Here We Go Again...Finally!

Hope everyone has had a great summer so far, welcome back to the new look Patriots Report! It's been an exciting off-season filled with great anticipation and finally, training camp is only 23 days away! It seemed like the Patriots were in the headlines with a new acquisition every week, which just led to more and more excitement over the potential of this team.


However the so called "experts" still think this is a team with a lot of questions going into the season - too many to win the superbowl. Here's a quick list of Patriots issues:


The Asante Samuel contract

Randy Moss' behavior

The age and lack of depth at linebacker

The health and age of Rodney Harrison

The ability of Maroney to be the lead back for a full season

The lack of a #1 corner (given the Samuel situtaion)

Brady's baby destraction



Of course I could sit here and dispute most of these issues, but you've got to admit that each of them could turn into a problem during the course of the season. My contention is that this list for the Pats is not as great as some of the concerns for the other major AFC contenders.



The Colts lost 3/4 of their starting secondary, a staring linebacker, a starting defensive tackle and the guy that, for all intents and purposes WAS the superbowl MVP in Dominic Rhodes. They are hoping that untested draft picks will fill those holes. Good luck.



The Chargers turned over their entire coaching staff. We saw what it was like for a few years in a row here when coordinators left and there was a noticeable difference - even thought they continued to run the same schemes. Now the Bolts must learn a new D, a new O, and what each new coach expects of them. Oh yeah, can you name 2 WR's on this team? Eric Parker and Vincent Jackson are 1 and 2 on their depth chart.

The point is that EVERY team in the league has major question marks going into any NFL season.

Next week's blog will post on Wednesday and will focus on the off-season personell moves. I am open to questions or suggestions for topics to cover in the three posts prior to the open of training camp on Friday July 27th.