5 Reasons to Believe the Patriots Aren't Totally Screwed
It’s been a long week since the Patriots won that polished turd over the Jets last Thursday. And judging by 7 days of listening to sports radio trolls and talking to the slack jawed dullards at my day job, I’d put the mood at somewhere between Widespread Panic and Suicide Cult. I have to confess, a week ago I was on the upper range of that spectrum myself. But I’ve since rewatched the game, done some soul searching, said the Serenity Prayer a few times and I’ve come to this conclusion:
The Patriots are not screwed. Not by a long shot. Sure, after two games the Pats receiving corps looks like the proverbial drink in last night’s glass. Danny Amendola is a porcelain Hummel, the only experienced pass catcher they have is a former Kent State QB, the tight ends are non-existent and the rookies couldn’t catch a buzz at Hemp Fest. I get the negativity. But after giving it a lot of thought, there is reason for hope. Five reasons, to be specific:
Reason 1: The Offense in That Jets Game Wasn’t as Bad as You Think
Brady and the receivers were out of sync most of the night, no question. And when they did have their timing down, they failed to execute on a lot of plays, on both ends of the throws. But the fact is, both schematically and in terms of good route-running, they did a good job of getting people open. Edelman beat Antonio Cromartie with a great double move but Brady misfired. Kenbrell Thompkins beat Cro up the sidelines and had four full strides on him with no safety help, but the ball was underthrown. The reversed call on Thompkins grab in the endzone would have been a spectacular grab, and again was him getting behind the defense, but the timing of the throw was a microsecond off. Plus there was the Go route Brady floated over the defense that Dobson didn’t hold onto. You don’t get points for that, and it shows the iny margin for error you get in football. But against a very good Jets defense, on a short week with only two walk-throughs to get ready, it’s encouraging.
Reason 2: Drops Happen
Granted, I fed the fire with by throwing the Dropson and Dropkins thing on live TV right after the game. But I was in an emotional state and sleep deprived. The fact is you declare a young receiver has bad hands at your own peril. There was a rookie in the 80s who was having so many issues holding onto the ball that the fans and media got on him so bad his coach admitted he was having “a personal crisis” on the sidelines. His name was Jerry Rice.[H/T to Boston.com’s Erik Frenz for digging up the article.] I’m not saying any of these guys will knock Rice off to top of the NFL Net’s Top 100 list. But it’s way to early to say they’ve got hands like Ben “Pizza Paddles” Watson either. Besides, these were two receivers’ numbers from last week:
#1: 3 catches for 59 yards, 1 TD, 4 Drops
#2: 3 catches for 39 yards, 1 TD, 5 Drops
…The first is Aaron Dobson. The second is Wes Welker.
Reason 3: The Patriots Lack an “Elite” Receiver. But Since When to Elite Receivers Win Championships?
Baltimore won the Super Bowl last year. Their leading receiver was Aquan Boldin, who had 65 catches. Their No. 2 and No. 3 guys were a tight end and a running back. Jacoby Jones, who we all think of as the stud who carried them to the championship and Boss Nova’ed his way into America’s hearts on Dancing With the Stars, had 30. In 16 games. Meanwhile, Megatron had arguably the best season any wideout has ever had, and the Lions went 4-12. Larry Fitzgerald is the most gifted WR in the game, has a 1st Round pick on the opposite side, and Arizona finished 30th in the league in passing. Quarterbacks make receivers, not the other way around.
Reason 4: In the First Two Games the Pats Have Partied Like It’s 2003
There’s no one in the world who won’t take a high scoring, Fantasy Football orgy, blowout win. But when the Patriots were winning championships, and putting together the best 2-year stretch in NFL history from 2001-04, these are the kinds of games they won on the regular. Vicious, brutal, old school alley brawls fought with broken bottles and trash can lids. In ’03 alone they won games 17-6, 9-3 and 12-0 twice. As Cold, Hard Football Facts points out, the Jets game was only the second time since ’04 they’ve won a game scoring less than 14 points. Simply put, since the championship years, their defense hasn’t been winning them games. They’ve won them two games already.
Reason 5: It’s Not About Now
Bill Parcells used to say that the season was in three parts. The first third, you spend figuring out who you are. The second, you’re putting it together. And the last third, you’re trying to maximize what you’ve got. Or something like that. The bottom line is that through lucking out in the schedule or whatever, they’ve stolen two wins without an offense. Last year, they started out 1-2 (talk about your widespread panic) and still ended up hosting the AFC Championship Game. And I’ll even so far as to say the end of the season doesn’t mean jack squat, since Baltimore went 1-4 down the stretch, blew homefield in the playoffs, and won a ring. The bottom line is the Pats are 2-0 in the division, with plenty of time to figure out who they are and get it right. Maybe I’m deluding myself and the anti-Patriot jihadists are right and we should all be doomsday prepping our asses off. But on the other hand, there’s a simpler reason to feel like this ship is about to be righted:
Extra Added Bonus Reason 6:
@JerryThornton1