By George Cain, Patriots Daily Guest Contributor

Maybe looks ARE deceiving. I watch this Patriot defense and I think, there is no way they are going to the Super Bowl. Not enough talent, not enough health, not enough playmakers. You need balance on both sides of the ball right?

But then I look around the league and I start to question my own eyes. If the Patriots make it to Indianapolis they will do it with one of the worst statistical regular season defenses of any representative in Super Bowl history.

But, there have been teams with mediocre to bad defenses in recent years that have appeared in the big game. In just the last 6 years, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Arizona come to mind. New Orleans and Indianapolis walked out of those Super Bowls with the Lombardi Trophy. And Arizona, came pretty darn close. This is the NFL in the Polian rule era. Ironically, Bill Polian was the GM of the Buffalo Bills in
the 90’s, an explosive offensive team better suited for today’s NFL. Polian was just 20 years too late to help the fans of Buffalo, but he was able to change the game enough for Indianapolis to break through in 2006.

As for this season, it’s hard to get your mind around anything. Ron Borges seems to have it all figured out, I wish we were all as smart as Mr. Borges. Myself, I am not so sure. I mean look what’s happened so far this season.

• The Patriots beat the Chargers, Cowboys and the Jets, not once but twice.
• The Jets beat the Chargers and Cowboys and got destroyed by the Ravens.
• The Ravens beat the Steelers twice but lost to the Chargers.
• The Steelers beat the Patriots but lost to the Texans.
• The Texans beat the Bengals and lost to the Titans.
• The Titans beat the Ravens, lost to the Broncos and the pathetic COLTS.
• The Broncos lost to the Lions and Patriots.
• The Lions lost to the Saints and 49’ers.
• 49’ers lost to the Cowboys and Ravens but beat the Steelers.
• The Saints lost to the Packers on opening night, the Bucs and the Rams; two awful teams who will have new coaches next year.
• The Packers lost to Kansas City. That’s right Kansas City.
• And Kansas City lost to the Patriots, Jets, Broncos, Lions, Chargers, Bills, Steelers and Dolphins. And they fired their coach.

Everyone still with me? Good, because I got confused once I started writing about all these matchups. I guess it’s why the NFL is the premier sport in this country and it’s not even close. It’s also why the Patriots, with all their flaws, with all their defensive problems and with all their critics, have as good a shot as anyone in January.

Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I recommend the Lagunitas IPA, if your over 21, its relaxing during trying times.

For the New England Patriots the 2010-2011 season ended with enormous disappointment.  The Patriots finished the regular season with a league-best 14-2 record and guaranteed home field throughout the AFC playoffs.  They had an impressive record of 6-1 against the 2011 playoff field.  The season ended, however, with an embarrassing loss to the rival New York Jets. Afterwards, Patriots owner Bob Kraft even questioned that game plan.  It was strange offseason with the lockout and an abbreviated training camp.  Despite last year’s failures the Patriots were still the consensus pick across the NFL and in Vegas to join Green Bay in Indianapolis.

Now at 5-3 the Patriots are at a crossroad as they hit the half way point of their season.  A win over the New York Jets this week and they are back in the driver’s seat for the division.  A loss and they will be on the outside looking in.   The Patriots should not be in this position, and contrary to what Ron Borges wrote Monday, this dynasty or “elite era” doesn’t need to end now.

However, barring a miraculous turnaround to the season it looks like it will be another failed bite at the apple for Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.  Things were going wrong awhile before Eli Manning’s winning touchdown pass on Sunday.  You have to go back to the end of last season to find the root cause of the Patriots journey to mediocrity.

1)      2011-12 Coaching Staff – A team that once boasted a staff of Charlie Weis, Josh McDaniels, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini and Rob Ryan is now left with Matt Patricia, Bill O’Brien, Pepper Johnson and Josh Boyer.  Johnson is the only one of the four with any strong links to the old regime having been trained under Crennel.  Peculiar that Belichick who once surrounded himself with experienced veteran coaches continues to chose this route.  Just look around the league and see what some experienced defensive coordinators like Wade Phillips (Houston), Mike Zimmer (Cincinnati) and Rex Ryan (Jets, albeit as a head coach) in relatively short time.  While the Patriots and Belichick are going on year four of a rebuilding process.

2)      2011 Draft – There were promising, impact defensive players available all throughout the first two rounds of the draft.  The Patriots ended up with an offensive tackle, a late first round pick in the 2012 draft, an oft-injured cornerback and two running backs that aren’t being used.

3)      2011 Free Agency – Because of the lockout, free agency didn’t start till the summer.  And because 2010 was an “uncapped” year there were an inordinate amount of Free Agents available on the market.  Peter King of SI, listed his top 50 Free Agents prior to the mad rush.

There were some impressive players on the defensive side of the ball, an area where the Patriots at the moment aren’t just bad, they are desperate.  One or two could have made a gigantic difference.  Just look at the numbers some of these free agents are putting up this year.

• Cullen Jenkins DT Eagles (5 Sacks)
• Jason Babin DE Eagles (9 sacks)
• Antonio Cromartie CB Jets (3 INT, 1 FF)
• Johnathan Joseph CB Texans (3 INT, FF, 10 PD)
• Dashon Goldson S, 49’ers (2 INT, 1FF, 39 tackles)
• Carlos  Rogers CB 49’ers, (3 INT, TD, 9 PD)
• Dawan Landry S Jaguars (53 tackles INT, FF)
• Matt Roth DE, Jaguars 3 Sacks)

The Patriots chose to shop at the bargain basement once again.  Brian Waters has worked out as a starting guard on offense. Defensive ends, Andre Carter and Mark Anderson have had their moments, but neither has shown to be consistent threats to the quarterback. The Patriots more than any team knew the landscape coming out of free agency, and with the draft already done they didn’t plug holes where they needed to, and they began the season almost $10 million under the cap. It’s OK to question if Robert Kraft is willing to go the extra dollar for a championship, especially, when you see the amount of undrafted and late round picks starting for this team.

4)      Two bad trades – Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco.   They have been busts through the first 8 games. Both players’ careers were already on downward trends which is why the Patriots were able to acquire them without giving up much in trade. Ocho’s $6 million price tag makes this gamble that much more painful and puzzling.

5)      Construction of the 53 man roster – Belichick always says he puts out the guys he thinks are going to give him the best chance to win. Watching this defense it’s hard to believe that cutting both starting safeties (Meriweather and Sanders), a slot corner (Leigh Bodden) as well as adding Shaun Ellis were the right moves. That is especially so when you see the likes of Josh Barrett, Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo and Phillip Adams roaming the secondary.

6)      The Danny Woodhead Experiment – I love Danny Woodhead, but unfortunately Bill O’Brien does too, and that’s becoming a bad thing. Woodhead is great in a defined role, which includes short passes out of the backfield and draw plays from the shot-gun.  But lining it up every week and running him off tackle is an exercise in futility.  Against the Giants it cost them on a key 3^rd and 1 and later it cost them a chance to run the game clock down to 1:15 after Woodhead got tossed out-of-bounds like a rag doll.  That inexcusable decision by O’Brien with BenJarvus Green-Ellis on the sideline was as big a contributing factor to that loss as any other mistake the Patriots made against the Giants.  The Patriots have other running backs that run better between the tackles, but O’Brien still hasn’t figured that out yet.  He’s still content with the Woodhead off tackle for a yard.  I’m focusing here on Danny Woodhead, but in contrast to last year, the play calling in general has been unimaginative.

7)      The  Bend-but-don’t-Break Defense – At this point, why not start taking chances?  The Patriots have stuck with an aggressive attacking style all season.  They had success against the Giants for most of the game by applying pressure.  When they backed off, Manning shredded them. Death by a thousand cuts is messy and it seems at times to disrupt the rhythm of this offense as they wait on the sidelines.

8)      Sitting tight at the deadline – The NFL Trade deadline is pretty quiet, WR Brandon Lloyd was perhaps the biggest name moved.  He was the NFL Yardage leader in receiving last year and played under the Josh McDaniels system. Lloyd was a free agent  at the end of the year and the Patriots did not want to waste a 5^th round pick on him, which is ironic, since they have wasted a lot of 2^nd and 3^rd round picks the last four years.

9)      Play the Kids – You drafted Jermaine Cunningham, Stevan Ridley, Taylor Price and Shane Vereen high because you expected they could be impact players.  They have all had injury problems, but when healthy they are still low on the depth chart.  At this point isn’t it time to take a chance?

10)   Too much pressure on Brady – Age is going to be a factor with Tom Brady in the very near future.  Is it starting this year?  It’s possible, but it also could be that the Patriots have structured team in a way that puts winning and losing all on Brady.  He’s had four mediocre to bad games and the Patriots have lost three of them.  He’s not the problem, but with no help on defense or special teams he’s becoming part of it.

Some would have you believe that the Patriots’ struggles this season didn’t happen overnight.  I’ve  made that point myself, but on the flip side, you can look at things under the microscope and realize that in the NFL you can also turn it around overnight.  I see an AFC field with flaws up and down, a few tweaks here and there and the Patriots could easily be the team to beat this season.  In January the Patriots might stick it to all the dissenters –  I hope I am one of them.

In 2001, they went from 6-5 to the Super Bowl.  That team did it with heart, determination, coaching and some pretty good talent.

This year they will have to overcome shortcomings in many of those same areas, shortcomings that are the result of bad decisions up and down the organization.

By George Cain,
Patriots Daily Contributor

#1 Tom Brady – There is nothing new or novel I could write about TB12 that hasn’t been covered by every sportswriter in the country.  This team goes as far as Tom Brady can take them.  That has not always been the case. During their Super Bowl appearances from 2001 thru 2007, Brady’s phenomenal play was offset by a professional, intelligent play-making defense. It’s easy to forget Brady throwing an interception in the end zone in the 2003 AFC Championship game against the Colts and later in the 2003 Super Bowl against the Panthers.  In both cases, the defense did enough to cancel out those key turnovers.  Today those mistakes would cripple this team.  Last year against the Jets, Brady threw a pick on the first drive and Alge Crumpler dropped a sure touchdown pass on the second drive.   Those two miscues lost the game because the defense was unable to make stops when they needed it.  The next five weeks are really going to clarify the picture with this Patriots team.  They play three very good teams on the road, (Steelers, Jets, Eagles), a good Giants team at home and an improving Kansas City team who let’s just say, knows this offense.  If the Patriots come out of the next five games at 3-2 they are looking strong at 8-3, with some very winnable games down the stretch.  The number one or two seed will most likely be in their grasp, but Brady will have to play similar to his 2010 form, with low turnovers and an offense that can score 30 every week.

#2 Jerod Mayo – This is a big season for Mayo.  He’s coming off an All-Pro year in which he led the league in tackles.  He was supposed to be the anchor on a new attacking 4-3 defense.  He is coming close to the end of his rookie contract.   Given all that, my question still, is this, who is Jerod Mayo?  He’s not Ray Lewis, he’s not Patrick Willis, and he’s not Brian Urlacher.  He has yet to prove he is the type of playmaker on defense that teams game plan against. Actually, the player he most reminds me of is Pepper Johnson, a solid middle linebacker who always did his job, but was never known for being a big play linebacker.  That worked well for Pepper, but he had Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor alongside him.  Mayo has Rob Ninkovich and Brandon Spikes.  What the Patriots really need is another Tedy Bruschi. They don’t need a guy who just makes tackles. They need a linebacker who can change a game. Just off the top of my head I can think of three Bruschi’s interceptions that won games. There was a 4th quarter pick of Donovan McNabb in the Super Bowl, one against Detroit on Thanksgiving for a touchdown and of course, who can forget his interception against the Dolphins in a 12-0 win that led to an explosion of fireworks made from fallen snow. There were also two plays in the divisional round in 2004 against the Colts, where he ripped the ball out of Dominic Rhodes’ arms and later pounced on a Reggie Wayne fumble. Mayo doesn’t have any of these type of plays on his resume.  He’s injured his MCL for the 2^nd time in four years. He’s going to have come back stronger from this injury than he did in 2009, and the Patriots will need him to be a presence on the defense.

#3 Ras-I Dowling – Ras-I Dowling? The guy who has played in two games?  He’s been a complete non-factor all season, and that’s why I list him. Dowling can impact a secondary that has really struggled the past 3 seasons. Inconsistency has forced the Patriots to play a lot of zone coverage and give up a ton of yards. Belichick looked at the 2011 draft class and declared it to have as much depth at defensive line as any draft in recent memory. The Patriots had 3 picks in the first 33. There was no doubt going into the draft the needs were offensive and defensive line. The team was in dire need of a pass rusher. Belichick for reasons we’ll never know, chose not to move up for studs like JJ Watt, Nick Fairley and Ryan Kerrigan. He drafted Nate Solder at #17 and that pick, with the injury to Sebastian Vollmer, has looked good so far.

Could the Patriots have traded up and drafted an impact defensive lineman and then backfilled Solder’s spot later? That answer would most likely be yes. Instead they have a tackle that could be a major component of this offensive line for the next 5 years, minimum. It was a solid selection.

Then with the Patriots #28 selection, Belichick decided he didn’t like the value on the board for that spot. So he traded it to New Orleans for their #1 pick next year and the 2011 #56 overall selection.  The Patriots drafted Shane Vereen out of California with that pick. If you’re not familiar with him, it’s because he hasn’t really played all season. He hurt his hamstring in camp, and has been inactive in most weeks. He seems to be a redundant player behind Danny Woodhead and maybe Kevin Faulk.

So with the first pick in the second round the Patriots selected Ras-I Dowling. Dowling has the physique, the tools and the skill to be a top corner in the NFL.  Unfortunately, he has never proven that he can stay healthy and that trend continues to follow him into his rookie season. Belichick could have drafted defensive lineman Jabaal Sheard or outside linebacker Brooks Reed. Both are making an impact as rookies with Cleveland and Houston this season.  Belichick, however, felt another shut down corner alongside Devin McCourty was necessary. I can’t argue with that logic in what has become a passing league. I do question Belichick ignoring Dowling’s medical history.  This wasn’t picking Marcus Cannon in the 5^th round despite a non-Hodgkins lymphoma diagnosis or Brandon Tate in the 3^rd round coming off an ACL tear to run back kicks. This essentially was a first round pick for the Patriots, and they needed to hit on it.

Dowling’s injury history dates back to high school. He’s had hamstring, ankle, knee and now hip problems in his young football career. Hip injuries are NEVER a good sign at the pro level regardless of position. He only played in 5 of Virginia’s games last year. This year he has one preseason and two regular season games under his belt. Coming off a bye week where Dowling had ample time to rest, he STILL is not able to fully practice. He’s basically been hurt most of August, September and October. This is not good news for the Patriots who need him desperately.

If the Patriots plan on playing in the Super Bowl in Indianapolis in February they are going to need this defense to improve as the season goes on.   Dowling offers the most potential;  a big bodied defensive back who can not only play shut down corner but can help out as a Free Safety for a group who lacks play makers.

Belichick chose not to spend big on free agents.  He decided against a young defensive lineman.  He dictated the defensive backfield as an area that needed the most improvement.    If Dowling cannot offer help then the Patriots are depending heavily on average Safeties, an oft-injured Corner in Leigh Bodden, a hard-working but limited Kyle Arrington, and Devin McCourty, who thus far has been in a severe sophomore slump.

Last year despite a 14-2 record the Pats couldn’t get past the Jets. This season, without help, nothing will change. For most of us, it’s more than getting to the playoffs, it about winning it all and Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees will be there waiting.  The Patriots are going to need slow down these offenses. Dowling is going to have to get out of the trainer’s room and start to contribute.

By George Cain, Guest Author

I don’t know when Bill Belichick lost his fastball on defense.

Maybe it was in 2008 at about the same time Josh Beckett lost his. After another pathetic performance by the Patriots defense this past Sunday against the Bills, I am left wondering when and if he is going to get it back.

I mean this is Bill Belichick, who was canonized this month by NFL Films in “A Football Life.”  He is the defensive guru with five Super Bowl rings, two coming as a DEFENSIVE coordinator. He has been a successful defensive coach wherever he has been.  But he has FAILED to field a championship defense since he shipped Richard Seymour out of town three seasons ago.

So let’s just stick to facts.  The Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years; they were the undisputed “Team of Decade.”  It has been seven years since their last Super Bowl Championship, and three seasons and counting since they got out of the first round of the playoffs. The bar is high for this team, but that’s what comes with greatness.

• Fact: Bill Belichick has won three Super Bowl titles as a Head Coach and two titles as a Defensive Coordinator.

• Fact: The Patriots are going to have their 11th winning season in row.  They have already won eight AFC East titles under Belichick.

• Fact: Bill Belichick is going to the Hall of Fame.

• Fact: Since the night we never want to talk about in Glendale, Arizona this pass defense has gotten progressively worse.

• Fact: The Patriots have not been to the Super Bowl since 2007 because their defense is not championship caliber.

• Opinion:  You could give Tom Brady about 20 other team’s defense and he could win the Super Bowl THIS year.  But, Bill cannot even field a top 20 defense right now.

Here are three reasons why:

#1 – Good Players Out, Bad Players In
It was inevitable that Mike Vrabel, Willie McGinest, Rodney Harrison, Ty Law and Tedy Bruschi were going to get old and retire.  They were all Pro Bowl players who made significant contributions to the three Super Bowl titles, and are not easily replaceable. But, the Patriots also let go of Asante Samuel and Richard Seymour.  They were two All-Pro players under the age of 30, and the Patriots had no one to fill the void. Seymour was the Patriots last pure pass rusher and their best defensive player of the last 10 years.  He commanded a double team and could create his own rush from a four man front. They let him go for a draft pick 2 years later, who turned out to be Nate Solder.  The Pats could have found another tackle; a pass rusher is a little more difficult.

With both these players the spin was that the Patriots couldn’t afford them under the cap. Well, I subscribe fully to the Michael Felger “Cap is Crap” mantra.  Somehow the Steelers are able to pay Big Ben, Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Casey Hampton and James Farrior. If you’re creative you can make it happen. The Patriots spent just spent 25 million guaranteed, on big Vince Wilfolk.  Vince is an All-Pro and one of the top nose tackles in the league and yet the Patriots defense still is horrible.  So, if we are going to buy into the salary cap argument maybe 25 million on a nose tackle wasn’t the wisest allocation.  But if you still believe that the Patriots couldn’t afford EITHER player then explain to me, what was the backup plan?  This segues into my next point, horrible drafting on defense.

#2 – Horrible Drafting on Defense
When it comes to drafting, there is luck, chance, and a thousand other variables involved.  But the 2011 Patriots just don’t seem to be very talented despite spending a tremendous amount of draft currency to improve the

team.  I wanted to highlight just a few obvious misses in the last four drafts.

2007 – Brandon Meriweather, made a couple of Pro Bowls, but never lived up to his potential and never made it through his rookie contract. The thing is though, he might be better than what they are starting right now.

2008 – Jerod Mayo has been a very good player, but so far he isn’t the play maker that Tedy Bruschi was. He has been worthy of his #10 overall draft selection, but needs to be more than just a tackler. The rest of the defensive players drafted that year -Terrence Wheatley (bust) Shawn Crable (bust), Jonathan Wilhite (bust), are all no longer with the team.

2009 – I unlike some, give them a pass on Clay Matthews.  There were steroid concerns with him that I think deserved attention. But this draft had plenty of impact defensive players in the first two rounds -Vontae Davis, Ziggy Hood, James Laurinaitis, Conor Barwin, the Patriots didn’t draft any of them. They instead spent their four second round picks on Pat Chung, Ron Brace, Sebastian Vollmer and Darius Butler.

Chung has been solid, not great but solid.  Brace has been out of shape, hurt and basically a non-factor.  If you watched any Boston College football games you might have noticed a lot of Brace’s success was based on the fact he played next to All-American BJ Raji, now with the Super Bowl Champion Packers. Darius Butler, was a great athlete, but not an instinctual defensive back and after showing glimpses, faded and was cut.

Is Jermaine Cunningham The Latest Draft Bust?

2010 – This was a great draft, with a big miss. McCourty was spectacular last year, and although he’s exhibited somewhat of a sophomore slump, you still have to be confident he’ll turn it around. The offensive players drafted in 2010 have been phenomenal, but it’s the Jermaine Cunningham selection that should have Patriot fans seething. Remember, Bill spent a lot of time scouting Jermaine while he was at Florida playing for Bill’s buddy Urban Meyer. During that time Bill should have noticed Cunningham’s teammate, All-American Carlos Dunlap. Dunlap had 9 ½ sacks in 7 games last year with Cincinnati.  He’s off to a somewhat slow start this year while battling a knee injury but was in Alex Smith’s face several times Sunday despite not figuring heavily on the stat sheet. Dunlap did have off the field issues but with Albert Haynesworth on the team you can’t really use that as an excuse anymore.  So if you’re keeping track that’s a miss on Matthews (pass) and a miss on Dunlap. Please don’t give me this scheme crap -if you can rush the passer you can rush the passer. If it is about the “reading and reacting” then Jermaine Cunningham doesn’t do that either.

2011 – I think Bill walked away from the Jets loss with a different view than most.  He saw a Patriot team that needed tweaks on offense to beat the Jets.  He saw his offensive line getting pushed around in another playoff game.  So I agree they needed depth on the offensive line.

But I also saw a team that couldn’t make stops on defense when the team needed it. Bill called the 2011 draft one of the deepest defensive line drafts in recent memory.  He then decided not to draft a defensive lineman or linebacker till the 6th round.  Their depth chart at the end of last season was Ty Warren, who was on IR, Vince Wilfolk and Mike Wright coming off a concussion that knocked him out the second half of the season.  The Pats had the currency to trade up and get an impact rusher.

Ryan Kerrigan was there at 16, the Pats were at 17.   They decided to sit tight, draft Solder and then for some ridiculous reason, trade their second number one pick to the Saints for a pick next year.  The Redskins traded up offering Jacksonville a second round pick, got Kerrigan and he looks like Clay Matthews redux. Shane Vereen, who the Patriots drafted with their other second round pick, has been in street clothes every week. Solder is going to be a solid offensive lineman but they could have drafted Gabe Carimi with that second first round pick to fill the Solder role, and still had Kerrigan.

Also, in the second round, Bill decided to draft Ras-I-Dowling, and passed on Jabaal Sheard a DL who looks very good for the Browns. Dowling has size, speed and the physical tools to be a shutdown corner.  But he played in only 5 games his Senior year in college and has injury history going back to high school.  Football is one sport where oft-injured players seldom shake that history. Predictably, Dowling has missed most of training camp and got injured in game two.

#3 Bad Free Agents Signings and Bill’s Arrogance – Maybe it was that great 2004 team winning it all with a secondary that consisted of a rookie, Asante Samuel at one corner.  Another undrafted rookie, Randall Gay at the other corner and a journeymen like Earthwind Moreland in the dime package. Did it give Bill a false sense that it’s all scheme and talent is less of a factor?

After the 2006 loss to the Colts they spent big money on free agent Adalius Thomas. It was a massive failure and seemed to scare Bill off big time free agent acquisitions. Free agency is a risk, but if you’re not going to draft pass rushers, then don’t you need to make a play for guys like Julius Peppers, Justin Babin, or Cullen Jenkins. This offense is so superior; the Patriots just need ONE, ONE guy on the line that can strike fear into an opposing quarterback. But this is what you got instead:

• Shaun Ellis – 13 year veteran cut by the Jets, mostly unproductive through the first 3 games.

• Vince Wilfolk – Let’s be honest, he’s been quiet, and he is not a pass rusher, and that is the MAIN problem right now.

• Albert Haynesworth – He’s come as advertised, out of shape, unmotivated, injury prone and a waste of time.

• Andre Carter – Looked good in a preseason game but maybe now we know why he was cut loose.

• Mark Andersen – His last good season was 2006.

• Mike Wright – Always a good role player, now unfortunately because of concussions, a weekly scratch.

• Brandon Spikes – Good against the run, but horrible against the pass, and hasn’t had a huge impact on this defense.

• Rob Ninkovich – He’s a JAG.  He works hard, but just isn’t strong enough or fast enough to get to the QB from the outside.

• Devin McCourty – really struggling, but he is their best pass defender.

• Ras-I Dowling – Has never shown an ability to stay healthy.

• Leigh Bodden – Hasn’t been the player he was in 2009 after missing last season.

• The Patriots Safeties – I group them together. Pat Chung is their best player, but he’s hurt.  They cut Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders in favor of Sergio Brown and Josh Barrett. Brown and Barrett thus far have been major downgrades from Meriweather, Sanders and Jarrad Page.  All three, started for other teams Sunday.

So don’t give me complexity of the defense or any of that other baloney for those of you still chanting “In Bill We Trust.”  This offense is Super Bowl caliber.  The Patriots have Tom Brady, he is once in a lifetime player, and they are letting his prime slip away. This defense is not average, it’s not middle of the road, it’s just plain bad. Bill Belichick is supposed to be a “defensive genius” but yet we are going on four years that this defense hasn’t been Super Bowl caliber. Rex Ryan, was a defensive coach with the Ravens. He came to the Jets and immediately the Jets defense became top tier in the league.  The Steelers and Ravens consistently have top-notch defenses and Don Capers (a Patriot assistant in 2008) has done a superb job in Green Bay. All three teams get after the quarterback. Isn’t that what we should expect from Bill?

You get what you pay for and right now they are PAYING for lack of talent on defense. I think this team wins 11 to 12 games behind the greatness of #12, but right now I doubt they play in the Super Bowl. If Bill wants to reinforce his genius status he’ll get this band of average players to be able to play “some” defense. Otherwise, from the Kool-Aid drinkers you’ll hear the same excuses. There were injuries, they are still young, the scheme is too complicated, Brady’s made some mistakes etc.

And it will be another year that the Patriots failed to win a Super Bowl despite having the best player in the league.