Ahh.. The 14-2 New England Patriots. Now the easy thing to say would be "Well, just let Tom Brady throw and run the ball from time to time and hopefully the defence forces some turnovers and hopefully the offence doesn't turn it over" Yeah... And I've "hoped" for 14 years the Toronto Maple Leafs would win a Stanley Cup.. First of all, it's not all about Tom Brady. He has tremendous talent catching the ball; Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and (when needed) Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. The most well known name is clearly Wes Welker, and for good reason, 500+ receptions, 5,000+ yards, and 20+ TDs. But for now lets focus on the two rookie tight ends, Hernandez and Gronkowski. Now coming out of the draft you'd look at the Patriots selections for offence and you say "Well, you have a marijuana user (Hernandez) a kind of slow, average catching, tight end (Gronkowski) and a low profile receiver (Taylor Price)" Now, you look at the two TEs and your like "Wow, I wish my team drafted these guys!"Just look at the stats. Gronkowski: 42 receptions, 546 yards, and 10 TDs. Hernandez: 45 receptions, 563 yards, and 6 TDs (Note: Hernandez didn't even play the last two games of the year, so those totals could've been higher)
Now, onto the running backs Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. I'll start with Green-Ellis. Just let me start by saying, he was an undrafted free agent. Look at the stats (again) 229 carries, 1,008 yards, and 13 TDs. When you think of the Patriots you think of our passing game more than anything else, now to get a running back who puts up an 1,000 yard rushing year? That makes the attack even more dangerous. Of course we can't forget about Mr. Everything, Danny Woodhead. Don't even get me started... He's 5'8 (maybe not even that!) and he's arguably our most dynamic player! 926 total yards and 6 total TDs. He also didn't play for us until Week 3, so he could've had over 1,000 total yards and 10 total TDs!
I don't need to go into much detail with our QB (MVP! MVP! MVP!) or our receivers (2 combined for over 1,500 yards and 13 TDs) So, I will now focus on our defence.
25th most yards given up per game, 30th most pass yards given up per game. Sounds like we have a problem here? Not so fast, 8th least points given up per game, and (my favorite stat) 25 INTs (best in the NFL) Looking at the stats we have a high risk, high reward defence. But, you need to watch them play before you can judge them. We have improved every game. Great young talent (McCourty, Meriweather, Chung, Mayo, Spikes, Cunningham) and great veteran leadership (Wilfork, Gerard Warren, Banta-Cain) add that to the best coach in the NFL and you have a good defence for a while to come. (Don't forget they have 2 first round picks this year so we can get even younger and better)
It's not all about stats though. The Patriots do a lot of the little things right: blocking, route running, coverage, pass rushing. And that might just be the X-Factor, whether or not we can continue to do all of those things well. I truly believe they can (and will) win the Super Bowl and contend for years to come!
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