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Unfinished Business

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The Patriots just finished up winning their Sixth Super Bowl. After seeing Brady, Edleman, and Belichick embracing and talking about still being here, and the post-game comments from Robert and Jonathan Kraft that were giddy but edged, it all adds up to one thing: The Patriots have unfinished business. What else do they need to accomplish? They are being compared to the greatest dynasties in all sports. Brady arguments are starting with Jordan and Russell, not Montana and Starr.

This team once finished a season 18-1. That nasty taste in the back of all Patriots fans throats is still there. The Patriots have very few goals left to achieve. Let’s look at what might very well be in store for the 2019 off-season.

It Starts With Motivation

The Patriots 13-3 win was by the biggest margin in their Super Bowl history. But according to most outlets, this was a boring Super Bowl. No buzz. More an indictment on the Rams and Sean McVay than a Patriots win. Sure, there’s the occasional 2/3rds of the Ringer football staff, or Greg Bedard, who champion this team’s accomplishments. But this is a taste of what you get when you search ‘Patriots boring’ into google:

Don’t think for a minute Coach Belichick hasn’t noticed. We just saw what happens when Belichick regains control of the team and uses motivation to maximum effect.

Again, the Patriots just pulled into a tie with the Steelers for all time Super Bowl wins. Tom Brady stands alone as the player with the most Super Bowl rings. Coach Belichick can do things like this:

Freddy Mitchell, a part time player, was used as motivation against the Eagles in Super Bowl 39. What do we think a national movement belittling this Super Bowl can do?

Salary Cap & Draft Capital

The NFL salary cap can be convoluted. But the bottom line is the Patriots currently have around $18 Million in cap space. Between potential retirements and restructurings that number could grow to around $50 Million or more. That’s enough cheddar to do some serious damage.

As far as draft picks, the Patriots have 5 in the first four rounds. When have they ever used all their draft picks? Now they have an extra upper round pick to parry with.

All this adds up to a lot of possibilities.

Potential Moves

What are the kind of players we could be talking about? Randy Moss was traded for a 4th round pick in 2007. Aqib Talib was traded for a 4th round pick in 2012. Brandin Cooks was traded for first and third round picks in 2017.

There is a certain Steeler wide out who has just requested a trade. Yes, Antonio Brown, probably the best wide receiver in the NFL, is not outwardly Patriot material. He put the post-game locker room on Facebook live. He doesn’t show up for work at times. Brown also just missed a court date, so is now a convicted reckless driver.

The Steelers will have to be desperate to trade Brown to the Patriots, but his radioactivity might make it possible. With him missing the final game of the season, and now a reckless driving conviction in Pennsylvania, the price could be coming down from 1st round pick territory. Brown is owed a lot of money, around $12 to $13 Million a year for the next three years. But his contract isn’t guaranteed. It’s easy to see a reworked one or two year deal, a la Darrelle Revis in 2014. It’s also easy to see a hardworking, nose to the grindstone Antonio Brown looking to rebuild his value.

Brown on his own wouldn’t be enough. Belichick is always ready to praise the opposition. He just saw the Rams defense do a great job against Brady and Co. Someone like linebacker Donte Fowler, Jr., who is a free agent, would look great next to Dont’a Hightower in the Patriots defense.

Re-signings to look for

A push for an undefeated season would include convincing Gronk to go for it one more year as well. Why go through the pain and hard work? The same reason Belichick and Brady are still doing it. To achieve the unattainable, the immortal.

And of course this would include bringing back Trey Flowers. As stated above, there is room on the Patriots cap, with some massaging, for a few big moves.

The Patriots have the motivation and ability to go all in for an undefeated season in 2019. Let’s put those ’72 Dolphins out to pasture, we want our own insufferable undefeated toasts every year.

How hyped should we be about Josh Gordon?

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When a six foot, three-inch wide receiver that weighs 225 pounds can run a 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, that’s special. Definitely lives up to the moniker of “Flash”! Josh Gordon has always been a freak in the measurables department. He has always produced on the field, and he has always been suspect about making good decisions. What are the chances that the New England Patriots get Flash Gordon of 2013? Will he keep his nose clean and buried in the playbook?

He has to. This is his final NFL chance. If he screws up here, he is pretty much done. Not only will his suspension be exponentially worse than a first time offender, but not working out with the all-business Patriots would signal the rest of the league.

The Numbers

What does the talented wide receiver bring to the table? How about 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns? In 14 games? 18.9 yards per reception? These are literally video game numbers! No, not video game numbers, you have to have a cheat code in order to produce like that. Everyone likes to point out that it was ages ago! Did you see who he was playing with?

Old Willis McGahee was pounding the rock in a geriatric way. Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden striking fear in the heart of defenses. Greg Little, Travis Benjamin, and Davone Bess were providing the cover that a premium #1 wideout needs in order to produce like that? No, to put it into perspective the Cleveland Browns produced 5,423 yards. As a team. The whole team. That was it. Josh Gordon’s yards accounted for over 30% of the team’s total. That’s good.

The 2013 Tape

Let’s all take a breather and bask in the glory that was Josh Gordon’s season:

The 2017-2018 Tape

If you managed to watch that bit of NFL porn and still contain yourself, you’ll notice a few things. He can do it all. Slants, Go routes, Deep ins, and outs, screen passes, and end arounds. People will say that you are not getting that version of Josh Gordon. You are getting this guy:

Sign. Me. Up! This guy is still an amazing highlight reel all game! You still see a guy with an instinctual ability to find a soft spot in a zone defense. That’s still a guy that can box out physically inferior cornerbacks. That catch radius is bordering on unlawful for an offensive player. And remember who was throwing him the ball. If you look at that poor soul’s jersey, you’ll see Deshone Kizer and Kevin Hogan. Josh Gordon’s talent transcends poor quarterback play in a way that we haven’t seen since Randy Moss. And much like the Hall of Famer, he now heads to a situation more befitting his talents.

What the Patriots See

I started writing this article determined to keep a level head and not get sucked into the hyperbole about his talents. Both my football brain and my fan brain came to the same conclusion; that the optimism may be understated. There is a saying for the truly elite players that I love; If your system does not allow this player to flourish, it’s a bad system. I know, I’m butchering the paraphrase.

The biggest criticism about the move to New England is that the system is difficult for wide receivers to learn and contribute right away. My thought is that if he has trouble learning the system, dumb it down. I’m serious. This isn’t some street free agent that may or may not be able to catch the football or tie his cleats. This guy has been stuck in football purgatory playing for a franchise that just recently celebrated its first win in 635 days!

 

And this is not even taking into account the current Patriots wide receiver corp. Phillip Dorsett and Chris Hogan had a golden opportunity to prove that they could rise to the occasion. Cordarrelle Patterson could have made an impact as a pass catcher. Edelman is on his way back from suspension and season-long rehab from a torn ACL. When Gronk is being double and triple teamed in order to take him away and cause the offense to sputter. It’s working. This offense needs a spark. The fire needs to be lit and only a Super Bowl win can quench it! Let’s go Patriots!

 

All photos courtesy of Getty images unless noted otherwise.

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FLASHback to 2007’s Offense

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COMPARING THE 2007 SEASON TO THIS YEARS TEAM OFFENSIVELY

In 2007, New England was a juggernaut on offense. As far as regular seasons go, well, the Patriots went undefeated. Of course, this season won’t be perfect, the offense could look quite familiar. Josh Gordon recently picked up by New England, has many fans very excited. First and foremost, he is not Randy Moss 2.0. I want to make that clear.

However, if Gordon can fall in line, keep his nose in the playbook and contribute all season, then we could be in for quite the show. The comparisons this year to the undefeated regular season are fair, hear me out.

Let’s compare Offenses

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

DIFFERENT NAMES – SAME GAME

New England’s offense in 2007 was unstoppable, mainly because of Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Other key players had their roles as well, only one player remains – Tom Brady. 2007 will go down as one of the best complete football teams of all time, if not the best. Here is what the offense looked like.

Starting off is Tom Brady, who has seemed to have gotten better with age. As he admits himself, “I feel like I’ve played better the last eight years then I did my first ten.”

Next, let’s look at the running game. Laurence Maroney handled the heavy workload. Patriots HOF’er Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris as the 3rd down change of pace backs. Heath Evans was the fullback.

Jumping ahead to this season, SB hero James White, Rex Burkhead, and rookie Sony Michel can all either be RBs or receivers in the slot or split out wide. In today’s NFL, I’d give the slight edge to this season’s RB core, as moving the ball through the air is more important than ever. Defenses can’t tell whether it’s a run or pass play when any of these players step on the field. Also, James Devlin is used at FB to open up running lanes and catch the ball as well.

SB hero James White

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

PASS CATCHING COMPARISONS

Randy Moss is in the HOF, Josh Gordon is not Randy Moss. However, if Gordon is the best version of himself, he will fill the Moss role, which is taking the top off the defense with his size and speed. Brady hasn’t had this since Randy Moss, with the obvious edge going to Moss, with one caveat – the rest of the pass catchers overall compared to this year.

With Gordon attempting to do his best Moss impersonation, Brady now has a real deep threat. His targets also include Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, and Philip Dorsett with special teams ace, Corderelle Patterson, being involved in some packages each game.

Josh Gordon opening up the field for these receivers will not allow defenses to double. If they do, Brady will find one of the open players. Looking at this year’s pass catchers and 2007 receivers, it’s the same concept with similarly skilled players except for Moss. Now, 2018 now has a beast like him plus Rob Gronkowski. That alone is scary for opponents.

JE11 in the slot

Edelman will be back in the slot, with Gordon opening up the field. Just like Welker did in 2007

Patriots offensively in 2007, besides Randy, had an aging local legend in Troy Brown, another Patriot HOF player, along with Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, and Jabar Gaffney. They didn’t have a huge part of this comparison in Rob Gronkowski. Ben Watson was good along with Brady, but it’s not close to Gronk alone.  2018 also adds Hollister in the mix. So, can this year’s team look anything like the 2007 Patriots?

IN CONCLUSION, WHERE DOES THIS SEASON’S OFFENSE STACK UP?

Going through it by positions was interesting, and all these comparisons depend on one player, who’s never been dependable. In the event Josh Gordon does click with Tom Brady, this year’s Patriots team will do some serious damage. As I see it, this years RB group can be better than 2007.

Pass catchers; if everything goes to plan, will put up eye-popping numbers. Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Chris Hogan with the RBs will keep defenses up at night.

No, this season won’t be as prolific as the undefeated team but will have a similar feeling to it. As always, health will play a factor as well of the offensive line.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are still here, with players comparable or better to the 2007 team. Still, it’s too early to tell what will happen next.

No Tom Brady led offense will ever be as good, but this year is the closest it will get. Imagine all of this coming after the recent WR drama throughout the last few months.

Reliving Randy Moss’ Patriots Career

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It’s been years since Bill Belichick has been able to call a team and give a low ball offer and get a ready-made star in return. Now, when an executive takes a call from the Patriots and get “I’ll take this guy off your hands for a mere….”, they should immediately hang up and spend the rest of the day figuring out what the hell they are doing wrong. And the trade that was the beginning of the end was the fleecing if the Oakland Raiders in the acquisition of Randy Moss for a fourth-round pick.

But what if the trade was never made? Would the fortunes of both franchise have been forever altered? Could the Oakland Raiders have built championship teams on the legs of one of the best receivers in NFL History? Would the Patriots dynasty have ended with the defensive juggernauts of Tom Brady’s younger years?

Oakland’s Fortunes

Could a motivated Randy Moss have been the key to turning around the storied franchise for the 2007-2010 seasons? No. Not a chance. This team had so many problems, culminating in the power struggle following Al Davis’ death. New head coach Lane Kiffin considered Moss a poor locker room presence and wanted him gone. They took the fourth-round pick and selected John Bowie. Couple that with #1 overall bust of the century JaMarcus Russell, and the world would continue until just recently.

New England’s Fortunes

18-1!

This was the amazingly record-breaking season, resulting in an MVP for Brady, with records for TD passes thrown and TD passes caught. While the fans did not get to celebrate another championship, it provided lasting memories.

The following seasons saw diminishing returns as Moss played out his contract. He ultimately forced himself out of town by mid season in 2010. Age and motivation seemed to slow down the speedy receiver.  Meanwhile the team as a whole was entering what was arguably the toughest stretch of Brady’s career.

The Verdict

Brady has displayed a tendency to focus on favorite targets. At times this can be to the detriment of the offense and the team. With a decline in Moss’ motivation or ability, Tom Brady suffered a decline in numbers for the ‘09 and ‘10 season. Following Moss’ exit from Foxboro, the Patriots reset the offense with the two-tight-end offense in the 2011 season and created a Brady resurgence.

We’ll always have the almost-undefeated season. Randy Moss’ contribution to an amazing year is not in question. However, by the end of his third season, his old ways were starting to cause problems with management. On the field his production was dropping precipitously. The 20 games after the ’07 season only resulted in an average of below 67 yards per game. Even with a season of Matt Cassel as the quarterback, that still isn’t #1 wide-receiver worthy. This was a great chapter in the history of the NFL and a storied franchise. But, ultimately it did not vastly affect either franchises’ fortunes in the long-term.