Patriots Preview: 5 Things to Watch

I've been beginning to wonder why it is, exactly, people like sports. Why do we associate ourselves so closely with these teams and athletes? Why are our emotions so tied to their success or lack thereof? Are these athletes (who many idolize) any different from any of us? Sure, they're far better at physically avoiding opposing forces, perhaps at catching things out of the air, and maybe even at attacking opposing forces in one way or another. But we're probably better at logical thinking, verbal language manipulation, and generally being otherwise useful.

While the reasoning that I've found would require a much longer article than I'm motivated to write, I can sum it up: we're fucking bored. We need entertainment.

Sure, you might say that this has nothing to do with 5 Things to Watch for the Patriots this season. Now, using the power of the written admission to a lack of a segue, I can begin my 2009 Patriots Season Preview.

1. Linebackers

This has been, and remains, the biggest question mark for the Patriots going in to the 2009 season. If they happen to go with the 3-4, the only two proven serviceable 'backers are Jerod Mayo and Adalius Thomas, at LILB and ROLB, respectively. Derrick Burgess can be used, potentially, as the other OLB--but Pierre Woods is currently penciled in as the LOLB, leaving us with Gary Guyton as the other inside linebacker. The situation could certainly be worse (see: Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders), but it might be the biggest question for this team heading in to 2009.

2. Tom Brady

After having the most publicized ACL reconstruction since the conception of ACL reconstruction, Brady is going to be under a lot of pressure to prove he's still got it. Of course, since he's not Carson Palmer, he does. This whole shoulder fiasco doesn't make it any easier, but Brady has been "Probable" with "shoulder soreness" for since 2001. The man can handle it. Barring the unmentionable, Brady has yet another chance to put up preposterous offensive numbers and cause seizures during opposing DC's film studies.

3. Laurence Maroney

Having the greatest thing to ever happen to the Quarterback position under center certainly doesn't hurt an offense, but having a makeshift running game does nothing to help it. Call me crazy, but I'm still not disembarking the SS Maroney. He unveiled (I forget when) that his injury was far more serious than the Patriots leaked to the media (surprise!). This, to me, explains all that was wrong with him in his first few years. Tentativeness to hit the hole, dancing in the backfield--all could be attributed to this injury. Now that he's recovered fully, however, I think he can be a pretty decent back. He showed it when he was healthy at the end of 2007 that he could carry a football with the best of them. Also, Maroney has much improved his receiving ability out of the backfield, increasing his effectiveness. Look for him to be the feature back, but the 21% of fantasy owners that gambled on him with a draft pick will yet again curse the names Morris and Green-Ellis, as they will undoubtedly vulture his TDs at the goal line. But 1,000 all-purpose yards, if healthy? Not at all out of the question.

4. D-Line

With Richard Seymour gone, we get to see how good Jarvis Green really is. From what we have seen of him while backing up Big Sey 93, he can do the job and he can do it pretty decently. To be honest, and this has absolutely nothing to do with the Seymour trade, Green did things to make me wonder why he wasn't the starter (of course, Seymour would promptly remind me, but the fact remains--Green can play some DE). Now the question is whether the Patriots decide to go with 3-4 or 4-3 as the base defense. With the 3-4, they have a rock solid line with Wilfork, Warren, and Green. If they decide they want to go 4-3, they have a couple rookies and a white guy (Brace, Pryor, and Wright, respectively) to fill some voids. I wouldn't be surprised if this line, even without Seymour, remains one of the best in the league.

5. Offensive Coordinator

Something that tends to be overlooked is the replacement of offensive and defensive coordinators. You might remember that the Patriots lost their OC, Josh McDaniels, to Denver's HC job. While I have no real idea how good our new one might be, I do know that he's going to be different from J-Mac, and it might appease us to pay attention to the effects that might have on the offensive efficiency and production.


Season Prediction: 13-3, First place AFC East.