" fairly soon. What questions do you have? Are these the right ones to worry about?

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Good questions

The question should actually be, “Do we NEED a workhorse running back?”

I feel that the answer to this particular question is no. Our last workhorse running back was Corey Dillon, and if you look back, his monster year came in 2004. What happened after that? He began to fade, and it was becoming apparent in 2006 (that’s why it didn’t surprise me that we didn’t re-sign him despite his willingness to come back in ‘07). I think Belichick has seen how quickly an RB can deteriorate when you run and pound him into the ground, and he’d prefer multiple years of productivity rather than one good year and then nothing but decline.

As for questions I have, my two main concerns at the moment are special teams and the secondary.

Special teams has a lot going on. Captain Larry Izzo left to the Jets, kick returner Ellis Hobbs was traded, long snapper Lonie Paxton went to Denver, and coach Brad Seely left for the Cleveland Browns (since replaced by Scott O’Brien). Who’ll be returning kicks and punts this year, and how will the rule changes regarding the wedge affect the roster? I’m curious to see how this unit performs this year.

The secondary is pretty much self-explanatory. Hobbs and Samuel are gone, and the only guy with any real playing time in a New England uniform is Wilhite. Wheatley played some last year, but was injured once he started his first game. Butler is a rookie. Bodden and Springs are vets, but are also new to the Pats.

by NESilver on Jul 19, 2009 2:16 PM EDT reply actions

Forgot to mention

The secondary has a new coach as well. Josh Boyer will be taking over for Joel Collier.

by NESilver on Jul 19, 2009 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Very good im impressed

im gonna way in one some of these.
1.) it will hurt at first because intill real game situations nobody knows what to do, but i think with coach BB helping Bill O’Brien or B O’B (now i guess, not really sure, whatever though) calling play it could be great till Bill O’Brien is ready to do it o his own.
2.) The Pats have gotten new CBs and hopefully with them they can stop Wrs from Yac, as for the rushing i dont think they will be getting to many Yac with the great D line we have and 2 guys playing for contracts.
3.)Yes they will Galloway has been said to have great speed so he could be faster then Moss if thats so then the opposing Defence sends guys back leaving the middle for Welker and Lewis who could play slot the chance for ball.
4.) There is no reason to have a workhorse RB its better to have 4 guys possible 5 with BJGE who can stay rested and then do a great attack.
5.) WIlfork should be locked up for 5 or 6 more years he only getting like 2.2 million base this year and deserves all he can get, id be happy for them to sign him long term but with no cap next year the Office might not know what to do.

by Z-money12 on Jul 19, 2009 2:18 PM EDT reply actions

2 have my say on NESilvers post

i agree with the RB part
ST is 1/3 of the game as BB says so it will be difficult with out those guys and Heath Evans went to the Saints he played well on ST also and Kelly Washington left for Ravens i think they both played ST so ours could be hurting this year but i think we have the right Guys to return kicks Maroney Welker Butler ect one should do great there
CBs Bodden is suppost to be greatly gifted there and i hope we can get a good #2 with the other guys

by Z-money12 on Jul 19, 2009 2:22 PM EDT reply actions

I forgot about Washington

Yeah, those guys were special teamers so we’re clearly seeing a lot of turnover there. I also wonder if Pierre Woods, who was always among the top in ST tackles, will play there too or if they’ll strictly have him focusing on OLB now that Mike Vrabel is gone.

by NESilver on Jul 19, 2009 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Four man fronts on D? OL player playing TE?

First off, please proof read your responses before hitting send. Looks like a bunch of 3rd graders trying to send these responses.

Anywho. I’m thinking there may be a few times that BB goes with a 4 man front on running downs with Wilfork and Brace side by side. Who would stop them with Seymore and Warren on the edges?

I also think it would be great on offense to use more OL guys as TE’s and FB’s, to block and make wide holes for the RB’s to blaze through. They did a bit of that last season and it worked great. Maybe Maroney could get 1000 yards per season if he could make it to the second level into the defense.

And if the Pats don’t resign Wilfork, they are just being dumb. VW has said he is only looking for a fair contract, not the end all be all greatest contract ever.

McD won’t be missed, as far as calling offense goes. Brady changes things at the line anyway to suit what the defense is doing.

The new WR’s wil be burning up the DB’s this season. If they double team Moss, they will get burned. If they single cover Moss, they will get burned. Patriots Air Attack is going to burn it up and do as they please. Brady should see close to 50 passing TD’s this season too.

Yay Patriots! Yay football!

by ba-shiznit on Jul 19, 2009 4:58 PM EDT reply actions

Hochstein

I also think it would be great on offense to use more OL guys as TE’s and FB’s, to block and make wide holes for the RB’s to blaze through. They did a bit of that last season and it worked great.

Yup. If memory serves, G Russ Hochstein jumped in as fullback for a bit. This will be even more important considering they’re no longer carrying an FB after Heath Evans’ departure.

Blogger at SBNation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Jul 19, 2009 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

TEs

Not to take away anything from Watson, but aren’t Chris Baker and Alex Smith supposedly upgrades in terms of blocking, too? In particular, I’ve heard Baker being touted as a solid at-the-line TE blocker, and Smith being a useful move-type TE. Taking away some of Watson’s snaps as a blocker may mean he gets to show off his athleticism in the passing game, which he hasn’t done in a while (and assuming he isn’t too tired to catch).

by Comedic.Sans on Jul 19, 2009 5:56 PM EDT reply actions

Watson is better blocker

that help NE be the best rushers in AFCE so he might not seem good on catching but he did improve on blocking
yes G Russ Gochstien played as a FB and a TE near the end of season
the FB is a position that is dissolving in the NFLor with the Pats offence that is
and yeah i do need to work on my post grammer but i dont like spending time on that sorry

by Z-money12 on Jul 19, 2009 11:06 PM EDT reply actions