14-2 And Other NFL Thoughts

If you are even a semi-regular reader of this space, you know how much of an optimist I am when it comes to the Boston sports teams. I am the guy who believed John Lackey would help lead the Red Sox to 100 wins in 2010 and that Rasheed Wallace would make the 2009-2010 Celtics the greatest team in NBA history. That said, even I am surprised that the Patriots just finished the regular season with a 14-2 record because the Patriots entered the 2010 season with a lot of questions surrounding them. Tom Brady and the offense were expected to be a top unit, although with starting guard Logan Mankins holding out for a better contract and running back Laurence Maroney being traded to the Broncos there was no guarantee that they would be good enough to carry the team into the playoffs. Defensively, the Patriots were expected to be too young to be good enough to win in 2010. The future did look bright with top young talent such as Brandon Meriweather (1st Round, 2007), Jerod Mayo (1st Round, 2008), Darius Butler (2nd Round, 2009), Patrick Chung (2nd Round, 2009), Ron Brace (2nd Round, 2009), Devin McCourty (1st Round, 2010), Brandon Spikes (2nd Round, 2010), and Jermaine Cunningham (2nd Round, 2010) but that wasn't expected to be enough to compete with the likes of the Colts, Steelers, and Ravens in 2010. The season started off good enough and heading into the bye week, the Patriots were 3-1. That was when all hell broke loose in Foxboro. Following their 41-14 win over the Dolphins on Monday Night Football, the Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Vikings for a 2011 3rd-Round draft pick. The Belichick haters predicted instant doom but during the bye week the team traded for Deion Branch to replace Moss and rebuilt their offense into a juggernaut that scored 387 points over their last 12 games (good for an average of 32.25 per game) and led the team to the top overall seed in the AFC. The surprise has been the rise of the young defense. Vince Wilfork, McCourty, Mayo, and Meriweather are all going to the Pro Bowl and players like Cunningham and Chung emerged as key contributors. Over the last 12 games the defense only allowed 210 points (17.5 per game). It is a unit that has found the knack for making the big play in the biggest moments and even though Brady and the offense are the key to the Super Bowl, the defense has proven its ability to win football games. The Patriots will be home watching the Wild Card playoff games next weekend, resting up and getting healthy for a run at the team's fourth Super Bowl title of the Bill Belichick era. Five weeks from today, the Patriots should be celebrating as World Champions in Dallas... Here is my advice for the following teams to right their ship for 2010: The Carolina Panthers should invest the first overall pick in Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck (assuming he declares for the NFL Draft) and then hire Josh McDaniels as their new head coach. McDaniels struggled greatly with Denver but he is still one of the best young offensive minds in football and it would be wise to pair Luck with a coach who has such a good reputation for teaching young quarterbacks. The San Francisco 49ers should pay Bill Parcells whatever sum of money he wants to come out of retirement and coach their football team. Parcells could basically handpick his own successor for the 2013 or 2014 season and become a CEO on the field for a franchise that is desperate for leadership. The Denver Broncos need to find a coach who is willing to trust in Tim Tebow and a quarterback coach to continue the development of the former Heisman Trophy winner. What coach would be willing to trust Tebow with his (coaching) life? Why not Urban Meyer, Tebow's college coach at Florida. Meyer resigned from the Gators because of burnout but in the NFL he could entrust his team to his coordinators and allow them to spend the necessary time to gameplan for each opponent. As quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator, the Broncos could turn to Norm Chow, a well known and respected teacher of quarterbacks capable of coordinating a professional offense or Norv Turner, should he be fired by the Chargers. The Cleveland Browns will fire Eric Mangini and they need to replace him with current ESPN analyst Jon Gruden. Gruden has been spending the last two years evaluating film in preparation for his job on Monday Night Football which makes up for his time away from the sidelines. He could quickly rebuild the Browns into a contender in the AFC North with young quarterback Coly McCoy. Finally, the Buffalo Bills should continue on their current path with Chan Gailey. The Bills have a long way to go to compete with the Patriots in the AFC East and they need to allow Gailey time to build a young team into a winner. They should stick with Harvard alum Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback while building a power running game and a tough defense. If any NFL executives are reading this space, feel free to contact me for advice... Tampa Bay's second-year quarterback Josh Freeman is awfully fun to watch... How many different protest groups would line up outside of Dallas Cowboys Stadium if Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers ever faced Michael Vick's Eagles in Super Bowl XLV? It won't matter because the Patriots are going to face off with the Bears but it's fun to think about... I hope Randy Moss enjoys wearing his Super Bowl XLV ring...