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Tom E. Curran Breaks Down the Coming Mankins Storm

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Tom E. Curran Breaks Down the Coming Mankins Storm

So we can all pretty much resign ourselves that the joy of training camp will be tarnished by the black cloud known as Logan Mankins. Tom E. is right on, every Patriot is going to get hammered with questions about it. All analysis of camp battles will take a back seat to all thing Mankins holdout related. 

It does sound like there’s a chance this thing gets resolved, but knowing the Patriots I’m not one to hold out hope that we’ll ever see him in the flying elvis again.

I guarantee this blog will have minimal Mankins mentions until something actually happens, like he shows up or they trade him or a statement is released. Until then this will be a Mankins-free zone.

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http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1104633

OK I know there’s been a little too much Jets crap on here lately, but it’s hard to avoid when they’re yet again the toast of the offseason. Words cannot express how excited I am to see Hard Knocks this year. In fact I might even say I’m more excited than if the Patriots were on there. Why? Because I like keeping a certain mystique about the Pats, and you just know there’s going to be a plethora of talking points after the first five minutes of episode one with Rex Ryan running his yap. 

Thanks to Rex for putting some sizzle back into the Patriots-Jets rivalry. I cannot wait for the season, especially week 2.

(Source: http://www.hbo.com/)

https://www.patspropaganda.com/ok-i-know-theres-been-a-little-too-much-jets-crap/

Patriots Drafting a New Window of Opportunity

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As we close in on another season there’s a new set of talking points that all the national sports news outlets are hitting on when it comes to the Patriots. The biggest question they like to ask is whether or not the Patriots “window of opportunity” is closing.

In true national media fashion this is just a lazy way to talk about the Pats. Remember just a couple short years ago when the talking points were all about our old and slow defense? For those who have been paying attention you know that the “window of opportunity” phenomenon is exactly what Bill Belichick is trying to avoid. 

We all knew that Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel and others weren’t going to play forever. It was inevitable that the defense at the end of Tom Brady’s career was going to look much different than it did at the start.

So let’s say your in Bill Belichick’s shoes. What’s a logical way to approach this changeover?

Stockpile draft picks. Bruschi, Ted Johnson, Richard Seymour, Ty Law and Willie McGinest were just a few Patriots draft picks that formed the core of the dynasty defenses. Now, when you look at the past few seasons of draft picks you start to see the base for a new core to emerge. 

Jerod Mayo, Gary Guyton, Brandon Spikes, Tyrone McKenzine, Tully Banta Cain and Jermaine Cunningham form the linebacker core. Brandon Meriweather, Darius Butler, Patrick Chung, and Devin McCourty the defensive back core. Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Ron Brace, and Myron Pryor are all former draft picks locked up long term on the defensive line.

As you can see much of the re-build is in place with high round draft picks at every level of the defense. Will all these players turn into all stars? No. But based on potential this should be the start of another very good defense that was hand picked by Belichick. And let’s not forget the Patriots have two picks in both the first and second rounds of the 2011 draft.

Sprinkle in some free agents like Rob Ninkovich, Leigh Bodden, and Damione Lewis and you have the potential of finding the next Mike Vrabel, Ted Washington or Rodney Harrison. But the long term core of the team has already been drafted, and has already been gaining valuable experience like the embarrassing playoff loss to the Ravens, or the blown lead against the Colts. Let’s just not forget that this is still a team that won the AFC East in 2009, and the defense is guaranteed to be better in 2010.

The only “window of opportunity” that closed in 2009 was the one for Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison, and Richard Seymour to go to a fifth Super Bowl with the Patriots. New England remains a well coached and uber-prepared team, with an elite quarterback and a talented, albeit largely unproven defense.

The dynasty is indeed over. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start another one this season.

NFL Network: Patriots at #9

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NFL Network: Patriots at #9

Just back from vacation, catching up on all things Patriots that I missed and here’s NFL Network’s discussion of the Pats. The thing that bugs me is that they keep asking the same “is the window closing?” question. What this fails to acknowledge is that this is an entirely new defense than the one we last saw in Super Bowl 42. So this is a new window entirely. By the time Brady hangs them up this young defense that is being re-built right now will carry New England, but for last season and maybe some of this season Brady will have to carry them.