As always I’m excited, not scared. Of course everyone loves reliability, and the Pats had that with Welker/Gronk/Hernandez going into the last two seasons. So now there’s a lot of unknowns with the passing offense, but personally I find it kind of invigorating. I just think the offense, while very good, had gotten a little stale by the end of last year. It was always feast or famine, and when it was a famine in the second half of the AFC Championship, it seemed clear they needed to evolve again.
Ultimately I think the offense will be fine, but everyone needs to prepare themselves for when they sputter a bit early in the season. It’s a half-step back to take two-steps forward kind of a deal.
Teams knew how to play the Patriots offense with Welker. Didn’t mean they could stop it, but for those teams who had the personnel and got some breaks (or caught the Pats on an off day), they could make Brady and company look pedestrian.
So now there’s a ton of unknowns for us as fans, but there’s also a ton of unknowns for opposing defenses now as well. It should be interesting, and if the gap in the AFC East has closed a bit because of it, so be it. But there is no better coached/prepared team in the NFL than NE. They will play to the strengths of all their new offensive pieces whatever they might end up being, and once they start to find their stride, and get a boost from Gronk’s return, we will see something entirely new and fun.
That’s what has me excited, but it might take some speed bumps to get there.