(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

A few days ago, Patriot Nation received a shock to the system.  The last remnants of the defensive link to all three Super Bowl championships had left. 

Richard Seymour was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first-round pick.  NFL insiders on ESPN did not even list New England as a Super Bowl contender after they heard about the trade.

This makes it a total of three veteran players, Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi being the others, that the Patriots have lost in the preseason.  

The on-the-field leadership for the defensive backs has been placed on the broad shoulders of Jerod Mayo, a second-year player whose rookie season warranted his selection as the 10th overall in the first round. 

Young players like Brandon Meriwether and Tully Banta-Cain as well as rookies Patrick Chung and Darius Butler will have to step it up.

The media have all but given up on a championship parade in Government Center for the Patriots.  Rumors abound about how "Uncle" Bill has all but given up on the season and this trade proves it, especially since Seymour has refused to report to the Raiders as of this writing.

The Patriots have no claim to him.

The past few years the Patriot defense has been a lackluster bunch.  There was a sort of malaise that had them allowing the offense to dictate the flow of the game.  They had forgotten it was defense that had gotten them those rings and the right to be given the "D" word..."Dynasty."

They had a Hall-of-Fame coach, quarterback, and possibly a wide receiver in Randy Moss.  Yet, last year, when Tom Brady was felled, they failed to step up their support  for his replacement, Matt Cassell, in tight games.

The offense wasn't the problem, his team had went 11-6 and in any other year that would have been good enough to make the playoffs. Bill Belichick knew then that he had to do something; his defense had gotten lazy, and let's face it, he needed new challenges to whet his championship appetite. 

Like Larry Brown of the Charlotte Bobcats, Belichick is a teacher by nature.  He has been studying football film since he was 12 years old.  Therefore, he must have some genius behind what others have considered madness with this blow to his defensive unit. 

Dean Pees has been experimenting with the 4-3 base defense. Such a defense requires young legs, and who knows maybe "Uncle" Bill will come up with a hybrid defense that will stop all this talk about the lack of a dominant defense.

The New England Patriots face challenges on both sides of the ball with a quarterback returning from injury and the sheer youth of the defense.  

This season, the doubting pundits have reignited that fire in Belichick's belly. He will lather the boys up with the disrespect card and send them out on the field. 

Meanwhile Patriot Nation should keep repeating this mantra: "In Bill we Trust!" three times every night before they go to bed.

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