Deflategate Will Be a Blip on the Radar in New England Patriots' 2015 Season

Now that Tom Brady has appealed his four-game suspension for his role in Deflategate and the findings in the Wells Report, the New England Patriots and the rest of the NFL anxiously await NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision on whether to reduce Brady's four-game suspension, remove it entirely or leave it untouched.

We won't know for about a month, according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.

"Roger Goodell is going to look over [the briefs], and those may take a couple weeks, so nothing is imminent," Rapoport said Wednesday on "NFL Total Access" (via Chris Wesseling of NFL.com). "As far as a target date, the hope from people involved is that by the start of training camp, about a month from now, the Patriots will know [whether] Tom Brady [will] be on the field for the opener."

Barring a catastrophe of epic proportions, the results of the appeal will not matter much in the grand scheme of the Patriots' season. 

By now, you know that the Patriots began the 2014 season 2-2, which sparked prognostications of doom from the media and joyous celebrations of the Patriots' downfall from fans of other teams. By now, you also know that the Patriots went on to win 10 of their next 12 regular-season games and eventually won the Super Bowl, despite that slow start.

Player	Matt Cassel	Kyle Orton
Matt Cassel	2008	2009
Comp %	63.4	62.1
TD	21	21
INT	11	12
Rating	89.4	86.8

It would be easy to assume that the Patriots will be off to an equally slow start with Jimmy Garoppolo behind center instead of Tom Brady, but that's not a safe assumption at all. 

Josh McDaniels has done fabulous work with average to below-average quarterbacks as his signal-callers. Look no further than the miraculous numbers posted by the likes of Matt Cassel and Kyle Orton under McDaniels' tutelage for examples of what the Patriots offensive coordinator can do even while working around a limited passer.

One thing Garoppolo has in common with Cassel and Orton is that he will be surrounded by enough weapons that his job should be exceedingly easy. Cassel had wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker along with an effective running game (fourth in rush attempts, sixth in rushing yards, fourth in rushing touchdowns in 2008); Orton had wide receiver Brandon Marshall in one of the best years of his career (101 receptions, 1,120 yards, 10 touchdowns). 

Garoppolo will have All-World tight end Rob Gronkowski, slot machine Julian Edelman, rising veteran Danny Amendola and another emerging talent in Brandon LaFell. Most quarterbacks would give an appendage to have that kind of firepower at their disposal. With so many capable playmakers surrounding Garoppolo, the margin for error is much bigger than it could be.

And even if Garoppolo isn't perfect from the start, there are still 12 games (or more) after Brady's return for him to turn the team around.

Week	Date	Opponent
1	9/10	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
2	9/20	at Buffalo Bills
3	9/27	vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
5	10/11	at Dallas Cowboys

The Patriots' 2015 schedule starts off with two playoff teams in the first four games (Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys), and a third team that finished with a winning record in 2014 (Buffalo Bills). However, two of the team's first four games are at home, and one is seemingly a gimme (Jacksonville Jaguars). 

All four games are winnable, although the two against the Steelers and Cowboys will be challenging. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo can take advantage of favorable matchups in the secondary, and both men have a bevy of pass-catching talent at their disposal to help take advantage of the Patriots' porous secondary.

With Rex Ryan as the head coach, the Bills could give the Patriots a tough go of it, as well. Ryan has been known to frustrate the Patriots with his exotic and aggressive defense in the past, and the Bills defense gave the Patriots fits in the season finale in 2014.  

The Patriots are more than capable of turning things around after a less-than-perfect start, and nothing can be set in stone after four (or fewer) games with Garoppolo manning the trigger of the offense. 

And if reports out of the hearing are any indication, the Patriots may not be without their star quarterback for the full four games of his initial suspension.  

That's assuming Brady doesn't take this thing all the way to court, in which case they may have Brady for the entire 2015 season, with Brady potentially serving his suspension in 2016 if it's not revoked completely.

But even if Brady does miss time in 2015, there's no reason to push the panic button in New England.

Given McDaniels' experience dealing with less-than-ideal quarterbacks, the overall lack of difficulty of the Patriots' first four games of the season and the possibility that Brady's suspension will be reduced or lifted completely, it's easy to see the Patriots making it out of their early-season stretch with their playoff hopes in tact. 

And even if it seems the dynasty may finally be dead, Brady's return to the fold could give the Patriots new life to rise from the grave.