new england patriots

I had to go back and take another stress-free/live-blog-free look at the game and obviously a bunch of things jumped out to me.

Here’s 10 thoughts after the re-watch…

1. What I might love most about the playoffs? You get a chance to see how the coaches really feel about their players. Patrick Chung and Jermaine Cunningham are on the down end. Justin Francis is on the up end. Really like the energy Francis brings. We might see more of Cunningham this weekend.
2. With Francis and Trevor Scott the Pats should be okay to overcome a potential Chandler Jones injury if he’s out or limited next weekend. Thought Chandler was just okay in the first half against the Texans, still I’d love to have every pass rusher possible for this time of year.
3. Brandon Deaderick had another good game, and Kyle Love had his spots as well. Defensive tackle behind Wilfork is an area I’d like to see improved this offseason, but Deaderick and Love got the job done in this one.
4. I’ve been critical of Talib, saying he’s just been okay since he got here, but he balled out against the Texans. He was active getting off blocks and played physical. He was also chirping at Andre Johnson. He’ll have his work cut out for him this week against the Torey Smith and Anquan Bolden, but he’s giving the Pats reason to make an effort to re-sign him for sure.
5. Overall I thought the Pats put together a great defensive performance. The big kick returns certainly didn’t help them, but they came out on fire to start both halves and that’s a good sign. Just don’t get why they can’t start the season like that, with guys blitzing from all over and such physical tackling.
6. Shane Vereen has been under the radar all season but took advantage when his opportunity came and that’s what the NFL is all about. It’s been a long time since the Pats entered a postseason with so many backs with fresh legs. This could be the ingredient that has been missing.
7. I love this new attacking Jerod Mayo and hope he’s here to stay. They got burned when he went for the safety but I’m okay with that. Aggressiveness in the pass rush has been needed for a long time, and Mayo has great speed to force throws.
8. Despite a few drops that was an MVP-type performance for Wes Welker. He’s playing like a man possessed and I hope it continues. Seems like he’s playing specifically for his “Super Bowl Drop” critics and yes, that includes Gisele.
9. Hope you’re all savoring watching Tom Brady as much as I am. More playoff wins that Montana and just one Super Bowl ring away from more of those than him. I don’t care for subjective arguments, but for my money Brady is already the best QB of all time.
10. Plenty to come this week on the Ravens but I leave you with this: The Patriots can do things on defense now that they’ve never been able to do vs. Joe Flacco. Man defense, physical corners, and McCourty on the back end has settled things down. Add in Gregory having a solid game and the Ravens better be ready for a new Patriots defense.

It took until Week 19, but the 2012 Patriots are finally fully healthy and have all their pieces in place to make a serious run at the Lombardi.

Let’s begin on the offensive side of the ball. Coming out of training camp it appeared the Pats were ready to take their two tight end offense to a new level. Two incredibly diverse tight ends like Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez would enable to them to seamlessly shift into whatever offense best took advantage of the look the defense presented them.

Want to play dime? They can power run it down your throat. Want to stick to your base? They can spread you out and pick you apart.

The cherry on top was how brutally fast they could execute the no huddle.

It looked like a new generation of offensive football would be born with the 2012 Patriots but due to injuries, starting with Hernandez going down in Week 2, it never came to full fruition.

We still saw glimpses of what the Pats were capable of, with the Week 5 demolition of the Broncos standing out as the biggest example.

But with Gronkowski and Hernandez only healthy and on the field at the same time for a handful of games they really only scratched the surface.

On defense the Patriots have had better health down the stretch, but had to juggle plenty of different players in and out of the lineup in the middle of the season.

Luckily everyone has returned to the practice field this week, giving the Patriots full health on both sides of the ball for the most important time of year.

The mid-season juggling of all the different defenders will give the Pats a number of options in the playoffs. Everyone assumes Devin McCourty will be at safety but the Pats have the depth to move him wherever they want.

I expect we’ll see some defensive personnel packages this weekend that were not seen all season. And with all their pass rushers back, the Pats should be able to attack the Texans with just four defenders instead of blitzing the hell out of him like they did last time.

The Patriots are so diverse, especially on defense, and now with numerous players getting experience all over the place it will give them limitless options to confuse the opposing offense.

And if Gronkowski is fully healthy we might just finally see what we expected out of the Patriots offense: a lightning fast offense that will attack your weakness before you know what is happening.

The timing of if all has come at the perfect time of year, and the Patriots look more deep and healthy than they ever have going into a playoff run. The potential is there, they just have to put it all together for three games.