How Will Tom Brady's Return Impact The Patriots?

There are many reasons to be excited about the fall in New England.   There is the turning of the foliage to brilliant colors; there is the drinking of warm cider around the fire place with family.  In addition to these two wonderful things, I believe New England residents are most looking forward to September 14^th and the Patriots taking on the Bills in Foxboro.  All will be right with the world when we see number 12 take the field and the legion of Patriot fans go crazy.

Everyone knows where they were last season on September 7^th when Bernard Pollard crashed into Brady’s knee and New England’s season was effectively over before it had even began.   There are many reasons to be optimistic about Tom’s return, and of course there are some reasons for nervousness as well.   In the following article, I will explain how Brady’s return will affect the offense, the defense, the special teams and the coaching staff.

Offensively

          We all know Brady’s statistics from 2007.  He had over 4,800 yards passing, a QB rating above 117, 50 TD passes and only 8 interceptions.    Impressive as those stats are, how do they impact what happens in 2009?  The answer is not at all, you can’t carry them forward so this season is starting from square one like all the other seasons.

          Brady has been practicing hard there is no doubt about that and the chemistry he had with Moss and Welker and the familiar parts of the offense will continue to be there.  The largest boost Brady will give the 2009 Pats is how he bonds with the new players on offense like Joey Galloway, Fred Taylor, Chris Baker and Julian Edelman.  Now if the 1^st preseason game is any indication, Baker could be the reincarnation of Ben Coates and Edelman plays and looks a lot like Wes Welker.   Now 1 game does not prove anything, but with Brady’s work ethic, Galloway and Taylor being veterans, and such a good start with Baker and Edelman, I know the last thing we have to worry about is our offense.

Defensively

          We all know that Brady does not play defense, and are pretty sure even Belichick isn’t going to be putting him out there as a safety.   The impact on the defense will be greater than the offense this season.  Last season after the 1^st qtr of the 1^st game, the defense was playing very tight, afraid to make any kind of mistake, because they were not sure the offense with Cassel would be able to score.  This season there is no doubt the offense will score and score and score some more, very similar to 2007.  This will allow the defense to relax some and play with a confidence.  Last season Jerrod Mayo was a tremendous rookie, but behind him the secondary was torched.  This season, with new rookies Patrick Chung and Darius Butler and a more confident Brandon Meriweather playing in the secondary there will be much better pass defense because we will be leading more often in games.  This will make our opponents very one dimensional, which will help our pass rush and our linebackers as well.   Now Brady might not be playing defense, but how many points the offense scores sure will have a huge impact on the defense.

Special Teams

          We all know field position, is a big part of any game, so the only  negative impact I see with Brady’s return could be felt by Steven Gostkowski our kicker.  This is because will all the kicking off he will be doing, and extra point kicking, his leg could be pretty worn down by the end of the season.  In 2007, by the end of the year his kickoffs were not reaching the end zone, but in 2008, even in the last weeks of the year all of his kickoffs were at least going to the goal line, if not into the end zone.   On the other hand, if the offense performs the way we know it will, then Chris Hanson, the punter will certainly benefit from punting less and when he is called upon be punting into a much shorter field, because you all know that the offense is going to have very few times they go 3 and out.  So maybe we lose something on our kickoffs this season, but overall the impact will be positive due to Brady’s return on the offense.

Coaching

          Here is where Brady’s impact will be felt the most I believe.    Last season’s QB coach/Offensive Coordinator, Josh McDaniel has gone to be the head coach in Denver.  Now this year that job is given to Bill O’Brien, he is last season’s wide receiver coach and I am sure knows the offense very well, but he and Brady have never had to discuss what to do in certain situations in a tight game in the 4^th qtr.  I would not be surprised to see some struggles in the early part of the year, until Tom and Bill (O’Brien), get to know each other’s likes and dislikes for the offense, but I am sure by the end of the week our 2009 Patriots will remind a lot of people of the 2007 Patriots.

In conclusion, the Brady impact on this season will be very positive.  Now I am not predicting a 16-0 season again, but I know the playoffs are a certainty and Super Bowl trophy number 4, might certainly have a place in Mr. Kraft’s trophy case.