Bill Belichick and Wes Welker never had a great relationship. Belichick condemned his hall of fame receiver's costly drops at the very worst times in games while Wes believed Bill was too hard on him. With such animosity between player and coach it is no secret why the Patriots let him walk and yet even now we remorse.
Wes Welker was one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history and a premier threat for the Bruins 3rd down attack that has certainly cost the Patriots games this year. Additionally when you think further into it, after the loss of Rob Gronkowski and the seemingly inconsistent play of both Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins the perennial 100 catches and 7-9 touchdowns hauled in would without a doubt be greatly appreciated.
But nevertheless, the deal was done, Welker has left and while he did make those early season comments about removing himself from "The Patriots Way" he has fully severed any connection between his career with the Patriots and that with the Broncos. And that includes the chemistry with his quarterback he enjoyed in these parts.
Since moving to Denver, while he has racked up more touchdowns than he did in any season with the Patriots, his 778 receiving yards were his fewest since his second year in the league when he was catching passes not from Peyton Manning or Tom Brady but instead a combination of Joey Harrington, Daunte Culpepper and Cleo Lemon. All season long the former Patriot has struggled fend off those calls of his being a mediocre player under pressure and frankly several key mistakes have not helped that image. Welker has fumbled just once but has dropped close to a pass per game the worst of which being one that occurred just this past week. Late in the first half of their divisional round game with the Chargers, Peyton Manning chucked a 25+ yard pass intended to be caught over the shoulder by Welker. As the ball landed in his outstretched hands instead of hauling it back into his chest, Wes let it bounce harmlessly down to the turf. Instead of making a play that would have given Denver a 21-0 lead Welker dropped the pass and so his team went to halftime contempt with a 14-0 lead.
As we all know, the Broncos did eventually make it out of that game but when you think about how close the game got before the score went final, Welker's making that catch would have pretty much sealed things off before they got so bad.
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| Welker dropped a key pass in last week's game vs. the Chargers. Should he have made the catch the Broncos would probably have gone to half time up 21-0 |
But that was San Diego.
As Wes Welker and his Broncos teammates take the field this Sunday the Patriots team they will be going up against is without discussion a better team than the Chargers. In a game with more on the line and a room for error shrunk by the potency of this Patriots offence the nerves that still plague Welker must be overcome if he wants to prevent himself from becoming the butt of jokes here in New England.
But nonetheless, no matter how he plays, no matter what kind of meager statistics that he assembled this season Wes Welker will have a special place in the hearts of Patriots fans worldwide. Even after he dropped that pass in the Super Bowl and even after he dropped that pass a year later in the AFC Championship game, Wes was that little ball of football power that simply refused to go down. He was a great and he was the core of this offence in those years between the departure of Dion Branch and Randy Moss and the arrival of this current core of tight end, screen pass oriented play calling and without him that lone rough patch in this near 15 yearlong swing of Patriots success might have bleed into years beyond the one without Tom Brady.
We will always love Wes Welker.
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