The Patriots don't look so mighty this year

[finomenal]

Yes, I know. Too early to tell. Brady has new personnel, Aaron Dobson is a rookie. Maybe they gel later and get on a roll. And of course, he's Tom Brady....BUT.

It's hard for me to watch this game and not feel like it's possible to take the division this year. The Patsies look pretty vulnerable right now. More than I've seen in a long time. What does everyone else think?

 

[Sirspud]

I have a hard time counting out the Patriots, they are depending heavily on guys who are taking on roles they've never had before and are simply going through growing pains in that regard. A lot of these guys are going to get a lot better, and they are going to be reinforced by guys like Gronkowski & Vereen coming back. They will probably go 2-0 today, so even though they will likely drop a few not frequently dropped by them, they're going to be fine if Brady stays healthy.

 

[phins_4_ever]

two awful teams. My goodness.

 

[ladeback]

They are completely different from years past...so far. It's nice to actually think we could have a shot at competing.

 

[MD]

It appears that Brady can no longer take a collection of average guys and make them look like good WRs. By far the least talented Pats team we have seen in a long while.

 

[Tailgater]

I think the new CBA is having an impact. How can the rookies get up to speed in a timing-based offense when they practice without pads?

I expect them to get more in tune with Brady in the next few weeks. I'm just glad the schedule has cooperated so far. Maybe sneak in one more win against the Bucs before they get crunched by ATL & NO.

On the plus side, the defense seems better than it's been the last 3 years. Having a hint of pass rush helps a lot.

My guess is the Fins have a good chance of taking the division, even if the Pats improve.

 

[Jared]

The Patriots locked up Hernandez and Gronkowski long term last year. Clearly the intention was to have a starting offense that looked like this:

WR: Amendola
TE: Hernandez
TE: Gronkowski
WR: Edelman (or whichever rookie managed to outperform him)
RB: Ridley (and Vereen on 3rd downs)

Due to injuries and PCP-induced paranoia murders, they are out 4 of their top 5 intended receiving options (I consider Vereen more important of a receiver than the #3 WR). Try taking away Manning's or Brees' top 80% weapons and see how they look. That being said, if they can limp along to a 5-3 type record over the first half of the season, the rookies will slowly get their acts together, Gronk will be back, Vereen will be back, Amendola will be back. By mid-season they won't look like the 2007 or 2012 team. But if they can look like the 2004 team (good but not great offense, combined with good but not great defense) they will be a threat.

 

[MD]

I'm sorry but you can't expect the rookies to get in sync that quickly. WR is almost as hard to get up to speed as QB. That's asking a lot. As for Amendola, that was a stupid decision to dump Welker. Amendola is a walking injury waiting to go on IR.

 

[gusphar]

The Patriots locked up Hernandez and Gronkowski long term last year. Clearly the intention was to have a starting offense that looked like this:

WR: Amendola
TE: Hernandez
TE: Gronkowski
WR: Edelman (or whichever rookie managed to outperform him)
RB: Ridley (and Vereen on 3rd downs)

Due to injuries and PCP-induced paranoia murders, they are out 4 of their top 5 intended receiving options (I consider Vereen more important of a receiver than the #3 WR). Try taking away Manning's or Brees' top 80% weapons and see how they look. That being said, if they can limp along to a 5-3 type record over the first half of the season, the rookies will slowly get their acts together, Gronk will be back, Vereen will be back, Amendola will be back. By mid-season they won't look like the 2007 or 2012 team. But if they can look like the 2004 team (good but not great offense, combined with good but not great defense) they will be a threat.

And maybe under-estimated Wes Walker's value

 

[Jared]

And maybe under-estimated Wes Walker's value

I think they knew exactly what Welker was capable of. They also thought they could split Welker's 8-10 catches a game between Amendola and Edelman, while the TEs continued to do the heavy lifting. At the time it wasn't a terrible plan, and it saved them a bunch of money on a WR who they were afraid would be hitting the back side of his career soon, and who had been apparently clashing with Bill.

Obviously that plan fell apart pretty fast during the offseason, which forced them to rely more heavily on Amendola, which led to the predictable injury (which made things even worse for week 2). But that doesn't mean that the original plan at the time was a bad one.