2010 Patriots Preview (Part 2)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
For the 51st time in franchise history, the New England Patriots will open up training camp this morning.
A second practice will take place at 3:45pm.
Tuesday we gave you five areas of concern for the 2010 Patriots and today we give you five more. Needless to say, if many of these areas prove to be strengths or at least work out well, New England could be one of the teams to beat in the AFC.
5. Linebacker – In the “3-4” defense, the three down linemen are responsible for plugging two gaps each for the purpose of freeing up their linebackers to make plays. And this young linebacking corp is going to have to make some plays this year. After a great rookie campaign, Jerod Mayo was only good in 2009. He’ll need to be great again in 2010. He may be joined on the inside by rookie Brandon Spikes who was a playmaker at Florida. Gary Guyton and Eric Alexander will also compete for time at inside linebacker as well.
On the outside, Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess are tops on the depth chart with Pierre Woods and rookie Jermaine Cunningham listed behind them. Whoever mans the outside needs to be able to pressure opposing quarterbacks consistently on passing downs and at least do a respectable job in run support as well. New England needs the next Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest to step forward this season.
4. “Special” Teams – Part of New Englands championship success last decade was having special teams units that made big plays in big moments. That was lacking last year. Troy Brown and Ellis Hobbs aren’t walking through that door to help the punt and kick return games respectively. Can rookie Devin McCourty do something in either area? Having Wes Welker return punts coming off off his knee injury probably isn’t the best idea, at least initially.
Stephen Gostkowski is as solid a placekicker as there is in the league making kickoffs, field goals and PAT’s areas of little concern. Michigan rookie Zoltan Mesko can’t be any worse than Chris Hanson, can he?
Coverage in the kicking game will also be key for the Pats in 2010.
3. In the Zone – In 2001, the Patriots were the classic bend but don’t break defense as they yielded yardage between the 20’s but got downright stingy in the red zone. Likewise for the offense which made the most of its opportunities in the red area as well. In 2009, New England ranked 12th in red zone offense and 21st in red zone defense. This is where the game is often won and lost and improvement is a must in this area on both sides of the ball.
2. Brady’s Bunch – Like it or not, this is Tom Brady’s team and he needs to start acting like it’s his team once again. Whether it was reluctance following his return from a knee injury or the sign of a man who doesn’t seem to eat, sleep and breath football like he used to, Brady needs to assert himself both on the field and in the locker room as a leader. This team had lost too many leaders in recent years like Bruschi, Vrabel, McGinest, Harrison and Seymour. For that reason, Brady needs to assume more of a leadership role than ever before. I get the feeling that being married to a supermodel and the Hollywood lifestyle has changed Brady from a man once singularly focused on football to a man with many interests. It manifested itself on the field in what appeared to be sporadic leadership from the great #12 last season. Let’s hope the old and fiery Tom Brady returns in 2010.
1. Make Plays – It seems simple, right? But just as the Pats have lost leaders to attrition in recent years, they have also lost playmakers. All of the names mentioned above along with Samuel, Law, Branch, Brown and Vinatieri were guys that made big plays time after time making Bill Belichick look like a genius and the Patriots like the model franchise of the NFL. Outside of Brady, Welker and Moss, playmakers have been lacking for the past couple of years, particularly on defense. It’s time for many of these players to step up and make big plays.
Lots can happen from late July to early February that can contribute to an NFL team’s success or failure. Teams also need a little bit of luck along the way. Regardless, the 2010 Patriots have enough talent to compete with the upper echelon teams in the league and all you need is that opportunity. Once you have it, it’s up to you to make the most of it. We will see if they are up to the task in 2010.
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