A dropped pass. Disappointment. Those are just a few words to describe the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl LII loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. The club had a great deal of topics to discuss this offseason, whether it was Tom Brady or Rob Gronkowski thinking about retirement, or Bill Bellichick getting along with his quarterback and a litany of other discussion points.
Then came the Gronkowski trade rumors during the offseason. What do we make of the Patriots’ moves this offseason? Are they a better team and prepared to completely pull away from the rest of the pack or are they pretenders?
First Down: Are the Patriots better on defense after the additions of interior defensive lineman Danny Shelton, defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn and cornerback Jason McCourty?
In New England’s defense, players are constantly moved around and put in positions that they wouldn’t normally play. Sometimes it will work (2001 Patriots) and other times it will be disastrous (2017 Patriots). Although Matt Patricia received the Detroit Lions head coaching position, he didn’t do a very good job with the Patriots defense last season. They finished 29th overall in total yards (5,856), 30th in passing yards (4,020) and 20th in rushing yards.
Enter Shelton, Clayborn, McCourty and linebackers coach Brian Flores.
Though Shelton has just 1.5 career sacks, he is best utilized in the playing multiple positions on the line. He isn’t just a run-stuffing nose tackle and was able to generate pressure on the quarterback while playing in college at Washington. As for Clayborn, he has gotten ample pressure on the quarterback with 30.0 career sacks. He also generates turnovers, causing four forced fumbles in his career. Jason joins his brother Devin McCourty in the defensive backfield. Jason has had 16 career interceptions and 86 pass deflections.
Flores is the wild card in this situation. He has never called plays while in the NFL. However, he is young and brings a freshness, but a familiarity to the Patriots’ defense. He’s been with New England’s coaching staff since 2008 and with the organization since 2004. Flores, 37, is exactly what the Patriots need: continuity and new ideas.
On paper, these moves can easily boost a poor pass defense and it’s hard to get much worse than the 30th.
Second Down: Does Rob Gronkowski want to play for the Patriots, be traded or retire?
Gronkowski gave the Patriots a scare when he considered retirement during the offseason. The tight end didn’t retire, but then he reportedly requested a trade. Many teams were interested, but it didn’t happen. Gronkowski and Brady are the most prolific quarterback-tight end duo in the history of the NFL.
At 29, Gronkowski has already had a Hall of Fame career, catching 474 passes for 7,179 receiving yards and 76 touchdown receptions. However, if he continues to play with Brady for maybe just a few more seasons, he could possibly break Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez‘s records. If he does that, he will go down as the greatest to ever play the position, alongside the greatest quarterback in the game.
Third Down: Are Brady and Bellichick through with each other?
They may just be, after all, it’s been a lot of things that have gone on with the team that has bothered Brady recently.
Despite the reports that have come about during the offseason about Bellichick and Brady’s relationship deteriorating, nothing will come of it and that includes Brady’s retirement to stick it to Bellichick. They have most of the things that they could want, a perennial winning franchise and a fan base that loves them. Even if Brady can’t have his personal trainer (Alex Guerrero) with him at all times, he still owns a winning working relationship with his coach. That’s all that matters.
Fourth Down: Is this Brady’s last season in the NFL?
Brady has said that he wanted to quarterback the Patriots well into his forties. He’s held multiple accolades, won five Super Bowl titles and has accomplished this in one of the biggest markets in the country. For a generation, people don’t know of a world without Brady being part of New England’s football team and leading them to the playoffs, save for his freak injury during the 2008 season. At age 40, will Brady hang up the cleats?
Knowing Tom Brady for the player that he is and the competitor that he will be forever immortalized as in Canton, Ohio one day, he isn’t going to quit. He will not quit this year, next year or not even the year after that, barring injury. He will keep coming back to win ring number six, seven, eight, even nine. He wants blood and that’s why he is the greatest to ever play the game. Brady will go down as the Michael Jordan of football and he won’t retire this season.
Extra! Fifth Down: Is Julian Edelman going to be back at the level that he was before the injury and suspension?
After missing the entirety of the 2017 NFL regular season and postseason, Edelman was set to return Week 1 for the Patriots. However, he was handed a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy. Before his injury, the 32-year old had been Brady’s top target. In eight seasons, he has hauled in a total of 425 passes for 4,540 yards and 24 touchdowns. Now with Danny Amendola and Brandin Cooks departing from the team this offseason, Edelman must step up. And that he will.
Edelman will be the main receiver outside of Gronkowski for the Patriots when he returns Week 5. That means that his targets will be higher and he will also be much more than a year moved from his ACL surgery. That means that he should be able to cut and accelerate at the same rate as he could previously. He has a lot to play for just like Brady did during the Deflategate saga. It’s only expected that Edelman will follow in his quarterback’s footsteps and have a massive 2018 campaign.
Follow Kyle on Twitter @KyleAndrews1994
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