Reality Check for the World Champs?

It all seemed to be going so well for them.  First it was New Orleans, then Houston, and then on to Jacksonville.  Then all of a sudden it was as though the bottom had fallen out on the defending Super Bowl champions.  Everyone knows that the New England Patriots are all about playing as a team, something so many teams seem to fail at doing in the world of sports.  But now some of the key ingredients that helped New England be adorned by so many are now gone to pursue other avenues.  Those gone are mainly the geniuses behind the schemes the Patriots put together to win three Super Bowls in four years.  However, there is an upside to all of this recent chaos.  The genius himself is still ahead of the organization, that being Bill Belichick.  To add to the drastic coaching changes, there have also been key players lost to free agency that helped keep the, “Team First” persona about the team.  With the all of a sudden new-look Patriots in tact, could the honeymoon be officially over in New England, or is it still the Patriots of old so many have waited to see go?When the confetti exploded at the end of Super Bowl XXXIX, it wasn’t a surprise that this team would not be the same when the 2005 NFL season rolled around.  Everyone was expecting the coordinators of New England to leave eventually, and they did.  With Charlie Weis handling the offense, and Romeo Crenel running the defense, the same question arose with Belichick as did his coaching mentor, Bill Parcells.  Instead of, “Can Parcells win without Belichick,” the question now is, “Can Belichick win without both Weis and Crenel”?  

None of this would exist if it weren’t for arguably the greatest pick, or steal in the history of the NFL Draft.  Who knows where the New England Patriots would be if Tom Brady hadn’t been selected as the 199th pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft?  

Albeit that the Patriots selected the second coming of Joe Montana, thus set up the chance for a run at a dynasty.  Of course the Patriots had no expectations of Brady at all, except to maybe become a full-time back up quarterback in the NFL.  But to win the three Super Bowls in the first five years of your career, that’s unheard of.

With Brady’s ability to be cool and savvy under pressure, and Weis’s nifty play calling ability, thus added to make a killer combination for the New England Patriots.  However, with Weis being the offensive mastermind that he is, eventually he would be offered a job and that’s what happened.  

Weis’s alma mater felled compelled to come calling and offer him the job so many thought would be offered to Urban Meyer, at the time the head coach of the Utah Utes.  Being one of the most recognizable teams in college football cannot be followed up by failure year after year.  This is just purely unacceptable, especially at the University of Notre Dame.  

The hiring of Charlie Weis wasn’t what shocked so many around the sports world.  People expected that.  What was shocking was the timing of the entire situation.  During the middle of the NFL season was when the Fighting Irish decided to make Weis its next head football coach, while at the same time, Weis was still the offensive coordinator of the Patriots.  Many people wondered if Weis could actually handle to jobs at once, especially the different aspects both jobs brought.  Would Weis be able to handle recruiting for the Irish?  Will Weis have enough time to prepare for the Patriots’ upcoming game?  Critics were quickly put to rest for a period of time with all of the questioning about Weis’s ability from the outcome of one single event, that being the Patriots winning their third Super Bowl in four years.  

Now the question with Weis is, what will Notre Dame do this fall?  Will the Irish suffer from Weis having to jobs at once?  The Patriots seemed to have gotten by, but then again, do the Patriots ever seem to suffer?

With Weis being hired, it was then only a matter of time before some team eager to experience winning again would lure Crenel away from the Patriots staff.  With Crenel’s defensive pedigree finally coming into consideration, many around the NFL started to see the potential the man had when given a head coaching job.  

Alas came the Cleveland Browns calling for any insight they could receive.  A team that was in desperate need of help after its last coaching flop, Butch Davis, had come to Crenel begging for his knowledge of the game.

Now with both coordinators gone, it was now all up to the remaining players from those three illustrious Super Bowl teams.  Oh, wait, some of those are also gone too.  

Ty Law, who suffered from an early season ankle injury last year against the Pittsburgh Steelers, hasn’t been back since.  And now, due to Law becoming a free agent, he is looking for a new place to suit up.  Guess three Super Bowl rings isn’t enough for Mr. Law now, is it?

Aside from the team loosing one of the best cornerbacks in the entire National Football League, the Patriots somehow were able to replace him for the remainder of the season.  However, loosing one cornerback wasn’t all the team has gone through since then.  

The Patriots have shockingly loss the heart and soul of the franchise, Teddy Bruschi; to a stroke he had suffered right after last year’s Super Bowl.  With Bruschi now out for the entire 2005 season due to the safety of his health, Ted Johnson, another hard nose linebacker surprisingly retired just before training camp was scheduled to start.

Where in the hell is Richard Seymour?  Nobody, including the Patriots, can seem to find the defensive end due to Seymour somehow failing to report to training camp.  

Now it’s as if the Patriots only have a two-chambered heart.

Yet, if anyone can overcome all of the sudden chaos, it is the defending Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.  With all of the success the Patriots have earned over the past two seasons going a combined 28-4, an 11-5 season would sound awful when talking about New England.  Belichick and Brady still own Manning and the Colts.  Also, New England was able to establish an efficient running game- something people thought would eventually catch up with New England- by adding Corey Dillon to the backfield last offseason

Who knows, maybe all the Patriots need to worry about is getting themselves to the playoffs, considering that Belichick’s playoff record is a league history best 10-1 passing the likes of Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.  Also throw in the fact that Tom Brady has still yet to loose a playoff game in his already golden career.  

But also throw in one more aspect; all good things must eventually come to an end.