New England Patriots looking to steam roll AFC East, not so fast.. they actually have competition

Bob on 06 28, 2009

The New England Patriots have been one of the most dominant teams in all of sports this decade. Having accrued three (3) Super Bowl championships in the past 10 years and a perfect regular season in ‘07, it’s hard to question their dominance. After the New York Giants spoiled their near-perfect season in Super Bowl XLII and Tom Brady’s season-ending injury in last year’s season opener, Patriots enthusiasts have got to have a sour taste in their mouths. Will this be the year New England triumphs again? Doubtful.

With future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady returning from his knee injury, most people expect the Pats to pick up where they left off from the ’07 season. Sorry Patriot fans, you won’t be celebrating another 16-0 season, nor will you be weeping about an additional Super Bowl heartbreaker. New England would be fortunate to win their division.

We have no idea how golden boy Tom Brady will play following his surgery. Dr. James Andrews is a great sports orthopedist, but anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament injuries are similar to Arsenio Hall’s standups…they’re no joke. It’s certainly not a guarantee that Brady will come back this season and sling 50 TD passes (#1 all-time) like he did in 2007.

Another question mark with New England is their running game. I’m not sure they even know who will be starting at this point. The Pats did acquire veteran running back Fred Taylor, but with his age he won’t be shouldering the load. Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk aren’t bad RBs, but it’s not certain they will have success. If Taylor can put together a season similar to his 2007 stint with the Jaguars, the Pats will have success running the ball, but he is getting old and he definitely shouldn’t be expected to perform like he did in ‘07.

The Patriots have had some cupcake schedules the last few seasons, but that is not the case this year. They have the 3rd toughest schedule in the NFL this season, which might have something to do with their division toughening up. Contrary to previous years, the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills are all competitive teams now, I mean; the Patriots didn’t even win the AFC East last season, the Miami Dolphins did.

There are several factors which will prevent the Pats from returning to glory this season. Aside from the reasons mentioned above, head coach Bill Belichick’s ‘Operation Spygate’ is no more, and the AFC is an extremely tough conference. It will be interesting to see if the New England Patriots can leap all the hurdles in their path to win their 4th championship this decade, but don’t count on it.