New England Patriots Expected To Rebound In 2010

NFL News - February 15th, 2010 - Written by John

It could be argued that the New England Patriots were blessed to even make the NFL Playoffs in 2009 with an unremarkable defense, and a tattered bone in almost every region of Tom Brady's body. But these are the Patriots, one of the league's most-successful franchises with a Super Bowl-winning history. So very little sympathy is afforded after an embarrassing 33-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the playoffs. At home, no less.

It was the first time Brady, or head coach Bill Belichick, had lost a postseason game at home ever. Baltimore's Ray Rice started the game with an 83-yard touchdown dash on the game's first play, and ended up with 159 yards on the day. That was a big issue for New England, which ranked 13th in rush defense, allowing the 10th-most yards per attempt (4.4). The team slowly began releasing it's veteran players three years ago to get younger, and it cost the Patriots big time.

But again, this is New England, with plenty of history and returning talent to consider it a contender for next year's title. Sportsbooks are giving the Patriots the third-best NFL odds to win the 2011 Super Bowl, according to Bodog, at 10/1. That puts them ahead of Baltimore (20/1).

Brady broke his finger and a couple ribs in 2009, but managed to throw for 4,358 yards and 28 touchdowns. He was forced to miss the Pro Bowl due to the pain, but will come into the '10 season completely healthy.

For Wes Welker, not so much. The team's leading receiver will miss a good portion of the year after ripping his knee to shreds in the season-finale against Houston. He was second in the NFL with 1,348 yards, but nobody had more than his 123 receptions and 585 YAC. The good news is that his replacement, Julian Edelman, seems to be picking up the slack easily. He 265 yards in the four games he started due to Welker's ailments (including the game he tore his knee), and had 359 on the year.

Having Randy Moss to throw to is never a bad thing, either. Moss tied Reggie Wayne with 1,264 yards (on 17 fewer catches, no less) in 2009 and led the league with 13 touchdowns.