Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
When Tom Brady left the RCA Dome last January following an AFC Championship loss to the Indianapolis Colts, he had a sick feeling in his stomach. So in the offseason, to cure that upset stomach, the Patriots’ front office went out and got him some weapons to work with.
Randy Moss. Wes Welker. Donte Stallworth. Never before had Brady played with as talented a group of receivers as that. He had been forced to play with the Reche Caldwells and David Givens of the world, players that are productive when Brady is throwing them the ball, but fall off the radar when they move to a different team.
From the beginning of training camp, everyone knew that the Patriots would be something special if the star-studded receiving cast could work together as a cohesive unit.
Fifty Tom Brady touchdown passes, 23 of which went Moss’ way, and 589 points later answered the question of whether the offense could work together. Shattering record after record, the Patriots took each team’s best shot each week and were victorious on their quest to match the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins.
The Patriots had to overcome adversity as coach Bill Belichick was thrown under the bus when the Spygate scandal emerged.
The Patriots kept on winning – 14-0, 15-0, 16-0, until they had an undefeated regular season. All the records aside, the Patriots knew that the season would be a failure if they didn’t close it out and win the Super Bowl.
Going into Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup against the NFC-Champion New York Giants, who the Patriots defeated 38-35 in the last week of the regular season, New England knew that this would be its toughest game of the year. The Giants struggled for a significant portion of the season, but they had as much talent in the league as anyone. With a defensive unit that led the league in sacks and an offense that had a maturing quarterback, a two-headed monster of a running attack and two current or former Pro-Bowlers at wide receiver, the Giants had the personnel to deliver the biggest upset in sports history. They also knew they could hang with the Patriots, as they did in Week 17.
When Plaxico Burress ran a fade to put the Giants ahead late in the fourth quarter on Sunday, the impossible was on the verge of happening. When Eli Manning took a final kneel, the impossible happened. While Patriots fans sat in front of their televisions in a state of shock, Mercury Morris was driving around the neighborhood in his ’72 Mustang Convertible, decked out with spinners and hydraulics. Others said, “I told you so.” They knew the Patriots were going to go 18-0 and then definitely lose the Super Bowl to a two-touchdown underdog.
With all of that happening around the world, Bill Belichick and the front office of the Patriots quietly slipped back into the locker room, hopped on a plane to New England and starting working toward Tampa: the site of Super Bowl XLIII.
While the Patriots obviously have few weaknesses, they do have some issues to resolve during the offseason. Resign Randy? Resign Asante? Are Junior Seau and Teddy Bruschi leaving? What do they do with a Top-10 pick in the NFL Draft?
Time and time again, Randy Moss has said he wants to be a Patriot, and Tom Brady wants him to be a Patriot. While it may cost them more than they would like, Moss will likely remain with New England in pursuit of his first Super Bowl victory.
The next question is if you resign Randy, how are you going to resign Asante Samuel? A young, elite cornerback, Samuel is going to get a big payday somewhere. The problem is, the Patriots would probably not have enough money if they were to resign Moss, the team’s No. 1 priority.
Next is the major weakness that the team must address in the offseason – the linebacking corps. Wearing down throughout the season due to old age and injuries, the big question is whether or not Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi will retire, and will Roosevelt Colvin be released due to his big cap number?
Although the Patriots had to forfeit their first-round draft pick in the upcoming NFL Draft as punishment for the Spygate scandal, they have the seventh overall pick from the San Francisco 49ers, one they acquired in a draft day deal last year. What will they do with the pick? There are no linebackers worthy of being selected that high and it may be too high to pick a cornerback, so the Patriots may trade down in the draft.
What do I expect to happen this offseason? Moss will be back, but Samuel won’t. Seau and Bruschi will come back for another year in more limited roles, Colvin will be released and Karlos Dansby will be signed to fill the role on the outside. Finally, with the seventh overall pick, the Patriots will take either Leodis McKevlin or Aqib Talib to take over for the departed Samuel.
Will the Patriots make another bid to go undefeated? I wouldn’t be surprised, but that does not matter. They are more talented than any team, have the best coaching staff, and will be motivated more than ever going into next season. With that said, they will defeat the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl XLIII.
