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The NFL is just 12 days away from its first mandatory roster cut where tough decisions will have to be made. The New England Patriots have had one major concern plaguing them over the last two seasons, their defense.
This preseason boasts an extremely promising young group coming to New England for the next few seasons under the guidance of defensive mastermind Bill Belichick.
27th overall pick Devin McCourty will add young depth at the cornerback position where no starter has been on the roster for more than three seasons.
The biggest surprise will come from second year cornerback Kyle Arrington, who survived the 53 man cut in 2009 and looks to do the same in 2010. Arrington serves as a multi-purpose cornerback where he has the speed and strength to be a special teams sniper.
The biggest struggle for New England’s comes at linebacker. Veterans Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess will be the teachers of a linebacking core that carries three rookies (Jermaine Cunningham, Dane Fletcher, and Brandon Spikes) and a converted defensive lineman (Rob Ninkovich). Likely cuts at the position are Tyrone McKenzie and Marques Murrell.
The safety position in New England has been a free touchdown for any pass friendly team in the last few seasons. Hard hitting Brandon Meriwether is slowly becoming the role-player the New England scouts envisions back when they drafted him in 2007.
Whereas sixth year veteran Brandon McGowan is slowly filling the expectations fans and coached hoped he would. The 26-year-old, former Chicago bear, is an injury prone risk that was known when New England originally signed him as an unrestricted free agent in 2009. McGowan posted career highs in multiple categories in 2009 in a secondary that needs him to produce bigger numbers in 2010.
New England will also look to take away the running game that ran through the middle of the field like they were a high school freshman squad in 2009.
The addition of Gerard Warren, a former third overall draft pick back in 2001 will add some size to a defensive line that already sits two giants with Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright.
The major concern is the depth behind the veteran crew. Three rookies (Kade Weston, Kyle Love, and Brandon Deaderick) will attempt to make the cut at a position that currently has 11 players with only four starting roles.
With the mix of rookie ego and veteran mentality it is a roster that is very similar to 2002, where the team failed to make the playoffs.
This season will have its ups and downs but the 17th ranked defense in most mock season predictions will have a beyond average season that will make the experts look silly when they do not give any credit where at least some credit is due.
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The NFL preseason continues this Thursday when the New England Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons. Although it’s preseason, this game is important for these teams as they still have some unanswered questions.
Here are five reasons to tune into the game.
1. Crazy like a Fox
Fox will televise the game. If you know how to bet football then you know there is nothing better than betting on a televised game. NFL Odds makers at Bet Mania have pegged the Falcons as 2.5 point favorites over the Patriots.
This is the first chance to see how the guys at Fox Sports will cover NFL games this year. Will Terry and the gang be the best coverage on TV this year?
2. The Welker Watch
Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker has not played in a game since being injured in a meaningless game against Houston at the end of last year.
ESPN reports that Welker said the team’s approach remains to “take it slow,” so it would be surprising if he’s on the field Thursday against the Falcons in New England’s second preseason game.
Patriot fans seem to be happy with the progress of Julian Edleman, who is catching passes in place of Welker. He played well in his absence last year and put up some solid numbers against the Saints in the preseason opener. If these numbers continue the Patriots may play it safe with the return of Welker.
3. A Young QB not named Tebow or Bradford
In the first preseason game against the Chiefs, it was quarterback John Parker Wilson that recorded the best performance out of all the Falcons quarterbacks completing 7 of 15 passes for 64 yards.
Wilson received the bulk of the plays against the Chiefs and it will be interesting to see how he handles the blitzes that the Patriots serve up.
Matt Ryan is the Falcons starting quarterback, and barring injury he will be for a long time, but Falcon fans should be excited about the depth at the position.
4. Patriots are Red, White, and Black and Blue
The Patriots are banged up and the injuries seem to be a cause for concern.
Tom Brady injured his finger in the Saints game when he accidentally hit an opposing player’s helmet. When Bill Belichick was asked about Brady’s taped fingers prior to the afternoon practice session, he expressed, with a smile, his concern with the “injury.”
“I don’t think it’s life-threatening, no.”
That is good news for Patriot nation, but it may change the amount of paying time for Brady on Thursday.
It was announced that Ty Warren would be out for the season. Warren is a mainstay on the Patriots defensive line and replacing him will not be an easy task. Gerald Warren and Damione Lewis will get first crack at taking over on the line, but other players like Tully Banta-Cain will be asked to pick up some of his sack numbers.
Finally, Tory Holt was placed on the injured reserve list and his season and maybe his career, could be over. This game could be an audition for other wide receivers that can try and fill the void that was left by the injured Holt.
5. Can Falcons secondary “pass” the test?
In one of the combined practices with the Patriots, the Falcons secondary was exploited all day long by Tom Brady and Randy Moss.
However, it should be noted that the Falcons were missing the two top corners for the practice. Dunta Robinson has been out with a hamstring injury, and Brent Grimes did not practice because of a groin injury.
The Falcons finished 28th against the pass last year and they spent the offseason trying to improve the player personnel in the secondary. It will be fascinating to see if practice translates to game time and how the secondary will match up.
Just because it is the preseason in the NFL does not mean there is no reason to watch the games. This Thursday’s game should answer plenty of questions for both teams as they head towards the kickoff of the 2010 season.
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“Thin” isn’t exactly the first word that comes to mind when one thinks about defensive linemen.
Still, the Patriots have been thin in the defensive front for much of the preseason. Injuries, absences, and cuts have created several gaps in the defense. As usual, the Patriots are doing what’s necessary to plug those holes.
Plugging one of those holes effectively just became a lot more necessary.
NFL.com reports that the Patriots placed defensive end Ty Warren on season-ending injured reserve Friday after Warren elected to undergo surgery. He has been “laboring around for about a year and a half” on his injured hip, and did more damage to it in the third practice of training camp. He hasn’t seen the practice field since then.
Bill Belichick notes that Warren has “missed quite a bit of time in the past couple of years,” and the Patriots have had to deal with his absence during those periods.
Veteran newcomers Damione Lewis and Gerard Warren have seen more playing time since Ty Warren’s injury, and figure to share the load in his absence. Gerard Warren played well in the preseason opener against the Saints, showing the ability to press the pocket and create pressure on the quarterback.
One has to wonder if the recent rash of injuries to Ty Warren could signal the end of his time in a Patriots uniform when his contract runs up at the end of the 2011 season.
Not all is doom and gloom in the Patriots locker room, though. While the Patriots were waiting on Warren’s injury status to clear up, they were also waiting on outside linebacker Derrick Burgess as he contemplated retirement.
The waiting game is over, and Burgess is back in the fold. This is huge for New England, as a big question mark over the past couple of weeks has been the lack of bodies at outside linebacker. The Patriots released oft-injured Shawn Crable, who has yet to play a regular season snap in his first two seasons in the league. He hasn’t drawn many (if any) offers as a free agent.
The team brought in free agent Marques Murrell a couple of weeks ago to replace Crable. Murrell has looked good in practice, and landed a heavy sack on Drew Brees on the opening drive of the preseason opener against the Saints. He was expected to be the starter, but Burgess’ return creates a bit more competition between Murrell, Burgess, and rookie Jermaine Cunningham.
The situation in the front seven was looking rather uncertain over the past couple of weeks, but the Patriots finally have a measure of clarity. They can now put a clear plan in place and move forward.
They may be thin on the defensive line, but as Tully Banta-Cain put it, “there’s no such thing as thin if everyone’s doing their job and playing well.”
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After missing practically all of the 2008 season with a knee injury, quarterback Tom Brady was back in 2009, and he helped lead the New England Patriots to another division title. The Patriots finished the regular season with a 10-6 record, and eight of those wins came at home, where the Pats ran the table.
An injury to star wide receiver Wes Welker was certainly a factor in New England’s embarrassing playoff loss, further emphasizing how valuable his presence is to this team. If Welker can return healthy, the Patriots have enough pieces to top the AFC East again, but it won’t be easy with the emergence of the Jets and Dolphins.
Offense
Tom Brady played well in his first season back following major knee surgery. He finished the year with 4,398 yards and 28 touchdowns with 13 interceptions while helping New England boast the third-best passing offense in the NFL.
In all, the Patriots ranked sixth in the league in terms of scoring offense, averaging 26.7 points per game. Matching last season’s offensive numbers will largely depend on Welker’s health. Welker is expected to be ready to go in Week One, but the Pats have added Torry Holt and David Patten for security. In just 14 games last season, Welker caught 123 passes for 1,348 yards. He flat out moves the sticks.
Randy Moss may have lost a step of two, but I’m a firm believer in the saying “the numbers don’t lie”. Moss finished with 83 catches for 1,1264 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. There is room for improvement in the running game, and that improvement could come if Fred Taylor is able to stay healthy.
Defense:
While last year’s defense wasn’t as dominant as the ones from the past that featured Jarvis Green, Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour and Mike Vrable, it still finished fifth in the NFL in scoring defense, allowing only 17.8 points per game.
However, it may be hard to duplicate last season’s numbers with the additions division rivals New York and Miami have made to bolster their passing games.
Big Vince Wilfork is back to hold down the fort up front, but pass rushers must emerge around him for New England to remain a top notch defensive team. Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain led the Patriots with 10 sacks last year, but no one else on the roster had more than five. Someone is going to have to aid Banta-Cain and Wilfork in the pass rush or New England could end up allowing more than the 209.7 yards per game it gave up through the air last season.
Prediction: 2nd AFC East
The Patriots have won the AFC East six of the last seven years, and they’ll be in the mix in 2010. In fact, as long as Tom Brady is on the field and Bill Belichick is on the sideline, the Pats will be a threat to make the playoffs. However, I have them coming up short in the division this season.
The Jets, who were the best defensive team in the NFL last year, have a lot of momentum on their side after advancing to the AFC title game last season. Check out my 2010 NFL predictions article to see who I have winning each of the eight NFL divisions.
Beat the NFL odds on a consistent basis from Week 1 of the preseason through the Super Bowl with Jimmy Boyd expert picks!
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Under head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the New England Patriots were able to return atop the AFC East in 2009, despite winning one fewer game than they did in 2008 when they failed to make the postseason.
The Patriots, however, were not good enough to make a deep run into the postseason, as they were beat bad at home in round one by the Baltimore Ravens. This year the Patriots will have a tough challenge at winning the division with the improvements both the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins have made. Here is a look at what the Patriots will send on to the field on both sides of the ball in 2010, plus my prediction on where they finish the year in the division.
Offense: The Patriots appear content at letting Tom Brady air it out nearly every snap of the game, and while Brady has excelled, he will have a big challenge ahead of him without Wes Welker for the majority of the season, as Welker hauled in a team high 123 catches for 1,348 yards.
The Patriots still have a huge deep threat with Randy Moss, and added veteran Torry Holt to give Brady a solid No.2 target. The team also added veteran tight end Alge Crumpler to help in the blocking packages, and drafted two rookie tight ends in Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. The key will be how well second year slot receiver Julian Edelman plays in the place of Welker.
The Patriots did nothing this offseason to improve a running game that did little to nothing last year. Laurence Maroney will likely be the feature back for the Patriots, but he has never lived up to the expectations everyone had when he came out of college. The Patriots use a number of backs over the course of a seasons, but are really hoping they can get more out of veteran Fred Taylor.
The offensive line remains intact and should be solid again in 2010. They are set on the left side with tackle Matt Light and guard Logan Mankins, as Mankins has really developed into a very good guard in the NFL. This unit has to stay healthy, as they are the key to keeping Brady healthy and throwing the football.
Defense: This unit missed the veteran leadership that was lost last offseason, but ended up putting together a pretty respectable season. The Patriots were able to bring back nose tackle Vince Wilfork, and that was huge for this team, as Wilfork is the key to the Pats 3-4 scheme. The Pats brought in free agent Gerard Warren to play opposite of Ty Warren at defensive end.
The Patriots have two very solid players at linebacker in outside backer Tully Banta-Cain, who led the team with 10 sacks in 2009, and inside linebacker Jerod Mayo. Gary Guyton returns to play alongside Mayo in the middle, while newcomer Pierre Woods appears to have the edge at the other outside spot, but should get plenty of competition from Rob Ninkovich and rookie Jermaine Cunningham. The Patriots also landed inside linebacker Brandon Spikes in the second round of the draft.
The Patriots secondary really struggled to come up with big stops against the better passers in the NFL, and that led to them taking Devin McCourty with their first round selection. McCourty figures to play in nickel packages to start, as Leigh Bodden and Jonathan Wilhite return to start at the two corner spots. Brandon Meriweather continues to get better at safety, and free safety Brandon McGowan was solid in his first year with the Pats in 2009.
Prediction – 1st AFC East: I feel like this is still the team to beat in the East, and I look for a monster season from Tom Brady and the Patriots offense this season despite the loss of Welker.
Find out where I have the rest of the teams finishing up the year in our 2010 NFL predictions . If you plan on betting the NFL this season, than I strongly recommend checking out our live NFL odds page each and every week to ensure you the best chance at a winning season.
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