Time Out for Sports Talk: 2014 New England Patriots Preview
Todd: Seriously, where did August go? We wound up taking an entire month off from this space and it felt more like a week.
Anyway, summer has unofficially ended and school is back in session, so it must mean the NFL is back to entertain us.
Before making any observations or predictions for the upcoming season, I must brag one last time that I will never prognosticate better than I did last September, when I said the Pats would lose at Denver in the AFC Championship game and then the Broncos would lose to Seattle in the Super Bowl. Seriously, that’s my summit and it won’t get better than that.
Now on to the Patriots of 2014. On paper, they have made improvements in the areas they were deficient a year ago. Where this team failed the most the last few seasons was in their defensive inability to get off the field on third down. Where third-and-long conversions have usually spelled doom for most offensive units, the odds of success suddenly shot up like the heat and humidity will for Bill Belichick and company this weekend in South Florida.
The acquisitions of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner should go a long way in improving the secondary and those third down shortcomings, and should also provide a boost to the front seven and their ability to pressure the quarterback. During my intermittent viewing of the Pats preseason games, I actually saw the defense make some coverage sacks, something that hasn’t happened on a consistent basis in 10 years when winning Lombardi trophies was an annual tradition.
Back to the new guys for a moment. We’re not going to see Browner play for another month (4-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy), and I’ll confess that I’ve only seen Revis play a couple times a year when he played for the J-E-T-S. I know Revis is fully recovered from his ACL tear two seasons ago, and everyone says how he’s the best cornerback in the NFL. But I guess I need to see him step up and make some plays (or have QBs afraid to throw to his side of the field) before I’m fully going to embrace all the hype. Where I think I’ll embrace some hype is for Chandler Jones, who I think is poised for a breakout sack season.
One area of the Pats I particularly liked going into last season was the offensive line. This year, not so much. In 2013 they allowed Tom Brady to get sacked forty times (a career high) and even if Logan Mankins is on the back nine of his career, I still had more confidence in him to protect #12 than Josh (don’t call me Joe) Kline, who’s a complete unknown to me. And don’t forget, that where the Pats once had stalwart Dante Scarnecchia coaching up the o-line, he has retired after three decades with Dave DeGuglielmo the new positional coach there. Cohesion across the offensive line will be an underrated key to success for the Pats this year.
As for the skill positions, if Rob Gronkowski can remain on the field into January, if Danny Amendola can remain on the field in good health and if Julian Edelman can come close to reaching the numbers he put up last year, the offense should be ok. Tom Brady might be 37, but he doesn’t look like he’s slowed down yet. Oh yeah, the other ‘if’ would be if Stevan Ridley can consistently hold on to the football. Plus, if the defense has improved, Brady and the boys won’t be pressured to score nearly 30 points every week.
Although I’m not totally buying in to those who feel this team is loaded, the Pats should still be able to win twelve games based on their roster and schedule, which will be more than enough to cruise to another AFC East title. And because Mike will likely predict the Pats to win the Super Bowl, I say they once again will come up a little short, whether it’s because of a key injury or that they have to go on the road to play the AFC Championship game.
And just because this year’s Super Bowl is returning to the scene of the crime (Glendale, AZ) from seven years ago, it does not mean that the Pats are destined to avenge the franchise’s most devastating loss. So let’s go with a more unconventional Super Bowl pick this year, one that I’m sure will delight many of Mike’s relatives on his wife’s side of the family: Packers over the Colts. Hopefully I’ll be much more inaccurate than I was last year.
As for the Pats this week, they’ll have a harder time than expected, but should beat the heat and those ‘Fish’: Patriots 23, Dolphins 20. Mike and I will start picking other games next week.
Mike: Finally, it's football season! It's been tough around here with the Red Sox struggling, so it's nice to have the NFL back!
I have a lot of reason to be optimistic going into this season. The Pats have looked good in the preseason, and I'm thinking they have another deep playoff run in them.
They also haven't had any significant looses, save for one. Losing Logan Mankins will definitely be a blow, and with a new O-Line coach, there might be some bumps in the road. But I'm putting on my "In Bill We Trust" blinders here and am choosing to believe that they know what they are doing and the line will be able to keep Brady upright. After all, as good as he looked, I am not quite ready for the Jimmy Garoppolo era to start just quite yet.
As it is every year, the Patriots can replace just about every player, including Gronk, but if they lose Brady, they are going to be in a tough position. Assuming he stays healthy, I see the Patriots going 13-3 this season.
That 13-win record will be more than enough to cruise to ANOTHER AFC East title and set them up for a No. 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs. If I had to make the call, I see them taking the one seed and forcing Denver to come to Foxborough for the AFC championship game, which will be another disappointment for Peyton as he goes another year without a ring.
I just don't think Denver will have the horses (pun intended) to make a run to the Super Bowl. And now with the news that Wes Welker is going to be suspended 4 games for dancing with Molly, that is going to put them in a hole to start the season.
And before I move on, I just have to say how hysterical I found it that reporters actually had the gall to ask Tom Brady if he saw Welker take the drugs since he was supposed to be at the Kentucky Derby with him when this supposedly occurred. Naturally he laughed in their faces while giving them the old "no comment." Did these people actually expect an answer. It's like they have never covered the team. When you ask them what day it is, half the time, they say "I can't comment on that."
As for the Colts, Todd's AFC championship pick, I don't think they will have enough to win the AFC. In fact, I have heard that they are still holding tryouts. I have seen the video of that, and it doesn't look promising...LOL!
Call me a homer, but I'm going to call a Super Bowl win for New England this season, I'll stick close to Todd's prediction, but I see revenge for an earlier Super Bowl loss as the Pats beat the Packers much to the chagrin of all my wife's relatives in Wisconsin!
Looking towards this week, it is hard to call an opener, since there isn't a lot to go on, I'm going to have to go on past history, and call it a 23-13 win for New England.
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