New England Patriots: Moss and Brady Reunite, Belichick Salivates

As you are reading this New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is probably holed up in a dimly-lit room littered with empty boxes of Chinese food, in a dirty cutoff hoodie, fiendishly devising new offensive plays for the 2009 season.

But the Patriots playbook probably won't elicit a feeling a change, more familiarity.

Familiarity of the 2007 season that is, when the golden-boy Tom Brady was chucking the ball 80 yards downfield to a streaking Randy Moss. Hell, if you listen to what Moss has to say during the Patriots initial OTAs, the rest of the NFL ought to be wetting themselves.

“The sky's the limit for this offense,” Moss told ESPN’s Tim Graham. “I think that we could be a little bit better than two years ago.”

Better than two years ago? Better than 16-0, Brady’s 50 touchdown passes, Moss’ 23 touchdown receptions, 589 total points, and 75 touchdowns.

Whether or not Moss' confidence is warranted, it’s frightening to think about better than two years ago. A lot of things will have to go right for that to happen, but one thing is for sure, with Brady taking snaps, the Patriots will toss the “game management” playbook from last year and pull out the run-and-gun offense.

But there will be one missing link in former Pats offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels, who will be dealing with his own playbook issues on the other side of the country as a head coach in Denver.

As of now, New England hasn’t filled the void left by McDaniels, but with Belichick entering his ninth year with the team, it’s not like the offense will have to adjust to a new system. Former Patriots coaching assistant Bill O’Brien will take over as the quarterbacks coach, and will probably assist in offensive play-calling.

Changes you might see will be more in the backfield formations. The Patriots have a knack for getting the most out of four or five running backs at a time.

With the offseason acquisition of Fred Taylor, the depth chart looks like this, according to Patriots Football Weekly: Sammy Morris, Taylor, Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk, BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

Sure none of them are going to churn out a 1,200 yard season, but Belichick will likely get the most out of each of them by using the running back-by-committee approach, similar to last year (perhaps with fewer injuries).

Belichick will look to establish a running game as a threat, and then utilize play-action trickery to get the secondary on its heels for Moss. The acquisition of Joey Galloway, an aging but speedy receiver, should open up depth for Moss as well.

And of course Brady’s go-to safety valve (and Cassel’s savior) will be Wes Welker, coming off 111-catch season. Come to think of it, Welker should probably get a commission on Cassel’s $14.651 million contract.

On the defensive side of the ball, look for the Pats to apply more pressure with blitz packages now that their secondary has made improvements with cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden.

Last year, with a decimated secondary, defensive coordinator Dean Pees still managed to guide the squad to a 10th place total defense ranking (309 yards per game) and eighth in points allowed per game (19.3).

But, last year’s defense lacked the guts to finish games (see 2008 losses to the Colts and the Jets). This has been a stigma for Pees over the last few years, particularly after the 2006 playoff loss to the Colts and the (earmuffs, New England) 17-14 Super Bowl XLII loss to the Giants.

After third-round draft choice Tyrone McKenzie tore his ACL in rookie mini-camp, leaving him sidelined for the season, the Pat’s picked up linebacker Paris Lenon, who led his team in tackles, even if it was with the Lions.

Still the young linebacker corps, which includes two second-year players, Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton, and four-year player Pierre Woods, could be the team’s weakness, especially if 14-year veteran and superhuman Tedy Bruschi doesn’t stay healthy.

Fortunatly for the Pats, they still have a genetic freak in Adalius Thomas at outside linebacker. Luckily the team’s front line, anchored by Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, and Jarvis Green, can probably hide any insecurities at linebacker, for a little while anyway.