New England Patriots: Midseason Report Card Of The Patriots' 2010 NFL Season
NFL Week 9 action looms ahead, and the New England Patriots have played seven of their 16 games in the 2010 NFL season. This being the "midseason" point for most teams, I felt compelled to put together grades indicating my thoughts on each unit's performance at this point.
It's clear that the Patriots have far exceeded the expectations that many had for them headed into the 2010 season, but what exactly have they done to put themselves in such good position?
Look inside their report card to find out.
Quarterback
1 of 11
Standout player: Duh
Biggest strength: Dumpoffs to quick receivers
Area to improve: Stretching the field without Randy Moss
"Tommy Boy" hasn't been quite the same without "Moss Man". In fact, he's gone from throwing nine touchdowns in the first four games to just one touchdown pass in each of his last three contests.
Still, Brady is moving the chains effectively, finding open guys and making good throws to his talented receivers. Sceen passes have been the name of the game since day one, but Brady has made many tough throws into tight spots.
Most of all, he has led his team to victory with effective late-game drives. Just another typical season from Brady in that regard.
Grade: A-
Wide Receivers
2 of 11
Standout player: Wes Welker
Biggest strength: Yards after catch, screen plays
Area to improve: Stretching the field
The Patriots offense is about exactly where everyone thought it would be without Randy Moss: small-ball, taking first downs anywhere they can get them, just marching up the field at a slow pace. Despite three weeks without their points magnet and end zone threat, they're still the no. 1-ranked scoring team in the league.
In fact, they can be summed up in three words: effective, not deadly.
They got a glimpse of what they could have in Brandon Tate in Week Eight, when Tate improvised his way down field as Brady pirouetted in the pocket, creating time to find his young target down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown.
Other than that, the big plays haven't been there for the Patriots as they have in the past. Wes Welker leads the team with 40 receptions, but he'd be the first to attest that the offense isn't nearly the same beast it was with Randy, as he's been held to just 14 receptions for 102 yards and no touchdowns in three games since his departure.
Still, the unit has been effective enough to get the job done, and the lack of production hasn't hurt them at receiver because they've been getting that production from other spots.
Grade: B-
Tight Ends
3 of 11
Standout player: Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski
Biggest strength: Receiving game
Area to improve: Blocking
Yeah, so criticize me for picking both Hernandez and Gronkowski as my stand-out players. But really, the two have been nothing short of dynamic, highly important additions to this Patriots team.
Gronkowski has been money in the red zone, and three of his 10 receptions have been touchdowns. His unique combination of size, speed, and athleticism makes him one of the most complete tight ends the league has seen since Mark Bavarro.
His rookie cohort Hernandez has been no slouch, either, and has taken the pass-catching reputation he built in Florida with him to New England. His 388 receiving yards lead the team, and his 29 receptions are second only to Wes Welker.
We haven't seen much from Alge Crumpler in the receiving game, but that's no longer his forte. What he has clearly done, though, is given the young tight ends someone to look up to.
Grade: A-
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Running Backs
4 of 11
Standout player: BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead
Biggest strength: Running between the tackles
Area to improve: "Home run"
Again, it proved absolutely impossible to pick between these two monster performers, who have both excelled in their own right.
Who is Danny Woodhead? Did the Patriots shrink Kevin Faulk and give him a toupee? The 5'7" lightning rod has played an awful lot like Mr. Swiss Army Knife in his five games with the team, averaging 6.28 yards every time he touches the ball, and adding three touchdowns in that span.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis may look an awful lot like Laurence Maroney, but he runs nothing like his former teammate, hitting the hole with conviction as soon as it opens up. He's averaging 4.4 yards per carry and has a touchdown in each of the last five games. Despite giving up big yards against the Jets and Dolphins, the Vikings hadn't allowed a single 100-yard performance from a running back until they faced Green-Ellis in Week Eight (17 carries, 112 yards, two touchdowns).
Fred Taylor may not be seeing much of the field due to injury, but Sammy Morris doesn't have the same excuse. He's simply being outplayed by guys who are younger and far more athletic than him.
The only place they need improvement is breaking off long gains. They are able to consistently pick up between three and five yards, which is more than respectable, but their longest gain of the season is 26 yards.
Grade: A-
Offensive Line
5 of 11
Standout player: Dan Connolly
Biggest strength: Run-blocking
Area to improve: Blitz pick-up
Brady went from being sacked 16 times all of last year to 12 times in the first seven games. The Patriots opened up the season nicely by not allowing a single sack on Brady until the fourth quarter of their Week Two contest with the Jets.
After that, he was sacked 11 times in four games against the Bills (one sack), Dolphins (three), Ravens (three), and Chargers (four). The last three on that list are all talented defensive units, as is the Minnesota Vikings vaunted front line, which didn't reach Brady for a single sack in Week Eight.
They have, however, really opened the holes up in the running game this year. Their totals are down in yards and touchdowns to last season, but something feels more effective about the running game this year. My guess is, it's the offensive line.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
6 of 11
Standout player: Mike Wright
Biggest strength: Run defense
Area to improve: Pressuring the quarterback
Vince Wilfork's versatility to play on the edge has helped the Patriots tremendously in terms of their ability to create pressure on the quarterback, but there's plenty more to be done. The defensive line has generated 8.5 of the teams total 13 sacks.
The defensive linemen are doing a terrific job in run defense simply because they're plugging up the lanes and allowing the linebackers to make the reads.With that approach, the Patriots haven't allowed any running back to exceed 100 yards all season.
The unit has performed nicely considering the big losses of Richard Seymour to trade two years ago and Ty Warren to injury this preseason.
Grade: A-
Linebackers
7 of 11
Standout player: Jerod Mayo
Biggest strength: Run defense
Area to improve: Pressuring the quarterback
Honorable mention: Rob Ninkovich
The linebackers are the most important players in a 3-4 defense. They are the ones responsible for clean-up duties in the running game, but are also expected to be versatile and quick enough to drop back into coverage.
Against the run, these guys are incredible, especially Brandon Spikes despite the fact that he's still a little rough around the edges. The defense, as mentioned before, hasn't allowed any team to reach 100 yards rushing against them.
One of the most important roles of the outside linebackers, though, is generating pressure. To be blunt, they've failed to do that this season so far. 3.5 of the team's 13 total sacks come from the outside linebackers.
Make no mistake, this is a very well-rounded group. They rarely miss assignments, and seem to be improving as a unit. Once they get that whole pass rush thing figured out, there's not much to criticize for this group.
Grade: B-
Secondary
8 of 11
Standout player: Patrick Chung
Biggest strength: Safeties
Area to improve: Man-to-man coverage
Although Devin McCourty has done an admirable job over the past couple of weeks in man coverage, there are several players that could use improvement, like Darius Butler and Jonathan Wilhite.
Kyle Arrington has also been coming on strong, and though he had safety help for most of Sunday's game against the Vikings, he did an admirable job in coverage on Randy Moss, pressing him to sleep.
The safeties, however, are the real strength of the secondary. Patrick Chung and Brandon Meriweather have proven to be two of the most solid draft picks the Patriots have made recently, and have become some of the most well-rounded in the league.
If the corners can improve in man-to-man coverage, that will allow Bill Belichick to use more exotic blitzes and come up with some interesting ways to reach the quarterback.
Grade: C+
Special Teams
9 of 11
The New England Patriots have had some very "special" performances from their special teams.
Brandon Tate, a dynamic kickoff returner in college, has taken two kicks for touchdowns this season already.
One game in particular (at Miami, Week Four) decided by its special teams. Aside from that single-game explosion where Patrick Chung blocked a field goal and a punt, and Brandon Tate returned a kick for a touchdown, the special teams unit has been disciplined all-around.
The Patriots gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown against CJ Spiller and the Buffalo Bills in Week Three, but have contained well since then, and average only 24.6 yards allowed per kick return.
Zoltan Mesko has come on strong as a rookie, averaging 43.9 yards per punt. He hasn't always been consistent, but some of his punts have been impressive to say the least, and his longest on the year is 65 yards.
Grade: A-
Coaching
10 of 11
Standout player: Bill Belichick
Strength: Game planning
Area to improve: Clock management
It's no secret that the Patriots feature one of, if not the best head coach in the league in Bill Belichick. He consistently has the team prepared to take the field each week, doing whatever it takes to give them the best chance to win.
He gets a gold star for his ability to keep the offense moving at a steady pace even in the absence of one Randy Moss. Of course, some of the credit must go to the players, but to not only have the audacity to make that move midseason, but to be able to smoothly transition into the new style of offense without him is remarkable.
At least a couple of times this season, though, the Patriots have had some poor decisions in clock management. One in particular stands out, when the Patriots had a chance to move the ball and get a field goal at the end of the first half against Baltimore. Of course, that didn't hurt them in the end, but they could have avoided overtime altogether if they had strung something together.
But really, that's splitting hairs. The Patriots have continued to win, and much of the credit must go to Belichick and his staff.
Grade: A
Conclusion
11 of 11
The Patriots, who were thought to be in rebuild mode, have far exceeded the expectations of most fans and analysts this season. The thing is, they're rebuilding, but they just happen to be doing it at a 10- or 11-win pace unlike some teams who gut their roster and start from scratch.
With a tough schedule coming up, featuring contests at Pittsburgh and against the Colts at Gillette Stadium, we'll get an even better idea for where this team stacks up in the ranks of the elite this season.
Midseason grade: A-
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