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Few things to talk about this morning as we get ready for the last Patriots football-free weekend until the bye week (hopefully).

Cannon/Vollmer

Headline news of Wednesday was the return of Cannon, Vollmer and Jackson, reinforcing an offensive line that badly needed it. Now we wonder how they organize things now. They can reevaluate who goes to LT. Remember we didn’t see much at all of Cannon there for any length of time. Feels like a chance to reset and move forward. But props to Cameron Fleming for doing a solid job being thrust from practice squad, to third tackle to right tackle to starting left tackle. The second-year player handled it as well as could be expected all things considered.

Jamie Collins

Holy Hoodie, what the hell did Collins contract? Ian Rapoport said yesterday that he’s over the illness, now he’s just being nursed back to health. You can imagine how much weight (and strength) he lost, but it seems like there’s still a chance he will play Monday night. All things being equal I hope they don’t rush him back, but his absence has certainly leveled off Dont’a Hightower’s play as well.

Injuries

Seriously though, remember at the bye week when the whole team was healthy and it seemed like we’d never lose again? Well it still seems like we MIGHT never lose again but it’s hard to remember a worse injury year outside of 2013 and even then I think this one is in the running. Starting left tackle, two biggest playmakers on offense, and probably the most talented defensive player. Now it’s been almost every week they lose someone important for a significant period of time, if not the year. Can we just have one game without an injury please?

Coleman/Melvin

Part of the Belichick defensive philosophy is to take away what you do best, which often means the key matchups when playing the Patriots are third and fourth receivers against the slot cornerback. So that’s often where the Patriots live or die. They lived in the Super Bowl because (except for one miracle catch) Malcolm Butler came on for Kyle Arrington and played well. So when looking down the road, it’s teams with great receiver depth (or even just a third/fourth receiver with great speed or size) that will give the Pats problems. The Bengals are one team that concerns me for this reason.

Chandler Jones

I was a little too harsh on Chandler in my initial reaction to the game. Overall I think he played pretty well against the Giants. Eli deserved more credit because he did well targeting receivers not named Beckham or Randle. Still, the third down defense concerns me and I’d like to see big games this week from Easley and Sheard.

Malcom Brown

The rookie just keeps getting better each week, standing out at the end of the Giants game with great effort and pursuit forcing Eli to take a seat on third down at the goal line. Brown has good lateral quickness and is very stout. He’s really embraced the interior role and along with Alan Branch is doing a great job against the run. I’d love to see more of Easley and Brown together as the last two first-round picks. Seems like they’d be a good compliment to each other.

Vince Wilfork

We were scared the run defense would struggle without Vince, but it’s actually been better. I wonder if part of the reason is because they’re not running one guy into the ground any more. Instead they use a solid four-man run stopping rotation inside, along with mixing and matching Easley.

Dane Fletcher/Chris Jones

 The Pats have until next Wednesday to activate Fletcher and Jones off of PUP and I wonder what they will do. For Fletcher the need is obvious if he’s the same player he was a couple years ago. If he is, he might be the third best linebacker behind Hightower and Collins immediately. As for Jones I look at him more in the Easley role. Perhaps he unseats Ayers or Siliga, but both have better size. Not sure how he’d fit given the great tackle depth we have right now.

He’s Not D-Edelman

The big question this week is how the Pats make up for the loss of Edelman and how Keshawn Martin/Aaron Dobson/Chris Harper might fit into things. While I do think Amendola remains as the slot/third receiver, the important thing as I see it is not who plays the second WR spot with LaFell, but who makes plays on third downs. That was where Edelman was huge and I think we should expect Amendola to be out there on every third down passing situations.

Rex n’ Bills

Rex just won’t die. Here he comes once again, full of confidence after beating the Jets and ready to give us another game. Without Edelman, this game is a huge challenge and I think the Bills will be ready. They finished strong against the Pats earlier this year.The key will be the offensive line and how well they pick up Rex’s schemes. But when Rex drops eight into coverage who will get open like Edelman does so well?

Does it go against my homer blog motif to say that the Patriots aren’t going undefeated? After 2007 I’m surprised if anyone still wants to. All anyone did was complain for seven years about the 16-0 banner, and now people are endlessly debating doing it again?

I get that it’s a talking point every season, especially for a team that hits 9-0, but realistically the Patriots are going to lose at least one game, and probably to a team that no one really expects.

No one thought the 2007 Patriots would lose to the Ravens but they should have. And really, a loss like that would’ve alleviated some pressure and probably would’ve helped the Pats get over the hump against the Giants in the Super Bowl rematch. Think about that. No pressure-packed season finale. Eli and Brady probably sitting out. The Giants getting no bead on what the Patriots were doing. Etc.

Obviously that was a specific opponent and things just happened to work out that they met again in the Super Bowl, but if you don’t care about hanging a 16-0 banner again what does one loss matter as long as it doesn’t cost a playoff seed?

The Patriots are not a perfect team. Injuries have cemented that and though Vollmer and Cannon returned to practice this week, it’s still very possible the offensive line have an off game that even Brady can’t overcome.

The third down defense has been the weak link for the defense in recent weeks, and though a lot of their struggles have been overstated, if they continue to be up around 50% on third down it won’t be long before a team makes them pay for it.

I’m not trying to rain on the Patriots parade, I prefer to be leading it, but I also think if 2007 taught us anything it’s the value of a loss. Of getting some weaknesses exposed. Of getting dragged through the media wringer a bit instead of only hearing how great you are and what your chances are of going 16-0.

There’s a good chance that loss is coming. And whatever weaknesses are exposed or revealed doesn’t suddenly mean that Patriots still aren’t Super Bowl contenders. We might have learned more about the Patriots in their last loss to the Packers than we did in most of the games last season. But it was also apparent that the mistakes were correctable and even on an off day in a tough place to play against one of the best teams in the NFL, they still hung tough and didn’t give up a second half touchdown.

Those are the games where you learn the most about your team. Not by blowing the doors off someone like the Redskins every week.

The Patriots will feel the impact of losing Dion Lewis and Julian Edelman at some point, but that will only help them evolve new methods of attack, methods that will be needed to take down the best teams in the playoffs.

Whenever it happens just remember, losses are a good thing for a team like ours.