Key Questions:
Will Brady be back close enough to peak form to lead this team effectively? Yes. I have been stalking him with binoculars.
Does Belichick agree with everyone else that the team needs to get faster at LB? I guess not.
Do the Pats have what it takes win a 4th Super Bowl? TBD
Position by position:
QB: See above
RB: Fred Taylor should be a solid addition and capable of providing high quality production when healthy (recurring theme for this team). Sammy Morris, Maroney, Faulk and BJGE round out a very deep position
WR: Randy Moss has declined but is still elite. Wes Welker may not be elite but is exactly what this team needs. Question marks from here, with Joey Galloway and (R, 3rd round) Brandon Tate, and JAGS after that
OL: Top 5 projects same as last year, hopefully with a healthy Stephen Neal
TE: Chris Baker is a potential key addition here. Ben Watson has shown speed and...not too much beyond that
DL: elite squad is all back, though maybe this is the last go round for Big Vince. Ditto for Richard Seymour as well, but in better news his wife was recently cleared of lynching charges! Good for her.
LB: AD will hopefully be able to get in a full season this year. Mayo had a great rookie season, and I think we're gonna need him to keep getting better. Tedy Bruschi is still an active NFL player and a projected starter on this team. Yikes. Even more yikesy is the 4th LB spot with Pierre Woods as a projected starter. To my eyes this is a shockingly shallow LB squad
DB: BB decided that was this team needed, even more than more draft picks, was a Safety. Hrrrrm. We should have 2 new starting CB's, Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs for the 1/2 year he is healthy. There are lots of other bodies at CB - guys like Wheatley, Richardson, Wilhite, and the aforementioned newcomer Chung.
Schedule: what goes around comes around, at least in NFL scheduling. Not many easy spots here. Courtesy of Mike Reiss:
# Sept. 14 (Monday) -- vs. Buffalo (7 p.m., Ch. 5, ESPN)
# Sept. 20 – at N.Y. Jets (1 p.m., Ch. 4)
# Sept. 27 – vs. Atlanta (1 p.m., Ch. 25)
# Oct. 4 – vs. Baltimore (1 p.m., Ch. 4)
# Oct. 11 – at Denver (4:15 p.m., Ch. 4)
# Oct. 18 – vs. Tennessee (4:15 p.m., Ch. 4)
# Oct. 25 -- at Buccaneers (in London, 1 p.m., Ch. 4)
# Nov. 1 -- BYE
# Nov. 8 – vs. Miami (1 p.m., Ch. 4)
# Nov. 15 – at Indianapolis (8:20 p.m., Ch. 7)
# Nov. 22 – vs. N.Y. Jets (4:15 p.m., Ch. 4)*
# Nov. 30 (Monday) – at New Orleans (8:30 p.m., Ch. 5, ESPN)
# Dec. 6 – at Miami (8:20 p.m., Ch. 7)*
# Dec. 13 – vs. Carolina (1 p.m., Ch. 25)*
# Dec. 20 – at Buffalo (1 p.m., Ch. 4)*
# Dec. 27 – vs. Jacksonville (1 p.m., Ch. 4)*
# Jan. 3 – at Houston (1 p.m., Ch. 4)*
* subject to flexible scheduling
KBZ outlook: replacing an average QB with a great one should be a gigantic gain. much more talent at CB should help, as will RB depth. BB seems to be going with my fantasy baseball strategy of "who cares about acquiring injury prone guys who are good when healthy, we'll figure something out when they get hurt". We* still have the best coach in the NFL. Our old rivals the Colts have lost Dungy and seem to be on the decline. the Steelers are good but we may never end up facing them, and I think they are due to have a worse D this year. I'm also not sad to miss the Chargers on the regular season schedule. This team should win 11 or 12 games and be a force throughout the pre-, regular, and post-seasons. Jambalaya!!!!
*yes I say "we". if you don't like it, I don't care.