For the first time in 6 years, your New England Patriots won't be contending for the NFL's grand prize in January. Here is a short list of reasons why:
1. The loss at Indy. Had Jabar "Reche Caldwell" Gaffney held onto the ball, the Pats would've won the division hands down. Gaffney pretty much managed to play himself off the team this season, much to my own disappointment. That was a game they should and could have won even though their usual chess match against the Colts didn't produce many points.
2. Old defenders. Ok, we know Jerod Mayo is bee's knees and should win Defensive Rookie of the Year but the other starters at Linebacker are wicked old. There definitely needs to be an upgrade at linebacker and in the secondary for next season. Some possible upgrades are soon-to-be free agent linebackers Jonathan Vilma and possibly James Farrior if the Steelers let him walk. In terms of the secondary, the Pats could have their eyes on Brian Dawkins, Chris Gamble or Jabari Greer to give their secondary a shot in the arm.
3. INJURIES. When your best player on the offensive side of the ball goes down and you still win 11 games, that's impressive. When you lose the heart and soul of your defense (Rodney Harrison) as well, that's downright ridiculous. I believe a blog post from either Mike Reiss or
Chris Gasper stated that the Pats lost over 80 man-games to injuries over the year. It's just another testament to the depth they've had to plug guys in and still rip off 11 wins.
4. Randy Moss decided to take some plays off. There were multiple games when it was pretty evident that he decided he didn't want to play. He didn't block for Welker on several occasions which cost them the chance for some big plays. There was no way Moss would've had a bigger year than last season without All-Everything quarterback Tom Brady, but he should've earned his money just as much this season by not taking certain plays off.
5. Beating the teams that matter. The Pats were only 2-4 against the teams on their schedule that made the playoffs with losses to Indy, Miami, San Diego and Pittsburgh. They got one back against Miami and smoked the 8-8 Cardinals but lost to 3 of the four best teams in the AFC (excluding the Chargers).
I'll definitely be looking forward to the draft to see who they bring in with the 24th pick (according to the guys at the Globe once again) and who they sign in order to restore some order in the AFC East in 2009.
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