Moving On From the Welker Era

By Scott Morrison
Contributor

There will be no flying Elvis on Wes Welker’s helmet this season, and he won’t be catching passes from his buddy Tom Brady. Naturally people were upset when one of the most popular athletes in New England for the last decade departed this past offseason for Denver. The Patriots are notorious for going to battle with players over contracts, so did anyone not see this coming? Belichick has NEVER been afraid to make the unpopular and shrewd business move. He is simply doing what he feels is in the best interest of his football team. Belichick himself will be the first to say that he is not easy to play for, but anyone who thinks Welker leaving town wasn’t strictly business is misinformed. Just look at recent contract situations of the past ten years. Deion Branch anyone? Richard Seymour? Adam Vinatieri? Logan Mankins? The list goes on and on. Bill has never strayed from his philosophy and never will. There is no player greater than the interests of the team as a whole, and is a chief reason why the Patriots have been the most successful franchise in all of professional sports the last decade.  Welker over played his hand and didn’t realize what the market for an aging slot receiver (32) is in the NFL these days. You can blame his agents, you can blame the Patriots, you can blame Wes himself; bottom-line the Patriots knew the market and weren’t going to make an exception because they never have, and never will. Fans get so emotionally invested in players and forget that the NFL is not a what have you done for me in the past league but what have you done for me lately and what can you do for me in the future. You don’t pay someone on their prior accomplishments; if you start doing that you will end up like the Oakland Raiders or Washington Redskins, two teams perpetually in said “cap-jail”. The Patriots mastery of the salary cap is what lets them compete for a Super Bowl year in and year out. If the Patriots had gotten emotionally involved in negotiations with Welker they would’ve made the same mistake as a team they share a state and fan base with. The Red Sox dug themselves a great hole over the years consistently re-signing players on past merits and accomplishments (i.e. Mike Lowell) The best way to stay relevant in today’s NFL and professional sports in general is to consistently adapt and change. From a purely football perspective you could make the argument that after 6 years the Patriots had to take away Brady’s security blanket. The offense had become too predictable. It’s one thing to target a receiver of Calvin Johnson’s size and ability 174 times, but Welker? That’s insanity and it had become the norm here in New England. He was Tom Brady’s binky; the Patriots have always been at their best when throwing to the open receiver or in football terms the best matchup. Anyone who thinks Welker was the best matchup 174 times doesn’t understand the X’s & O’s like they should. It’s great to have a security blanket like Welker over the middle, but he should never be the number 1 option. Not trying to take anything away from Welker because he was the ultimate warrior, but he simply isn’t irreplaceable. Over the last 6 seasons the Patriots have been a finesse offense, meaning they pass to set up the run. They have never had a dominant rushing attack; even last season’s stats were completely misleading. They may have lead the league in rushing attempts, but how many of those were them just rushing up to the line and hoping they were going to catch the other team’s sub-defense out of position? Their ability to gain large chunks was mainly other teams consistently putting extra defensive backs on the field to defend their lethal passing attack. Other teams almost exclusively played the Patriots in a sub-defense in that it was the only way to match up with Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and Welker. When the Patriots really needed to run the ball to close out a game or get that tough yard they struggled mightily, especially without the blocking prowess of Gronkowski late in the season. As the season wore on due to injuries, and simply facing better opponents it became “where’s Welker?” When it came to playing the Ravens, a vast superior opponent to the ones they beat up on the ground in many a blowout, the Patriots fizzled. The offensive line has been built to mimic NFL trends in that they have big, long athletic tackles, and a stable interior that’s great in pass protection. The only lineman you could make an argument for being a great run blocker is Mankins, and he has been a shell of himself with various injuries over the past few seasons. Don’t get me wrong, they are one of the best units in the league, but by no means a superior run blocking group. So with contract battles, injuries, tragedies, and the ever changing NFL; what can we really expect from the Patriots offense this season? Well you can expect them to change on the fly and evolve with the players they have. Welker isn’t walking through that door, neither is Hernandez. It will be a while before Gronkowski is anywhere near the shape he needs to be in. So you take Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman, Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins, and adapt. The ground game looks to build on last season’s improvement with a healthy stable of young and exciting backs. Ridley looks to take that next step, while Vereen brings far more to the table than Woodhead ever did. The comparisons of Welker and Amendola are fair and unfair. You can compare age, injury history, and familiarity within the system but in the end remember it was business. Brady is going to love Amendola who has more size and speed than Welker. Everyone can point to his injury history, but in my experience almost everything boils down to injuries and how you manage them.  This offense doesn’t contain the same stars of the past, but could be every bit as explosive and far more versatile. With Belichick, Josh McDaniels, and Brady at the helm, I’m still far more concerned with the defensive side of the ball. Expect struggles out of the gate with this young group, but the evolution of the offense will continue and look for continued success without those household names you have grown so accustomed to.

2013 New England Patriots Preview: Know Thy Enemy - Breaking down the division opponents

By Mike Devarenne

Editor-in-chief

The AFC East during the New England Patriots’ stretch of dominance has been somewhat of a joke, save for the New York Jets when they had one or two competent seasons and gave the Pats some trouble a couple years ago. Apart from some random games, New England almost always asserts their dominance against the teams in the division, propelling us to punch our tickets to the playoffs almost always earlier than any other teams in the league. However, this does give us an excuse to not regard them as competitors, and since we will be seeing the following three teams twice on the gridiron this season, let’s quickly break down each team so we can know what we are dealing with at the start of the season.

BUFFALO BILLS (2012: 6-10, 4^th place)

The Bills and Miami Dolphins are in a similar situation. First, obviously quarterback play more than any other position has the most influence in how a team does, and it’s the reason it’s tough to get a read on this team because they most likely will be starting a rookie under center in Week 1 (against the Patriots). Then again, if the Bills decide to start Kevin Kolb, this team is much easier to figure out: they’re going to suck.

For the other weapons on the offense, there are some people you should keep your eye on. The obvious one is CJ Spiller, who is an extremely dangerous running back now that the Bills are using him correctly. They also have Stevie Johnson, a perfectly serviceable number one wideout. And finally Scott Chandler; who isn’t an impressive tight end but seems to show up when he plays the Patriots, so he warrants at least a mention. However, if the Bills don’t have anyone to get these people the ball, then we needn’t worry people.

On the other side of the ball, this team is a little more miserable. Mario Williams, who signed the most lucrative contract ever for a defensive player, was an albatross for them last year in his first season with the team. Apparently, he was battling wrist issues all season so hopefully he doesn’t return to his normal havoc wreaking form that made the Bills want to sign him in the first place. After that, there’s really no one else that needs to be mentioned on their defense (besides Stephon Gilmore who had a nice rookie campaign at cornerback), so let’s go to the next team.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (2012: 7-9, 2^nd place)

Like previously stated, the Miami Dolphins are in the same boat as the Bills: they have a young and unproven quarterback. Their offense lost two key players and only gained one. The losses were offensive lineman Jake Long and running back Reggie Bush, the former being a top tier pass protector and the latter being a dual threat playmaker. Their one addition was wideout Mike Wallace, a serious deep threat that compliments Brian Hartline, the Dolphins other dangerous wide receiver. Although I think Wallace is brutally overrated, he still needs to be accounted for when he is on the field.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins are even less impressive. The Brent Grimes signing was nice, he is a nice addition to their secondary. However, they let go of Sean Smith at cornerback so it is a wash. Also, their Dannell Ellerbe signing was good, albeit at a pretty hefty price. Baltimore Ravens defensive products that sign are pretty hit or miss, as the ghost of Adalius Thomas still haunts me and a huge number of Patriots fans to this day. The only other noteworthy defender on this team is Cameron Wake, a huge destructive force on the defensive line sure to give New England’s offensive line trouble in years to come.

NEW YORK JETS (2012: 6-10, 3^rd place)

Finally, last and definitely least. I’ll spare you the corny Jets jokes, because those have certainly been beat into the ground. The Jets quarterback situation is a mess, to put it mildly. They have two below average quarterback fighting to be the main signal caller, only to be rewarded with dreadful offensive weapons. Mark Sanchez’s favorite security blanket, Dustin Keller, went to the Dolphins but unfortunately tore his ACL this past Saturday and is out for the season. Santonio Holmes at this point of his career is at best a second or third wide receiver, but is the team’s number one receiver. The running backs aren’t anything to write home about either.

The once elite and stingy defense the Jets had in the recent years has turned into an old, slow defense that’s spotted with bad contracts. Darrelle Revis is gone, and whether or not you agree with the specifics of the trade, it’s nice the Patriots don’t have to play him twice a year (though they do play him in Week 3). Besides Antonto Cromartie who is a very respectable cornerback, the only other player on this defense you should be worrying about is Muhammad Wilkerson on the defensive line.

So there you have it, a quick recap on the AFC East division teams. These teams are not especially talented, but in the game of football anything can happen and they should not be taken lightly.

Young Gun: Xander Bogaerts gets the call to The Show

By Mike Devarenne

Editor-in-chief

Lost amongst the fireworks and ensuing media storm of last night’s game against the Yankees, the Red Sox called up their most highly touted prospect since Hanley Ramirez: Xander Bogaerts. This move has been a long time coming, with some people even calling for the promotion in June while incumbent shortstop Stephen Drew was slumping. The Bogaerts move is certainly exciting, but there are some tough questions that need to be answered.

The first question is where he will play. Obviously the correct move is shortstop, his natural position. However, Drew has picked up his play the past couple of weeks so it makes the switch a little tougher to decide. The next logical decision would be to slot him at third base, which I wholeheartedly disagree with. Bogaerts deserves to be at shortstop where he is comfortable. The pressure on him to perform is already high enough given all the hype he has produced, we don’t need him worrying to adapt to a new position in his first couple games in the MLB. So if Bogaerts can’t play third, the next logical step would be to just platoon Will Middlebrooks and Drew at the corner. Well, that’s wrong too. Drew has played every single game at shortstop in his major league career save for one, when he started at DH. Speaking of DH, there are whispers that the Red Sox might move to David Ortiz to first base for Bogaerts to take command of the DH role. Again, I disagree. Ortiz is playing out of his mind for 37 years old (while Red Sox fans look the other way) and I don’t want him wasting energy at first base and risking a useless injury. So I think the Red Sox should eat the rest of Drew’s $10 million contract this season (I didn’t like the signing, but Drew played better than I thought he would) and ride or die with their young guns. Middlebrooks went 2-3 for last night, and you just have to hope he gets back some of the potential he showed the previous year and make people buy all those t-shirt jerseys.

Second, what can we reasonably expect from him? Well, this is where the unfortunate part comes in. Bogaerts was called for for so long and was hyped too much for people to appreciate whatever he ends up doing. Even for me, I think it will be hard to be subjective when you hear all these great things he’s been doing in the minors. The only time the Red Sox has called up a prospect this young was in 1972, and that was Dwight Evans so I think that turned out pretty well. Despite the overall performance that he will produce this season; it’s a good sign he excels against lefties (.298/.452/.474 splits in the minors) something the Red Sox have been miserable at this year and is their Achilles heel if they make it into the postseason.

So where do we draw the line with Bogaerts? It’s tough to say. After all, he's the same age as me starting his first game in the thick of a pennant race on a team that desperately needs a spark. The Sox need to do everything in their power to keep him comfortable, meaning plugging him in at the bottom of the order and starting him at a position in which he feels comfortable. In terms of the numbers people expect him to put up, that’s a subjective question and fluctuates between people you talk to. In the long run, Bogaerts could be the latest prospect to exceed expectations by a mile; where names like Mike Trout and Manny Machado come to mind. I think that’s something to expect next season when he can relax in April in the first month of the season. This is August and soon will be September, and the bright lights will be shining down directly on his shoulders. The only thing I want him to do is put up numbers better than Stephen Drew and get acclimated in a contentious environment this season. Being 20 years old, he has all the time in the world. Here’s to the Xander Bogaerts era, for better or worse.

State of the Red Sox

By Sean Bailey
Contributor

What a difference a year makes.

Last summer the Boston Red Sox were the biggest joke in town. With big money being funneled into unproductive, lazy, boring pieces such as Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett, the Sox were one of the more embarrassing tidbits in recent Boston sports. They were boring. They were bad. But most of all they were lazy, and just didn’t care about winning. Everything that Boston sports is not. (And not to mention the pink hat invasion of Fenway, where fans couldn’t recognize a fastball from a curve ball).

But this year, the Sox are burying the ugly Bobby V era, and moving into fresher grounds. They are fun to watch, with multiple clubhouse personalities like Johnny Gomes, and the rest of the bearded gang. They bust their asses, and want to win. Their 11 walk off wins are evidence enough that this team will not quit. This is a team that is fun to root for, and represent the hard working New England mentality.

Hell, even John Lackey is embracing the swift locker room change, and has excelled this year, becoming our most consistent starter. Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz are having their normal superb seasons, with Pedroia being a no doubt Gold Glover at second. Jacoby Ellsbury has removed his tampon and started playing again for the Sox, leading the league in steals and batting over .300.

The only thing that currently scares me about the Sox is their lack of a dominant starter. Lackey has been solid all season, but for whatever reason the Sox don’t score runs for him, dropping his win total. Can’t rely on Lackey as an ace, in spite of his great ERA, cause it all comes down to wins for a pitcher.

John Lester looked incredible to start the season but his mechanics have become unhinged, and now he is leaving balls up like he did last season.

Felix Doubront has come on strong for the Sox, working his walk totals down, and his velocity is creeping slowly back to where it was last season. But he is still young, with no post season experience so I wouldn’t put the ball in his hands as an ace.

Ryan Dempster has been a solid number four man in the rotation, but hasn’t done more than that. And besides, with the addition of Jake Peavy, I for one would love us to move Dempster to the back end of the pen, where he excelled with the Cubs for a stint years ago.

So basically, our post season and end of season run is keyed on the arm of Clay Buchholz. Buchholz has been out with a neck strain since June. Before that he was unbelievable, finally living up to the potential that he has with his stuff. Instead, now he is pulling an Ellsbury and whining his way out of the rotation. For the Sox to be successful securing the AL East and a deep playoff run we need Buchholz to stop being such a softie and start pitching through a little pain. Curt Schilling pitched on one ankle. Least Buck could do is pitch with a stiff neck.

This week the Sox take on the Blue Jays and Yankees, the fourth and fifth place teams in the AL East. It would be huge for them to snag four wins in these six games heading into their West coast swing, with the Rays charging hard behind them. It will certainly be an exciting September this year for Red Sox Nation, something we haven’t had in the past couple years.

Fruitless Conclusions: Reading between the lines of the Buccaneers vs Patriots preseason game

By Mike Devarenne

Editor-in-chief

Okay people, ready to overreact to a meaningless preseason game? I certainly am, so let’s get right to it. I’ll spare everyone elongated breakdowns and instead just get right to the point with my observations and thoughts.

FIRST QUARTER

First drive of the game for the offense, and boy did it impress me:

·      Danny Amendola had 3 receptions, including a 26 yard touchdown catch. He already seems on the same page as Tom Brady, finding the soft spots in the field. Shane Vereen had 2 receptions, and lined up in various positions on the field.

·      Talking about snaps: Aaron Dobson only saw 1 snap, while Kenbrell Thompkins saw 14 (out of 15). That’s pretty telling. Jake Ballard saw 10 snaps, and I didn’t even notice him until someone mentioned it on Twitter. I’m beginning to dislike him more and more.

·      Zach Sudfeld is a huge target, catching a jump ball in the end zone on the 2-point conversion. Good hands, too (2^nd quarter catch was unreal)

·      The plays the Patriots ran were very simple but sometimes kept a frantic pace, and no one seemed too confused considering all the new faces.

First defensive possession:

·      It was a 3 & out, but the D did get a coverage sack (Brandon Spikes)

Second offensive possession:

·      Second and final drive for Brady. Only incompletion was a little miscommunication with Amendola. Besides that minor hiccup, their chemistry is legit and I’m becoming giddy.

·      Speaking of Amendola, his 5^th reception of the night came off a swing pass from Brady that was eerily reminiscent of Welker in past years.

·      LaGarrette Blount was the primary running back, and looked above average.

Second defensive possession:

·      2^nd coverage sack of the night, Chandler Jones gets the credit.

·      Another sack, this time Jones and Rob Ninkovich did the deed. If Jones can actually take a big step in his second year, he could be a borderline elite pass rusher just like I predicted in my defense preview.

Third offensive possession:

·      Ryan Mallett gets his shot to impress me. Let’s see where this goes.

·      Instantly has a bad throw. He looks very shaky. I’M TRYING TO LIKE YOU MALLETT.

Third defensive possession:

·      Great all around showing. Dont’a Hightower and Jones each had a tackle for loss. Like I said before, Hightower has the potential to be an above average linebacker, I really think he will become something special.

·      Ninkovich gets another sack to the end the Bucs’ drive. This is where overreactions take place – how good are our pass rushers or is Tampa Bay’s offensive line overmatched?

Quick tangent: Why in the world is Julian Edelman returning punts in a preseason game in the 2^nd quarter? He already has a spot on the team (most likely) so why are you putting him in danger?

Fourth offensive possession:

·      Mallett sails a football over a receiver’s head from 6 yards away, and then the next play rolls out in a naked bootleg and fires a pass to Vereen 12 yards down the field and hits him in stride. What the hell is going on?

·      After that throw, I definitely noticed it boosted Mallett’s confidence. He looked great the rest of the drive. Sell high on him Patriots!!

Fifth offensive possession:

·      Okay, I figured out Mallett: he overthinks a lot. When the Patriots allow him to sling it, he looks comfortable and plays with his instincts. Just like how they adapted the offensive for Tim Tebow, they should do the same with him. The small dink and dunk stuff that Brady excels at isn't playing to Mallett's strengths.

·      Like I said before, just ridiculous catch by Sudfeld from Mallett. Just as good was the throw.

·      Dobson looks good.

So that was the first half recapping meaningful plays with meaningful players. For the second half, I’ll strictly do bullet notes without labeling specific drives because I doubt I will know the majority of the players.

·      Tebow’s first series was a QB keep, then an off tackle run, and he capped it off with a disgusting throw into the ground. I think it was more of a miscommunication with the receiver, but it still was hideous.

·      Logan Ryan had a nice pick 6. Still really high on him.

·      Brandon Bolden is just now getting on the field. I have no idea why people want to keep him over Blount. If Bolden is seeing his first snaps in the third quarter, that’s bad news for him. Four RB’s had rushing attempts before him (Stevan Ridley, Blount, Vereen, and James Develin)

·      Has there even been faster fall from grace than Peyton Hillis? Well besides our tight end who moonlighted as a serial killer (allegedly).

·      I know the amount of heart and effort Tebow puts into the game. He doesn’t need to impress anyone by taking big hits from linebackers when he takes off running.

·      Moving into the 4^th quarter, I am lucky if I know a handful of players on the field. Regardless, the Patriots secondary playing right now will be in street clothes soon because this group of unknowns are miserable to watch.

·      I may have overrated Tavon Wilson. He looks a step slow and I would not be surprised in the least if Duron Harmon jumps over him on the depth chart.

·      Jamie Collins has been disruptive in the second half, as he should be. When he was getting first team reps he wasn’t as visible as I would’ve liked, but he is definitely tooling on the scrubs.

·      Tebow just threw a horrendous interception. I can’t defend you forever, Timothy.

So what can we gather from this game? The Brady-Amendola relationship looks legit, and Sudfeld (#Studfeld was the joke of the night on twitter) earned himself a spot on the team as a play maker. The offense ran basic plays but in interesting formations and sometimes at a hurried pace. The pass rush from the front 7 looked awesome, but that should be taken with a grain of salt. Admittedly, I think Tampa Bay represented tougher competition than Philadelphia last Friday. Although team scores mean zilch, there is still value in breaking down individual play on the gridiron. See you next week vs the Detroit Lions.