Patriots Old-School Their Way To Opening Victory; Newton Keys Powerful Rushing Attack

 Giddy. Absolutely, unabashedly giddy.

And I would have been regardless of the outcome of the game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins, so long as the Patriots ran the ball the way I thought they could – and it wasn’t so much that they did run the ball the way I thought they could, it was more the way they did it.

And the way they did it was to simply line up and run the ball straight down the Dolphins’ throats.

Led by quarterback Cam Newton’s 75 yards, the Patriots racked up 217 yards on 42 carries, including all three touchdowns, in a New England victory that was much more one-sided than the 21-11 final score would indicate.

Newton’s mere presence turned the Dolphins’ defensive ends into statues and opened up natural running lanes that were embellished by the Patriots’ physical offensive line and consistently exploited by their stable of excellent running backs – the result being everything that an NFL team needs to win on Sundays.

The Patriots enjoyed a nearly two-to-one advantage in time of possession, ran for over five-yards per carry and were surgically efficient in the passing game. In fact, so efficient was the offense as a whole on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium that they gained 29 first downs on just 63 snaps – an average of nearly one first down every other snap.

All four of New England’s running backs contributed with surprisingly powerful running from both third-year runner Sony Michel and undrafted rookie J.J. Taylor, while Rex Burkhead and James White contributed their usual steady play.

In contrast, only three Patriots’ receivers combined with White and Taylor to catch 15 of Newton’s 18 offerings.

Shades of Chuck Fairbanks’ Patriots squads in the mid-to-late seventies and his Steve Grogan-led offenses that commonly featured a two-to-one balance between the run and the pass, as on Sunday, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called a running play – including thirteen designed runs for Newton – on seventy-percent of the offensive snaps.

It was straight inside-zone power directly into the teeth of the Dolphins’ defense – and when Miami’s coaches tried to compensate by loading the line of scrimmage with ten defenders, McDaniels countered with short, quick-hitting pass plays that eventually forced the Dolphins to back off.

Running the football on offense and stopping the run on defense are the most fundamental concepts in the sport, and teams who do both successfully more often than not earn victory – and not only did the Patriots plow the row through the Miami defense, the folks in charge of stopping the opposition’s offense threw up a brick wall against the Dolphins’ running game, holding their runners to a paltry 3.2 yards per carry…

…forcing Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to the air thirty times, completing twenty for 187 yards but also tossing three interceptions

The Patriots were particularly stout against the run, with the three-headed monster of Lawrence Guy, Adam Butler and Byron Cowart generally clogging the middle, forcing the play to the edges where Linebackers John Simon, Chase Winovich and Ja’Whaun Bentley mopped up the mess.

Most impressive, however, was the play of safeties Adrian Phillips and Terrence Brooks, who platooned in the Big Nickel role – typically manned by the opted-out Patrick Chung – laying some huge hits in run support and blanketing tight ends in the pass pattern, Phillips coming down with one of New England’s thefts.

All was not perfect for the Patriots – some early missed tackles and late pass interference penalties made things seem a little dicey at times, and the offense missed the opportunity to nail the Dolphins coffin shut with a costly fumble inside the one-yard line – but those are things that can be fixed.

Offensive Players of the Game: Patriots’ Offensive Guards

The Patriots’ guards dominated in the running game, pulling both inside and out, combining with Newton’s play fakes to open huge holes for the backs and in anchoring against the pass rush.

Defensive Players of the Game: Patriots’ Strong Safety rotation

The strong safety tandem of Adrian Phillips and Terrence Brooks delivered nothing but wood in run support all day long, and Phillips recorded one of the Patriots interceptions playing the “Robber” role.

It appears that the Patriots are going to be content to fill Patrick Chung’s shoes by committee, and it appears that they have two physical options to rotate in and out – with a special shout-out to hybrid JoeJuan Williams, who had sticky coverage from a safety position as well.

Patriots’ New Offensive Philosophy Isn’t New, It’s Just Evolving

Bill Belichick is a freaking wizard, and once again we are about to witness his magic.

In fact, the 2020 NFL season will come to be known as Belichick’s finest hour, as it were – not so much tied to success on the field, but for finally being able to build his New England Patriots in his own gruff image.

I’ve always enjoyed watching Belichick build his team from the ground up each summer, but not as much as I’ve enjoyed this year’s effort thus far. He had a difficult – some say insurmountable – number of obstacles to navigate even before the pandemic swept across the country, and the resultant social distancing mandates made his task ten-times more daunting.

But “difficult” and “daunting” are challenges that fall right into Belichick’s wheelhouse.

We got our first look at his mindset during the draft, a fascinating, eclectic class of rookies whose selections seemed right on point with what he needed to propagate the theory that he’s been building towards this moment for the past four seasons…

…and although his method caused quarterback Tom Brady to go berserk and probably caused last-year’s late season collapse as well, there’s no doubt that this season’s incarnation of the New England Patriots will offer up a far better product than if he had not been building towards life without Brady.

The evidence is compelling, particularly along the offensive line. Starting with Shaq Mason and David Andrews in 2015, Belichick has assembled a group of linemen who are better a plowing the row than pass blocking – but to be fair, the aforementioned Mason and Andrews, along with 2016 third-round pick Joe Thuney and 2018 top pick Isaiah Wynn, have gradually improved in pass blocking…

…perhaps not consistently enough to protect a statue in the pocket, but plenty good enough to scheme around the talents of Cam Newton, who is now the favorite to win the starting quarterback job (as if he wasn’t the moment he signed his contract).

Initially, the line was being gradually constructed to meld with the skill set of Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the Patriots drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft as the heir apparent to Brady. Garoppolo is much more ambulatory than Brady and, as such, required an offensive line that is more athletic than stout.

You know, guards that can pull into the flat on a designed roll out, or who can slip onto the second level and neutralize a linebacker, and tackles who have the ability to chip defensive ends and drift out to lead the screen plays that are a staple of Belichick’s method of operation.

But when Brady (Kraft?) forced Garoppolo out of the building in 2017 - right in the middle of the building process - it forced Belichick’s hand. His choices were to either scrap his philosophy and cater to Brady’s insistence that he was determined to play into his mid-forties, or to continue along the path he had designed for Garoppolo.

Of course, it went against conventional wisdom that Brady would still be playing at a high level three years later, so Belichick maintained course and heading, knowing that his personnel acquisition was moving the offense away from Brady’s strengths in favor of a hopefully seamless transition to a quarterback that embodies the latest trends in the league, that being a renaissance of sorts to the old-school, smashmouth ways of yesteryear.

Some are speculating a return to the early seasons of the millennium, a power-based running attack to open up play action and to clear defined passing lanes, and while that is the hope on my end, Newton’s presence adds another dynamic

And since any philosophy in football is built from the inside out, Belichick has stocked the offensive line with smaller, lighter linemen with quick feet, excellent football acumen, and a mean streak a mile wide.

Of all the starters along the offensive line, left guard Joe Thuney is the tallest at 6’ 5”, followed by (presumptive) right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor at 6’ 4”, center David Andrews at 6’ 3”, left tackle Isaiah Wynn at 6’ 2” and right guard Shaq Mason at 6’ 1” – with only Eluemunor checking in at over 310 pounds. 

The NFL average for an offensive lineman is 315 pounds, the average height, 6’ 4”.

Again, only Eluemunor checks in at or above the size of the average NFL Lineman, and he wasn’t drafted by New England, brought in on a trade with Baltimore to help assuage the massive injuries that befell the Patriots last season.

All of that said and true, it is no coincidence that Belichick has assembled the smallest, yet most athletic offensive line in football – and all he needed was a quarterback to surround with it.

That’s when Cameron Jerrell Newton fell right into his lap.

Newton isn’t just a mobile quarterback. In fact, he was the gold standard for mobile quarterbacks when he entered the league in 2011, initiating a trend towards more option-based offenses that have swept through the league in the past decade.

But the real indication of Belichick’s commitment to a more diverse, power-based attack came with the drafting of two tight ends, both of whom should step right into vital roles all over the formation and will complete the blocking scheme.

The health of the line as a whole combined with the drafting of the versatile tight ends and the presence of Newton suggests that the product that Belichick is going to field will be different from what we’ve witnessed in the past couple of decades under his rule – but not so different that it will be unrecognizable.

The same concepts will be in play, but this time Belichick will be building his roster from the ground up in his own image instead of trying to fit square pegs into round holes in order to appease Brady, because now the hole is square and all of the personnel moves that he has made in the past few years should fit beautifully.

After all, that’s what the Dark Master has had up his sleeve the entire time…

2020 NFL Draft: With Brady Gone, Belichick Looks Toward Building Power-Based Offense

Previously published on our sister blog, Mainely Patriots

April 10, 2020

4:20am, Lewiston, Maine

The departure of Tom Brady means the end of an era for the New England Patriots - or does it?

Of course, it means the end of the Brady sub-era, but with head coach Bill Belichick still in control of the team, the Belichickian Era is still in play, and it is promising the most interesting offseason for the Patriots in the past two decades.

Interesting for no other reason than now with Brady out of the way, Belichick can finally build his team from the ground up, surrounding the bare-bones roster with meat of his choosing, with a chance to put to rest, once and for all, the argument of whether Belichick made Brady or if Brady made Belichick and, at the same time, run his offense according to how he's built it over the past three years.

With Brady under center, the Patriots' offense was at his whim. Sure, Belichick was in charge and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called the plays, but the concept-based system in place that Brady was the master of, McDaniels may have had the control of the personnel groupings and the requisite corner of the playbook at his disposal, but each concept sent in had half-a-dozen route combinations and twice as many audibles available that only Brady had control of.

And those numbers are probably conservative, but it still illustrates that when Belichick's product was on the field, it was Brady and not him who controlled what resource Brady used - and for the aforementioned past three seasons, the resources were became increasingly incompatible to the offense that he had run for the previous decade-and-a-half.

It was purposeful on Belichick's part. He had to prepare the franchise for life after Brady, and he thought that was going to be three years ago, when the situation dictated that he trade the heir-in-waiting in Jimmy Garoppolo to San Francisco - for what amounted to a substantial loss in his investment...

...all because team owner Bob Kraft and his meddling ways stepped in and forbade Belichick to deal away the quarterback whom Kraft considered one of his kids. To further exacerbate the situation, the San Francisco 49ers had already rejected Belichick's offer to deal Brady, but expressed a tremendous amount of interest in Garoppolo.

But no matter what actually occurred, Belichick stayed his course and started building his roster to make as seamless as possible the transition from Brady to whomever would eventually take over at quarterback - and since he knew that it would be close to impossible to find another pro-ready replacement with a similar skill set, his focus was on building a power-based scheme that would mitigate so much responsibility on said replacement.

So when Brady bitched and bristled last season about his supporting cast, he had reached his last straw with Belichick. Brady wanted weapons to win another title with before he inevitably left, while Belichick was sticking to his plan.

And now that Brady is officially gone, what Belichick now has control over is an offensive depth chart built for power football - which, if he goes forward under the same philosophy, his roster will be much bigger or offense, and that will obviously translate to the product on the field.

Not that he - not I, for that matter - isn't appreciative of all the Brady has helped this franchise accomplish. For example, ever since Garoppolo was traded, my wife has been bitching at me to take down the Brady Fathead that I have on the wall of our living room - but it is still there, along with all of the other Patriots and Bruins memorabilia.

Brady will be remembered fondly, and will always wear the moniker of the Greatest of all Time in my heart - but he will not be missed. The time is now for Belichick to pick up the pieces of the roster and truly build the franchise in his own image - and since football teams are built from the inside out, that begins with the offensive line.

Since selecting right guard Shaq Mason five years ago, Belichick has been stocking his offensive line with powerful run blocking specialists, and now that he doesn't have to appease Brady, he can finally use them for what he intended the entire time.

In this scenario, the line is set in every position except for right tackle, where incumbent Marcus Cannon is on his last legs and ripe for demotion to swing tackle duties. The depth behind him is ill-equipped to step in and wrestle the starting job away - and with salary cap space eaten up by dead money from Brady's last contract, bringing in a replacement via free agency is a dead dream, so Belichick will have to focus on the upcoming draft to upgrade and solidify the position.

So important is the right tackle position in the power blocking scheme that it wouldn't be surprising to see Belichick use his lone first-day selection to draft an upgrade, though he would probably have to trade up to the top-15 in the first round to snag the best right tackle in the draft.

The problem is that with no second-round pick to offer as incentive to other teams that select ahead of him, Belichick would be hard-pressed to find enough ammo to exchange with them to secure Louisville's 6' 7", 360 pound Mekhi Becton without mortgaging their future.

Becton would be worth the price to be paid, as despite being so large, he is still as nimble in pass protection as he is powerful in the running game. In pass protection, his wingspan makes it difficult for edge rushers to get around and bull rushers will find it nearly impossible to move him off his base - But his forte is run blocking, where he simply wipes out defenders and plows the row for runners.

He does need some instruction in regard to working in space on the second level, but the man is a difference-maker as a right tackle and could very well change the entire culture of the offensive line.

As good as Becton projects to be, Belichick just doesn't have the draft capital to make a trade-up without dealing away future draft picks, so he would be wise to trade his own first-round draft pick to move down into the second round, then use one of his three third-round selections to go after TCU's 6' 6", 330 pound Lucas Niang.

Powerful hands and violent intent are the hallmarks of Niang, who comes from the same program that produced Cannon a decade ago. Like Cannon, his specialty is run blocking, but he comes to the NFL with a more defined pass blocking package than Cannon possesses. His handwork is elite in both phases, but speed-to-power pass rushers will occasionally gain the edge of him in pass protection, as he relies more on strength and length to swallow up one-dimensional rushers.

That would have been an occasional problem with the stationary target Brady still under center, but becomes less so with a more mobile quarterback, second-year signal caller Jarrett Stidham being the odds-on starter at press time - though that could change drastically, especially if Belichick did indeed trade down and use his second rounder on one of the many quality quarterbacks coming out of college.

Either way, a mobile quarterback would precipitate the selection of Niang. In the running game, he is a pancake maker with the ability to climb the ladder and erase linebackers - A tremendous value if he's still available in the third round, as predicted.

Whichever route Belichick takes to select a right tackle, upgrading the position is a priority, and either Becton or Niang would join left tackle Isaiah Wynn, left guard Dan Thuney, center David Andrews and the aforementioned Mason to form a powerful run-blocking line that is also capable of protecting a more mobile quarterback.

Brady Playing His Best Ball As A Quadragenarian, But He's Not Doing It All By Himself

Clearly, Tom Brady has escorted all of us in to the surreal.

The New England Patriots' quarterback continued his Old Geezer Tour by not only throwing for four touchdowns, nor just leading his team to their seventh-straight victory, but is doing so playing perhaps the best football of his career, delivering a standard-brand, workman-like thrashing of his old rival Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon...

...in fact, the 35-17 victory at Gillette Stadium was unremarkable with the exception of the fact that for the first time in Brady's 17 seasons at the helm, the Patriots' offense is truly balanced - but not balanced in the way that one would logically expect, because in New England, balance on offense means something different than it does elsewhere.

Traditionally, balance on offense in football is measured by the difference between running plays and passing plays, and in that respect, the New England Patriots could be considered anything but balanced, as they are decidedly pass heavy - but to understand the Patriot Way as it refers to roster building and game planning, all one has to do is look at the way Brady and his cohorts undressed the Dolphins' defense.

The Patriots ran sixty-six plays on offense against Miami, totaling 423 yards of offensive production - with the backs accounting for 33 carries and six targets in the passing game, ending the day with sixty percent of the total touches and 181 yards between them, accounting for 43% of New England's total offense and two touchdowns...

...receiver Brandin Cooks and tight end Rob Gronkowski accounting the majority of the rest along with three of the scores - Gronkowski hauling in two short scoring passes in the left flat and Cooks taking a shuffle pass that looked more like a jet sweep and following the massive man-child into the end zone - not bad considering that names such as Edelman and, more recently, Hogan have been on the shelf.

And, why not? After all, the Patriots' offense is lead by the greatest quarterback that ever lived, who is enjoying a supporting cast of pass catchers that buys into the concept-based offense that requires them to run whatever route necessary from whatever position along the line of scrimmage - and that doesn't just apply to wide receivers, as the tight end depth chart and stable of running backs are held to the same standard.

The result is what we've been witnessing since Halloween, and that should be scaring the rest of the National Football League in a way that zombies, vampires and unicorns can't.

The balance that the Patriots are enjoying comes in the form of total touches. This season, the Patriots have run 743 plays on offense, and when breaking those down between designated receivers, tight ends and backs, the numbers confirm the tremendous balance that Brady is succeeding with.

Of those 743 plays, the Patriots' running backs have handled the ball on 412 of those snaps, which is a full 56%. The tight ends have handled the rock 105 times (14%), which leaves a meager 30% of the offensive snaps actually targeting the wide receivers. Of course, the total yardage is skewed as the backs are not going to be picking up yardage at the pace the speedy wideouts are going to...

...but thanks to the efforts of Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead, the actual running game is now averaging a potent 4.1 yards per carry, which means that Brady can more forcefully sell the play action, which, in theory, gives him more time in the pocket to go through his progressions without being stomped like a grape.

Which happened against Miami anyway, as Brady took several nasty shots as he was releasing the ball, mostly because the Dolphins' pass rushers took advantage of backups playing at center and at right tackle, but as he dropped back to pass just 28 times - completing eighteen for 227 yards and four scores - they were able to limit the amount of abuse he was subjected to.

Contrarily, the left side of the offensive line has really stepped things up with Nate Solder and Joe Thuney limiting the pressure to Brady's blind side to just two hurries. After missing two weeks with altitude-related flu-like symptoms, regular center David Andrews is due back against Buffalo, leaving only the right tackle spot manned by depth.

And that's important to remember going forward. The quadragenarian is on the cusp on uncharted territory, and his vow to play until he's 45 would be a lot more tangible were he to not take beatings like the one he took on Sunday, even in moderation. That's where the Patriots' adaptation of balance comes into focus.

Brady is playing the best ball of his career in large part to head ball coach Bill Belichick surrounding him with the best, most diverse set of weapons he's had in his career, providing the best balance he's had to work with and behind a line that has taken a while to gel, but has surrendered "only" eleven sacks during the seven-game winning streak - a stark contrast to the 13 they gave up in the first four games of the season.

It also helps if the offense gets off to a fast start and plays with the lead.

During their current seven-game winning streak, the Patriots have scored first in five of those contests - not surprisingly, the ones they didn't pull the early lead in against New York and the Los Angeles Chargers were games that they struggled in - and have not trailed in a game since the Chargers took a seven-point lead on them in the first quarter of a game played a month ago.

Do the math, and you will find that New England has not trailed in a game in what amounts to 225 minutes and counting - which means that the since New England came off of their week nine bye, they have posted three consecutive blowouts, outscoring the Broncos, Raiders and Dolphins by a combined 109-41, and 65-19 in the first half.

Of course, not all of that came from the effort of the offense, as the Patriots' defense has also figured into the balance equation by not only holding teams to just 12 points per game during their winning streak, but in doing so in tandem with superior special teams play that satisfies Belichick's insistence on complementary football.

But that is for another piece at another time.

Right now, we are celebrating the fact that Brady has broken a record that has been held since Warren Moon threw for 25 touchdowns in 1997, and equaled by Brett Favre in 2009, his 26 touchdown passes the most ever thrown by a 40 year old quarterback - a number that is sure to grow since the scoring strikes by Moon and Favre came in full 16-game seasons, while Brady has five games yet to play...

...and while that record is merely an incident of incongruous juxtapositions among a very limited field of athletes, it nevertheless conjures yet another example of why Brady is the greatest quarterback that ever played the game, and has now become the gold standard of passers playing into their forties.

Brady is at the point in his career that he is going to be breaking records virtually every time that he takes a snap from center - lost in all of this, however, is that it takes skill of the players surrounding him to do their jobs and a constant array of individual game-planning to put Brady in position to do all of these wonderful things.

It is a team effort, after all, and football is a team game. There is zero doubt, however, even among his most ardent critics that Brady is the greatest of all time and that the Patriots likely would not have enjoyed their current dynastic run of success were he not under center - so that wisdom cuts both ways.

Let's just say that Brady and his teammates play complementary football, and leave it at that.

The Art Of Football, Part 5: Young Offensive Line Helped By Balance In Play Calling, Health

The New England Patriots are absolutely and unequivocally loaded on offense.

There isn't a friend or foe of the team that will deny that they have a rotation of running backs built to create matchup issues all over the formation, a set of tight ends so monstrous and physical that they will dominate the seam and the red zone, and a receiving corps that is the most dangerously diverse in all of professional football...

Linemen Solder, Thuney and Andrews celebrate with Edelman, Brady

...and lest we forget that the entire kennel is led by perhaps the greatest quarterback who ever laced up a pair of cleats, who runs the unit with such grace and efficiency that they can substitute at whim while giving the opposition almost no chance to rest their weary warriors, a fascinating lesson on personnel rotation resembling a line change in hockey.

With such advantages all over the skill positions, there is no way that a defense can cover that many studs every single play of every game - sooner or later, they are going to burn you and there's nothing that anyone can do to prevent that, regardless of the quality of their secondary and linebacking corps.

The Patriots are just too good and there's just too many of them.

So the only realistic hope that any opposing defense is going to have in containing the Patriots' juggernaut is to load up on pass rushers and get to Brady before he can unload the ball.

Good luck with that.

Brady runs the Patriots system like a sniper posing as a chess master, spending mere seconds in the huddle to give his players a concept to align in so that he has twenty-plus seconds at the line of scrimmage to move them around like so many pawns, their motion creating an equal and opposite reaction by the defenders that gives Brady a pretty good idea where his mismatches are...

...so that once the ball is finally snapped, he knows exactly where he's going with it, wasting little time loading up and firing to virtually any point on the field.

Brady is decisive and has the snap in his release that bleeds confidence - something that came to the forefront in the final twenty minutes of the Super Bowl, but if there was one thing that really turned the game in the Patriots' favor, it was the protection that Brady received from his offensive line.

Truthfully, that was a mixture of tenacity, will and the sheer number of plays run by the Patriots offense taking it's toll on the Falcons' pass rushers, as they were exposed to 63 passing plays, the equivalent to running 63 ten-yard windsprints while pushing a 300 pound blocking sled - and with that type of volume, even the most well-conditioned of pass rushers are going to wear down.

Brady is protected by what Pro Football Focus proclaims as one of the up-and-coming offensive lines, a line that is defined by their youth, football intelligence and nastiness.  The folks at PFF rated the Patriots' offensive line number ten for their efforts in 2016, which is saying a hell of a lot considering that they were starting a rookie at left guard and a second-year undrafted free agent at center...

...not to mention bookend tackles who have had plenty of issues the previous couple of years and a second-year right guard that couldn't pass block to save his - or Brady's - life in his rookie campaign.

A lot of different things factored into the Patriots offensive line's improvement over the course of the season, but the biggest reason was simply gaining balance in the play calling, something that has obviously been recognized by Belichick and his staff as they have worked to add new dimensions to both the running and passing game in an attempt to continue the trend.

In 2015, the Patriots were thirtieth out of thirty-two teams in rushing offense, the balance lopsided in the favor of passing offense by a ratio of 63% - 37%.  Predictably, since the Patriots were not all-in on running the football, the opposition focused on getting to Brady instead of stopping New England's less-than-scary running attack, and Brady took the beating of his life.

In 633 drop backs, Brady was sacked an atrocious 38 times, and was pressured or hit on over 35% of his attempts otherwise - not including the playoffs, where the Denver Broncos beat him like he stole something, sacking him four times and hitting him twenty in what was a perfect encapsulation of the offense's entire season.

Last season, however, the Patriots set their line early by installing Cannon at right tackle with the powerful Mason flanking him on the interior and drafting North Carolina State's Joe Thuney to man left guard to complete what New England considers vital to keeping Brady upright, namely, the play action.

New England sports the most unique play action concept in the football world, pulling their guards and employing a sixth offensive lineman to hard-sell the run, causing the opposing linebackers to play downhill and vacate the second level, leaving both the seam and the intermediate crosser - staples of the Patriots' passing game - wide open, the concept isolating corners one-on-one with Brady's pass catchers.

The numbers back that up, as Brady put up the best completion percentage and passer rating in the NFL when invoking the play action at a deadly 72%, and a filthy 125.0, respectively - both far and away the best numbers of his career.

Of course, the play action will never work if the opposition doesn't have any reason to respect your running game, and the Patriots gave them plenty to respect in 2016 - and probably even more in 2017.

In 2015, the Patriots built an undefeated record through their first ten games despite a horrific series of injuries along their line as the play action off of the running game worked to keep Brady upright for the most part, and were even able to hold things together for a while after electric running back Dion Lewis was lost for the season in week 9...

...but they weren't able to overcome losing power back LeGarrette Blount's season-ending hip injury in week 14, as the yards per carry took a nose dive - and, subsequently, the Patriots' opponents had nothing to fear from the running game and concentrated on loading up the pass rush to get to Brady.

All of that makes what they were able to accomplish as a unit that much more impressive - impressive enough, even, to extend new contracts to right tackle Marcus Cannon and center David Andrews that will keep them in Foxborough for at least the next couple of years.

But as successful as Brady was in the play action with his running backs presenting one-dimensional skill sets that tipped off the defense as to what was coming, Belichick made sure that he supplemented  the running game by signing a couple of all-purpose backs, the threat of a run on any down sapping the aggressiveness of the opposition's pass rush.

This illustrates the fact that the entire offense has direct impact on the performance of the line. Play action is the single most important weapon in the arsenal, but is made possible only with the success of the running backs and with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels featuring them in the attack. The tight ends all are devastating run blockers and all can get loose up the seam, making it problematic for safeties to blitz without giving Brady a wide open target...

...and with receivers that can stretch the field in Cooks, Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell, that helps the line in the same capacity in that while they are stretching the field, Brady is firing off back shoulder throws and hitting those guys on dig routes, cutting the pattern short and showing their numbers to Brady.

When any of that happens, one can count to three and ball is out, usually with good results.

Along with balance, a lot of the improvement among the players is due to the in-your-face coaching style of line coach Dante Scarnecchia, while still more can be attributed to the players remaining healthy, which enabled them to become a cohesive unit - and still more can be attributed to them just growing into their positions, as there is no substitute for experience.

Take Cannon for example.  Long loathed by Patriots' fans due to his revolving door-style of pass protection, the Texas A&M product produced at such a level in 2016 that he earned second-team All Pro honors at right tackle, the result of the aforementioned benefits but mostly due to the fact that for the first time in his career, Cannon was able to call the position his, as it had been previously manned by Sebastian Vollmer and Cannon was his backup.

It also helped that right guard Shaq Mason experienced a second-year jump in production, more than holding his own in pass protection in addition to his elite status as a drive blocker in the running game. Typically, it is the powerful-yet-nimble-footed Mason that pulls to sell the run in the play action, with the tight end or the sixth offensive lineman pulling into the gap vacated by Mason to chip the pass rusher.

Andrews has become a trusted pivot, as his reputation as a nasty street fighter precedes him, and Thuney will be given every opportunity to improve on his deficiencies as a pass blocker this season, which was confirmed when Belichick virtually ignored the guard position in free agency and the draft, leaving a thin layer of depth when he released Tre Jackson and Chris Barker.

Solder is in a contract year, and is in a no-win situation.  If he plays well, New England will not be able to afford to keep him as a premier left tackle, not even with the franchise tag - but if he plays poorly, the writing will be on the wall that his performance down the stretch last season was an anomaly and that his skill is deteriorating.

Those scenarios don't lend themselves to Solder wearing a Patriots' uniform past 2017, and Belichick knows that, having drafted the mean and talented Antonio Garcia out of Troy, a developmental left tackle whom the team will groom for the position under the tutelage of Scarnecchia and is a lock to make the team, as veteran Michael Williams has been released...

...and to make room for sixth-round pick Conor McDermott, swing tackle LaAdrian Waddle may see his roster spot pulled out from underneath him - though McDermott could use a year on the practice squad to bulk up, his 6' 8", 310 pound frame and thin lower body needing the attention of a professional strength and conditioning coach.

McDermott certainly isn't ready to anchor against NFL pass rushers, and may never be, but his athleticism - he was named a finalist for the McDonald's All-American High School basketball team as a senior and was named Mr. Basketball in Tennessee the same season - and his elite knack for the cut block makes him a perfect sixth lineman, as he has the feet and the recoil in his hips to pull into gaps to clear out linebackers.

Veteran Cam Fleming holds that office currently, and was tendered at the original round (fourth) in restricted free agency which will earn him $1.8 million non-guaranteed in 2017 if he makes the squad, which doesn't preclude him from being shown the door if McDermott's athleticism wins out over Fleming's sheer size and power.

All of that said, the starting five are solid and the sixth lineman is well accounted for, but depth is very young.  If there is anything that is going to derail the Patriots' juggernaut offense, it is going to be injuries to the offensive line - even more devastating than in 2015 because of the inexperience of the depth...

Patriots' Offense Rounding Into Form Despite Bumps In The Road

Right tackle Cannon has not allowed a quarterback hit or sack in the last four games

 Bill Belichick has long said that what his teams look like around Thanksgiving is as good as they are going to get.  This Thanksgiving, however, his New England Patriots are experiencing things differently than in any season past.

On defense, they have jettisoned their most physically gifted player, Jamie Collins, presumably for not adhering to the Patriot Way, and have spent the last two games scrambling to find their groove without their pro bowl linebacker, while on offense, the team has been slowly stabilizing as they get players back into the fold after missing significant time with one issue or another.

The blue liners have the Big Nickel alignment to fall back on, but things are not that simple for an offense that was predicted to be a literal juggernaut.  Given those lofty projections and with six games left in the season, the Patriots sit at sixth in the league in both total offense and scoring - disappointing, but there are reasons.

And it isn't as if the Patriots haven't been efficient on offense, but there have been issues with continuity, as several members of the squad have either missed good chunks of time this season, or are currently shelved - or both. Tight end Rob Gronkowski missed the first three games of the season and is currently on the shelf and expected to miss his second consecutive game with a chest injury...

...while quarterback Tom Brady missed the first four games in Roger Goodell's dog house and electric passing back Dion Lewis came off the PUP list just two weeks ago and saw limited snaps in his first action of the season in last Sunday's win at San Francisco.  Essentially, Brady's internal clock is pretty much set to the second week of the season, if we count his fist four games as a sort of preternatural preseason.

Same with Gronkowski, and Lewis has just started his preseason - but the Patriots have proven that, unlike last season, this offense is capable of carrying them to the win column.

The best and most telling sign of this comes with the incredible balance that has become a calling card.  Last season and, indeed, for the past decade, balance on offense to the Patriots meant running the ball just enough to keep the threat of the run in the brains of the opposing pass rushers.

But this season, as the offense leaned on the running game to help the team compile a 3-1 record before Brady returned, they also received a real-life tutorial on the fundamental importance of the protracted usage of the running game. Indeed, the Patriots sport the sixth-ranked rushing game in the NFL, with power back LeGarrette Blount working on a career season where he is projected to end up with nearly 1300 yards and nineteen touchdowns.

Those yardage totals haven't been seen around Foxborough in a decade, and the number of touchdowns has never been approached, but the most amazing thing about it is that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has learned that his running game is - to quote coach Herman Boone - just like Novocaine: give it time, it always works.

To Patriots' fans, there aren't too many things more beautiful than watching their 250 pound running back cut through a hole and get loose on the second level,  but is equaled in beauty by Gronkowski smothering the ball with his huge hands while sprinting up the seam, Lewis displaying his video game-quality elusiveness, James White's subtle electricity, Martellus Bennett's hand fighting at the line of scrimmage, and etc., etc.

But something is amiss in Foxborough.  Gronkowski is most certainly out this Sunday when the Patriots travel to New Jersey to take on the hated Jets, while fellow tight end Bennett and Brady were listed as questionable on the Thanksgiving injury report and did not participate in practice - which is particularly troublesome for Brady, as he's dealing with a bum knee and hasn't practiced for the past two days...

...and while Brady has such a grasp of the offense that he was able to step right in and start dominating after serving his four-game suspension to start the season, missing a couple of practices isn't a good sign. Fortunately, there's a somewhat seasoned Jimmy Garoppolo waiting in the wings in case Brady can't go against the Jets.

It's a unique situation that far sighted head ball coach Bill Belichick can use to his advantage. Garoppolo has already shown that he has a keen grasp of the offense and that he has all of the tools required of an NFL signal caller, throwing for 500 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while leading New England to two early-season wins - and if Garoppolo does indeed end up playing on Sunday, it just adds another length of game footage to an already decent film study to either entice quarterback needy teams in the offseason, or to give Patriots' fans solace in Brady's golden years.

So, worst case, Garoppolo at quarterback, a full complement of wide receivers and a backfield full of sick moves and "Blount" force are in store for the Jets, as the passing back combo of White and Lewis and the deep seam element provided by Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell can somewhat offset the loss of the two tight ends against the mediocre Jets' secondary.

Somewhat, because Patriots quarterbacks have targeted their tight ends with a full 40-percent of their pass attempts this season, and their passing backs - primarily White - another thirty percent.  So it remains to be seen if the wide receivers can have an immediate and forceful impact on an offense that has obviously gone heavy.

Of course, everything on offense is dependent on two critical factors - Brady getting the ball out of his hands and to the receivers as they make their breaks, and the offensive line - a unit that looks as if they have rounded into form and are playing their best ball at the right moment - giving him that time.

Led by - dare we say it? - right tackle Marcus Cannon, who hasn't surrendered a quarterback hit or sack in the past four games, the Patriots offensive line has very quietly become a cohesive unit that is getting better as the season progresses. In fact, if one were to look at the line in a purely statistical nature, the Patriots rank in the top 10 for the least quarterback hits surrendered (49, ranked 10th in the NFL) and sacks (20, ranked 9th).

Given those numbers, it isn't surprising that New England is ranked sixth in the league in passing, rushing, scoring and total offense, and has helped to introduce balance back into the Patriots' game plan.

Cannon and center David Andrews are both getting whispers of Pro Bowl notice, while left guard Joe Thuney has an inside track to making the league's All- Rookie team. Gigantic Cam Fleming has become a staple swing tackle and lines up as an eligible tight end on a good portion of snaps (When you ear the referee say "Number 71 is reporting as eligible, that's Fleming) and usually lines up on the weak side covering the outside shoulder of left tackle Nate Solder.

Which is purposeful as the veteran Solder has been the weakest link on the line in 2016 and has been the culprit in several negative plays for the Patriots' offense in the past two games, including a holding penalty that negated a lovely 35 yard Blount rumble for a touchdown against the 49ers.

With so much talent on the Patriots' offense, finding a left tackle in the draft or free agency this offseason is probably going to be priority-one, but that is a subject for another time.

As it stands, the Patriots certainly have enough on both sides of the ball to take the Jets, whom they play twice in the final six games - even if Brady and Bennett join Gronkowski on the skids - but with the suddenly resurgent Miami Dolphins just two games back and representing the season finale for New England, the AFC East has the tightest race it's seen in almost a decade...

...so every play counts, and every player is vital - and with a bevy of opportunists playing split wide, in the slot and in the backfield, there is no reason why the Patriots shouldn't come away with their eighth consecutive division title, and a decent shot at a first round bye.

Mail Call - Talking Running Game, Play Calling And The State Of The Offensive Line

Most football fans would take a running back who has averaged 4.6 yards per carry and has rushed for 4,000 yards during a six year career. Those numbers are not elite nor ground-breaking in any way, but they are solid.

Would a back with those kinds of numbers be welcome in New England?

How about a guy who also has doubled as a kick returner, compiling an elite 27.1 average on 22 career touches in that capacity?  How about the fact that this back gets better the more critical the situation, averaging 4.8 yards per carry on 76 career playoff carries and has found paydirt 38 times in his career?

Admit it, you'd love to have this running back in the Patriots backfield.

Well, you already do, and his name is LeGarrette Blount.

Many questions sent in for this particular mail call have been of the knee-jerk variety regarding the running back position and who the Patriots are going to bring in to replace the injured Dion Lewis and, not surprisingly, statements regarding their lack of confidence in Blount.

All anyone has to do who doesn't believe that Blount is vital to the success of the Patriots' offense is just look at what happened to said offense when Blount went down for the year in the Texans game.  For the season, the Patriots averaged a pathetic 3.7 yards per carry, but were averaging 4.0 before Blount went down and an even 3.0 after he was finished for the season...

...and in the playoffs that dipped to an abysmal 2.6 yards per carry.  Needless to say, the Patriots' running game didn't scare anyone after Blount went on the shelf, particularly in the playoffs, when both the Chiefs and Broncos sent their pass rushers without prejudice, overwhelming an offensive line who didn't have time to anchor in their stances, leaving quarterback Tom Brady a human piñata.

Could another back do the same job as Blount, or better?  Sure, but how many of those backs could step right into the Patriots' complex concept-based scheme and be as effective?

The answer is, not many.

Let's give some love to Blount.  He's proven that he can carry the load, and the opposing defenses respect the Patriots' running game when he's in the lineup.

Now on to this week's questions:


Given the reported injury statuses of Vollmer and Mason, what sort of early season performance can we expect from the offensive line?  How do these injuries change how the Pats scheme in the run/pass game? - Darel (Utah via Foxborough Free Press)

There is no denying that the injuries are disappointing from the standpoint of cohesion and technique in pass protection, but not all is lost.

The Patriots run a "slide protection" scheme, meaning that on one side of the line, the tackle, guard and center will move in unison in the same direction, with a power step directly lateral (with no ground given), slide his other foot to match the first step , then thrust forward with the third step, delivering the initial punch to rock the defensive lineman.  The linemen on the other side, usually the strong side, will take on rushing defenders man-to-man, with a back stepping up into the gap created by the two concepts, taking on blitzers.

It is far too complicated for the space we have here, but it goes without saying that it takes chemistry between all of the linemen to pull this off - and it is exactly why Cannon taking over for Vollmer makes the most sense, for he knows the scheme inside and out.  What helps the cohesion of the linemen is having capable tight ends or a tight end and a sixth offensive lineman, usually on the weak side.

Now, you may hear throughout Patriots' games the referee announce "Number 71 is eligible", which means that swing tackle Cam Fleming is lined up on the weak side, leaving the strong side to one or more tight ends, and Fleming's job is to help the left tackle control speed rushers, while one or both tight ends release into the pattern, one of them chipping the edge rusher back into the path of the strong side tackle.

What all of this means is that the way that the Patriots use their tight ends and swing tackles takes a lot of pressure off of the linemen - kind of like a cornerback having safety help over the top - leaving them free to play with raw power and technique, so the state of the line as it is isn't as dire a situation as it would be with most teams.

The same goes for the running game, where one of the tight ends or the eligible lineman will pull into the gap to lead the back through.

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If Lewis does, indeed, start the regular season on PUP, does White have the chops to be productive enough in the running game to be more than just a receiving threat? - Darel (Utah via Foxborough Free Press)

You know, White definitely has the ability in the running game.  We saw it in college and we've seen just a smattering of it this preseason.  The thing is with White is that in college, he had Wisconsin's massive wall blocking scheme to run behind and in the pros, it's been the zone blocking scheme that relies on backs cutting against the grain into holes created by pulling guards and by tight ends with wham blocks.

We've seen his subtle style in space, so it's entirely possible that he could do the same thing between the tackles.

More than anyone else, White could use a better blocking cast than the one we saw last season.  The players were capable, but when the team had to use 26 different line combinations, including 13 different starting lineups, continuity and precision in the running game is tough to accomplish.  If the Patriots can find the right line combination - hell, just stick with one - White can be productive in the running game.

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We all know we get one of each, so who do you think is the surprise keeper and who is the surprise cut? - Ken (New Jersey via Pats Fans Pre-Belichick)

In all honesty, I had Bryan Stork listed as a cut, but upon waking on Wednesday morning, I discovered that Belichick had beat me to the punch.  Again.

I don't know how much of a surprise it's going to be, but three-tech tackle Anthony Johnson has played his way into a roster spot on the defensive line and I also believe that Elandon Roberts has shown well enough to create a niche for himself along side Kamu Grugier-Hill among the linebackers.  Cornerback Jonathan Jones could make the team as well.

The surprise cuts shouldn't be all that surprising either, as Aaron Dobson should get a pink slip along with a plethora of other receivers.  Clay Harbor is going to have to have a huge couple of weeks to make the team, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised to see Jonathan Cooper get the axe.

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Is Cannon the answer? - Todd (Connecticut via Pats Fans Pre-Belichick)

This is the season when Cannon finally grasps the right tackle position and owns it.  Read more here.

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With Vollmer and Mason out, what do you project the starting lineup to look like and do you expect Scar to go with a set unit or are they destined to rotate this season? - Rick (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada via Pats Fans Pre-Belichick)

Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Josh Kline and Marcus Cannon.  Of course, the right side is a question mark, especially at guard where Mason was set to dominate, and for them to go with the undersized Josh Kline would be a major step down in the running game - but the alternatives are limited. Ted Karras is a mauler and an interior street fighter, but doesn't handle speed rushers all that well.

Jonathan Cooper is an elite talent that would easily be considered the starter, but he is a china shop on a field full of bulls.  Tre Jackson would need to come off the PUP in the next couple of days to have any shot of regaining his right guard spot from last season.

That leaves Kline and Karras as the available guards.  Look for Karras to wedge his way into the lineup at some point, as the guy is potent in the slide protection scheme.

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Do the Patriots have any plans on returning to the UK anytime soon? - Keith (Belfast, Northern Ireland via Pats Fans Pre-Belichick)

Unfortunately, the NFL doesn't have a rotating schedule or anything that might give us an idea of when the Patriots might return to the land of Fish and Chips, no set formula, per se.  About the best I can do for you on that front is to forward information regarding this year's international series games, for which there are three contests in the United Kingdom.

Week 4 - Colts vs. Jaguars at Wembley Stadium
Week 7 - Giants vs Rams at Twickenham Stadium
Week 8 - Redskins vs Bengals at Wembley Stadium

Patriots' owner Robert Kraft is a huge proponent for putting a team in London, and it has been a dream of many at NFL headquarters for a long time, so there's that...

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Will Bill trade with the Browns for Josh Gordon? - James (Canada via Pats Fans Pre-Belichick)

Very doubtful, James.  The Patriot Way cuts him off at the pass.

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Is there any area that concerns you about this team? - Daniel (Maryland via The Belichickians)

Honestly, no - at least not on the field.  Allow me to elaborate:

"There were two main issues that plagued the running back corps last season, and both needed to be addressed in the offseason.  The first being addressing the lack of tangible depth, as New England had no one to carry the load after they lost both scatback Dion Lewis and power back LeGarrette Blount, rendering the offense one-dimensional.

No one needs to tell Patriots' fans how ugly that was, nor how frustrating it was to watch the offensive line being overwhelmed like a earthen levee trying to hold back a tsunami, the lack of a running game allowing Patriots' opponents to load up their pass rush, knowing that Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had next-to-nothing to attack the middle of the defense with.

The second issue was that McDaniels has a bad habit of ignoring the tenets of the offensive philosophy by passing to score, then passing to try and win - as evidenced by the Patriots logging the lowest number of running plays in the history of the franchise.

Some of that had to do with the injuries, but the pace was already set way before Blount went down with three games remaining on the Patriots' schedule - and that can't happen again if New England hopes to ascend to the pinnacle of professional football." - Foxborough Free Press, August 7, 2016

Those who follow this blog already know that I have a pretty big problem with the way that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels handles the running game.  I could go on and on about his track record in the second halves of games, relying on the short passing game to eat the clock when they have a running game for that very purpose.

My concern is for balance on offense, and the answer to that rests solely on the narrow shoulders of McDaniels.

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How many guys look to start the season on PUP?  There are many banged up players who need time to recover, and none bigger than Danny Amendola. - Daniel (Maryland via The Belichickians)

Well, the number can't be any more than what they started camp with, per NFL rules, as a player has to be on the preseason PUP in order to be eligible for the regular season PUP.  That said, there are only four players still on the Patriots' PUP: Amendola, Tre Jackson, Sebastian Vollmer and Dion Lewis - the latter two shelved for at least the time period that the PUP runs for, which is until after week six of the season.

Jackson is recovering from a knee procedure and has been seen infrequently around Patriots' Place, so his status appears to be in doubt, while Amendola has been a participant in conditioning drills separate from the rest of the team, but appears to be running well and is likely the only player remaining on the PUP that could be activated by the team prior to the regular season.

But should they activate him, or save him until eligible to be activated to ensure full health?  The answer to that is found in the depth chart, where he would be buried and no better than the fourth receiving option behind Gronkowski, Bennett, Edelman and maybe even James White, so it may be that Belichick plays it safe with him and keeps him on the PUP.

Let's call it money in the bank.

Bennett Comes As Advertised, Brings Nastiness To The Edge

It appears that Martellus Bennett comes as advertised.

That is, if the first half of his very first preseason game of his New England Patriots' career is any indication, as the eighth year veteran was the best player on the field for Bill Belichick's offense on Thursday night against the New Orleans Saints.

He was the best pass catcher and the best route runner, which goes to figure as he was the only veteran of any consequence on the field for New England so far as pass catchers went, but what really set him apart is that he - along with guards Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason - was the best blocker the Patriots put out on the field as well.

Coming out of college at Texas A&M, Bennett was considered a rare breed - a high school basketball star who transitioned to tight end seamlessly, so much so that he became the only tight end in NCAA history who averaged four receptions per game along with five "knockdown" blocks per contest.  His length, spindly arms and enormous hands serving him well in all aspects of the game...

...yet, being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round, he found himself a seldom-used backup to Jason Whitten, as the Cowboys' coaching staff had to endure best buddies Whitten and Tony Romo play pitch and catch, leaving not just Bennett an afterthought, but many disgruntled pass catchers.

Four years was enough for Bennett and the Cowboys, but they should have known what was up as far as perception around the league with Bennett when, in 2009, Dallas was offered a first round draft pick by Cincinnati for him, but the Cowboys refused and instead wasted his talents on the end of a bench.

Always outspoken about his skill set, Bennett jabbered constantly about being misused in Dallas and let his weight get up to nearly 300 pounds before the Cowboys decided to part ways. So it should have been obvious to the management of the Bears that if they wasted his talent, Bennett was going to speak up - only the Bears got something out of him when they decided to part ways, sending the one-time Pro Bowl selection to New England along with a sixth round draft pick, getting a meager fourth rounder in return.

But Foxborough is unlike anywhere else in the NFL, and there certainly isn't a coach in the league who knows how to get the most out of a player better than Belichick, who was on the cusp of the perfect offense when he drafted Rob Gronskowski and Aaron Hernandez in the 2010 NFL draft, planning to unleash a two tight end alignment that would revolutionize the game...

...which it did anyway, despite Gronkowski's lengthy stay on the IR and Hernandez life sentence for murder in 2013.

He was so close that it really had to sting when Hernandez got thrown into the poke for being a murderous thug, especially in light of what Gronkowski has been able to accomplish since - but multiple attempts to find a complementary tight end to the unanimous All Pro has failed miserably, mainly because the players he brought in, Tim Wright and Scott Chandler, were in a different area code than the multi-faceted Gronkowski, and they subsequently wilted and were released.

Mason looking for a victim on White's big play

So the decision to pursue Bennett probably had to be a no-brainer for Belichick.

And not just because of his pass catching ability, which has produced numbers just shy of Gronkowski's league-leading digits from the past couple of seasons, but also because he is rated as a top blocking tight end, a skill set that Patriots' fans got to take a look at on Thursday night.

Out of 31 snaps, Bennett went out in the pattern just ten times - instead, putting on a edge blocking exhibition that has to have the Dark Master giddy with excitement.

And not just your standard I'm-a-pass-catcher-but-I'm-blocking-on-this-play effort, Bennett got downright nasty, especially on running plays, his work helping to spring reserve running back Brandon Bolden a couple of times, opening holes for LeGarrette Blount on the perimeter, and leading the way on James White's 56 yard catch and run..

Blount missed his hole a couple of times, but Bolden set up behind Bennett nicely on two occasions, waiting for the big man to literally drive his man out of the gap before shooting through it.  On White's delayed screen, both right guard Shaq Mason and wide receiver Aaron Dobson laid perfect blocks to spring White, who was then escorted down the field by Bennett, who was holding off his man at the same time.

Bennett escorting White

Excellent stuff, and worth the wait to see it with our own eyes - he has been written about, his role in the offense pondered and opined on relentlessly, but until we saw him in action, he was just the "Black Unicorn", a myth.

But he is hardly a myth, as more than just a couple of Saints' front seven defenders found out on Thursday night, as he was spotted discussing things with Gronkowski on the sidelines after throwing several Saints out of the club - well, maybe not throw them out of the club, but he seemed to revel in pushing them around, more times than not driving his man right out of the picture.

For sure, Belichick has revived Patriots' philosophies from a time when his teams were physical, and always more physical than the other guys.  It's how he won three Super Bowls in the span of just four seasons, and seeing his brand new tight end putting linebackers on the ground in the running game and picking up the edge as a pass blocker has to confirm - in his mind, anyway - that once he trims the roster down to 53, he will have one of the most physical teams in his tenure.

When combined with Gronkowski and the no-nonsense attitude brought by offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia that filters down to his linemen, last season's difficulties in the trenches should become just a faded memory, the running game should gain traction and the benefits to the passing game should go without saying...