Why the Patriots are still viable

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, September 10, 2008  |  Comments( 6 )

New England Patriots
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Tom Brady is out, and all the football world has just one question: How low will the New England Patriots fall in 2008?

Commentary: Not very. Here’s why.

The division. Though this writer is still stunned both by the wholesale acceptance of Jets as playoff team with the addition of Brett Favre and the massive amount of space still free on the Buffalo Bills bandwagon (this stingy, underrated defense is going far; you heard it here first), truth is that the Miami Dolphins still play in the AFC East. And it says here that on any given Sunday the Pats could eke out a victory in a tight battle with either of the other two talented but flawed squads. New England going 4-2 against the division is hardly out of the question.

The schedule. Brady may be gone, but the schedule hasn’t changed one whit. A look at the card shows contests against teams a decent Pop Warner bunch could play ball against: at San Francisco in Week 5; vs. St. Louis in Week 8; at Oakland in Week 15; plus quite possibly cruise-to-victory wins at Seattle in Week 14 and Arizona in Week 16 in Foxborough on the winter solstice. Four wins from among this lot puts the Patriots at eight victories and on the playoff bubble already.

The AFC. For those keeping score at home: Brady antidote Shawne Merriman is out for the year; Jeff Saturday is gone for another month or so, and the rest of the Indy line looked brutal in Week 1; the Titans will be without Vince Young for at least two weeks and he won't be playing at 100 percent after that; Cleveland looked little more than overhyped; and the Jaguars just looked limp. Could this be the year the NFC beats up on the AFC – hey, the NFC smoked ‘em in Week 1 – and the latter sends three 9-7 teams to the playoffs?

The new guys (who ain’t too bad at all). Kudos to Jerod Mayo for an excellent debut game; welcome to the NFL, Jerod, and enjoy the buzz for 2008 rookie of the year you’ll soon be getting with more play like you registered in the opener. Meanwhile, Deltha O’Neal looked like a valuable addition during his limited playing time. Combined with the nice stop at game’s end and it’s believable that things might be OK in New England this year with respect to its defense.

Randy Moss. In considering Moss’ presence on those two statistically top offenses ever, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings and the 2007 New England Patriots, what’s even more amazing are his contributions to those offenses. In ’98, Moss’ 69 receptions and 1,313 receiving yards represented 13 percent and 29.25 percent, respectively, of the Vikings’ totals in those categories; throwing the ball to him that year were Randall Cunningham, 35, and Brad Johnson. Naturally, Moss dominated in those categories for the Pats last season, but his record-setting 23 TDs represented nearly one quarter (23.43 percent) of the all-time highest-scoring team’s total points – this while fighting off constant double- and sometimes triple-teams. Moss has made Daunte Culpepper look brilliant and Tom Brady look unstoppable; Matt Cassel will be OK.

The offensive line. Billy Yates (who?) was in there, and Nick Kaczur on the same side looked fairly capable. While this might not be the dominant Patriots line of recent past with a couple of key injuries, it’ll hold for now.

The unexpected. Did you think Sammy Morris would get more touches (10 rushes, five receptions) than any other Patriot? That he would whip off the longest run from scrimmage of anyone in the game? That fantasy owners would be tripping over one another to pick him up? So what about next game, with Kevin Faulk coming back? Will Morris get three runs? Four? Twenty? You’re not sure, are you? Neither are Eric Mangini and the Jets. The novel game plan week after week is why Bill Belichick is considered a genius.

The quarterback and the quarterback position in the NFL today. Ah, but that will require a second column ...

Fantasy Football Impact: This fantasy owner has a few Patriots on a couple of teams, and it remains very difficult to let go any of them. Yet. In the medium term, it might be best to exercise the brain matter and backups; learn the joy of benching a Patriot against difficult matchups. Except Moss, of course.

Media Pulse: A columnist at the Massachusetts-based Republican presciently rhetorically asked, “Who would have thought before last Sunday that the New England Patriots might become this year's Cinderella team?” Deadspin’s Will Leitch just as cleverly mused, “I bet Matt Cassell has sent some very amusing text messages to Matt Leinart this week, asking the bench player to pick up some towels, or grab him a water or something.” And something called the prediction market has the likelihood of a New England victory at New York this weekend at 47 percent. Not bad odds there, actually ...
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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