Alas the summer has ended. As our thermometers that show the searing temperatures of August are beginning to warn of opposite weather signifying that summer has finally, blissfully ended giving way to the seasons known not as fall and winter but rather as a one football season. After drafts completed and training camps ground through, the NFL season began Thursday with the Seahawks defeating the Packers 36 to 16 and most other teams logging their final practices before their respective openers.
The Patriots, who are set to play the Dolphins at one o'clock on Sunday, were no different this week, fielding their vast array of new talent for their practices as they hope to live up to the high expectations fans have of them this year. Their first step in proving that will be staying on the field. For the past few years, this team that has been fully capable of winning a Super Bowl has only been hindered in doing so by a variety of torn ligaments, bruised brains and more. When we look at these last few years the loss of Rob Gronkowski for various periods of time has been glaring. Additionally, the sudden injuries to Aquib Talib in back to back AFC Championships could also be pointed to as reasons for early exits by this team. Basically each year since their Super Bowl loss in 2011, the Patriots have fielded an opening day roster that could easily win the NFL title. Their only problem has been depth. Finally Bill Belichick addressed that problem in blowing things up this off-season.
Going into week one, the Patriots will have a suddenly ferocious running back squad that includes the likes of an underrated Shane Vereen, rookie James White and a finally demoted but still skilled Stephan Ridley. This wonderful improvement to the Patriots rushing game will allow Tom Brady to work in some new read option plays as well as keep the offence moving even if a receiver like Rob Gronkowski goes down again. Furthermore, it will allow the Patriots coaches to put fumble prone Ridley on a much shorter leash as even without him, the team would still have its power rusher in White and its flashy RB in Vereen.
In an interview with Sirius XM back in August, Bill Belichick spoke on the subject of White. "He's a very interesting and versatile player," he said. "He does a good job in the passing game and in the running game -- both inside and outside. Blitz pickup -- we have a pretty extensive offense for him to learn, but he's working hard at it. We'll just let him go and see how it goes, but I think he has the ability to compete on all three downs, in both the running game and the passing game."
Keeping with the theme of depth, the Patriots will also be rolling out a new look defense in week one with headline CB, Darrelle Revis serving as the centerpiece to their pass defense that now also includes league veteran Brandon Browner. This week one game that features Miami wide receiver Mike Wallace will actually be a perfect showcase of the capabilities of this revamped Pats defense. Wallace who will begin his second season in Miami against the Patriots is a man who despite his up and down stats has always boasted incendiary speed off the line. Revis, the Patriot who will be tasked with matching those explosive sprints up the sideline said to ESPN's Mike Reiss earlier this week that Wallace is "probably the fastest in the league."
All we can say about that is that Revis is a smart man to acknowledge and prepare for Wallace to the fullest extent. At the NFL Combine in 2009, Mike ran a 4.33 second 40 meter dash blowing scouts away and serving as his calling card going into the draft.
Revis, who ran 4.38 in his 40 yard dash back in 2007 of all people is nonetheless capable of catching Wallace. Such turns out to be a theme with the Patriots as they match up against the Dolphins.
Each season since their 6-10 2011 failure, the Dolphins have been getting consistently better as they have begun conditioning their decided starter Ryan Tannehill while grooming a vast array of linemen and tight ends through the draft and their practice squad. Though Miami in the present is not a squad that could possibly contend with the Patriots for the AFC East title which the team has sat upon for the better part of 15 years, they have given the Patriots their fair share of scares of late, actually defeating New England last season and regularly keeping even their losses close well into the 4th quarter. But as said earlier, the Patriots are still incomprehensibly better than their South Beach foes. It is almost like those Bruins vs Providence Bruins games each year where, though sometimes the affiliate wins, no one ever calls the squads equal.
At 1 in the afternoon Sunday, the Patriots will step onto the steamy field in Miami while we all watch from home in pleasant New England. Patriots fans will watch that game from afar, hoping that by afternoon's end they will be celebrating. Furthermore, they will also be distantly fantasizing about a much grander celebration that might involve duck boats and a shiny trophy specked with confetti a little over 5 months from now. As it stands, we might have reason to believe that both those hopes and wishes will be granted.
*all statistics from ESPN.com
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