Why The Patriots Will Win Without Seymour In 2009

So the shock is starting to wear off. It took over 24 hours, but that initial shock and anger of watching your favorite player traded, it just isn't fun. I am not the only one who feels this way, and for those who still are struggling with this, well, its time to start using the brain and not the heart. It was time, and as much as that hurts, it is the nature of sports, and in this day and age of the NFL, you have tot do this to maintain your roster over along period of time. I just wish I didnt have my blinders on...

It is 2003, and all you read about is the amount of talent the Patriots have at the defensive back position, specifically safety. Rodney harrison has just signed, and Lawyer Milloy and Tebucky Jones are also in the fold. Lawyer wanted a new deal, but it seemed calm enough. So we thought. First, Tebucky Jones is shipped to New Orleans. So we are thinking, ok, we can make this work with Harrison and Milloy, they will kill people, can't wait. Heading into a season opener against Buffalo, we get to see old friend Drew....surprise- MILLOY IS RELEASED. NOT TRADED. RELEASED. We don't want to pay you, we have Rodney, goodbye. That was it. Milloy goes to Buffalo, the Pats get whooped 31-0, and the sky has officially began to fall. This is going to be worse than 2002...well, needless to say, we were all wrong. The Patriots won back to back Super Bowls. Moral of the story- The Patriots aren't overpaying- ever. Milloy wanted a big deal. Bill knew they had enough money tied up and talent on the roster to release Milloy and still win, so they did just that.

Fast forward to 2009. The Patriots have drafted Ron Brace, Myron Pryor and Daryl Richard, three defensive tackles that seem like they fit into a 4-3 defense. Nobody thought to much about it. No big moves are made for linebackers, inside or outside, unless it was the Patriots trading them(aging, highly paid Vrabel to KC). At this point, any linebacker who was mentioned was going to the Patriots to fill the outside position in the 3-4, the postion that Mcginest and Vrabel had tied down for the last 9 years under Belichick. Derrick Burgess kept coming up, and the word was the Pats were going to convert him to outside linebacker. This took some time, but it came to fruition. Looking at this mixture on the front seven, you could see that there were some mismatches, and something was going to have to give. Everyone knew about the contract situations of Seymour and Wilfork, not to mention Mankins, Brady and Moss. Something MAJOR had to happen. Something MAJOR did.

The Patriots have basically announced that they will be using th 4-3 defense this year. It is quite simple to figure out. Derrick Burgess will be in the natural position he has thrived in while playing in Oakland and Philly. Inside is Wilfork and a mixture of Brace, Pryor(looks like a steal) and Mike Wright, and Ty Warren on the outside. Adalius Thomas, Jerrod Mayo and Pierre Woods will get the bulk of the playing time at linebacker. I am not saying they wont mix in the 3-4, but it is clear that this team has the talent better suited for running a 4-3, so why not play to the strengths of your defense? Belichick understands this, and he WILL PLAY TO HIS DEFENSES STRENGTH. 4-3, lots of blitzing, aggressive defense. We are seeing a change in the way the Patriots are going to scheme.The Patriots just essentially traded Richard Seymour, a 3rd round and 5th round pick for Derrick Burgess and a 1st round pick. That is a great deal for the Patriots. They lose one aging defender in his contract year, and gain another aging defender going into HIS contract year, and a healthy Burgess is a better pass rusher.

This season is going to be fun. I honestly cant wait to see what Belichick has in store with this new defense he will be using. I didn't even mention the secondary. I will save that for another day. Patriots fans, sit back and enjoy this season. Dont sweat the Seymour trade. Remember, this team went 11-5 without Brady last year. This is still the best team in football.