The Truth: Part 1 - Pig Pile on the Patriots!

The only sounds coming out of the offices of Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick these days is the whisper of air moving through the ducts of the central air system, and that's only sound anyone outside of the New England Patriots organization is going to hear for a while...

...not just because both men were out of the country - for which they are most likely very grateful - but because the fabled Patriot Way has been evoked, the highest state of security known in the world of sports, conjuring images of figures in trench coats carrying leather briefcases, identities veiled by the foreboding shadows of evanescence.

Because this too shall pass, the evil goings on of the past few weeks which has seen the Patriots' organization take several direct hits to their infrastructure - and at present the Patriot bashing is at a frenzied pace, where even beat writers for the local rags have distanced themselves from the besieged franchise...

...which means that no matter what they say, it will get twisted around to become whatever the press needs it to be - which turns into a metaphoric pig pile, public opinion jumping atop Patriots' management during this defined moment of vulnerability until they start to squeal - so why say anything?

Indeed, why throw another pig on the pile?

Instead the New England Patriots are in full Damage control mode - which is to be expected given the turmoil of this offseason...

...not necessarily to patch the way that the public sees them, rather, to once again put their brand of football on the field, to let the performance of the team speak for the state of Patriot Nation - so while the rest of the football world is whooping it up at the expense of the reputation of the franchise, the Patriots are busy ensuring that the one speaking voice that they will use is of the highest quality.

Not to dissuade any wrong notion the public may carry, but simply to carry on their successful work.  The Patriots have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone.  The brand of football that they put on the field speaks for itself, leaving the enigmatic head coach and philanthropist owner little to add.

Winning football games is the business they are in - not being at the bottom of an squealing pile of pigs - and they are all in.

But, first things first: Immediately after the team released embattled tight end Aaron Hernandez as the result of his arrest for murder, the person in charge of erasure sent an damnatio memoriae edict to webmasters to remove his name, stats and anything tied to Hernandez, and to the merchandising teams to remove any and all imagery and gear with Hernandez name or jersey number off of the shelves...

...for which they were instantly criticized - just another cruel proclamation from the most heartless and unfeeling front office in professional sports - the same people who discard players like yesterday's trash when they cease being useful, the same people who play tag with players on their practice squad, activating and releasing them without discrimination.

All while not saying a word to the outside world because, again, why bother?

Human nature tends to lend itself to situations such as this, as it is far easier to kick someone when they're down than to lean over and help them to their feet - but many times the problems with the despised are magnified by hate to the point that it overshadows the big picture...

...but to overlook the fact that the Patriots are title contenders once again would be a mistake, and would be overlooking the fact that - despite the turnover and attrition and injuries and crimes - this team has evolved into an entity that can morph into just about anything that they need to be, a lesson learned from a decade of coming up short on trophies and competent depth.

But let's not fool ourselves either.  The Patriots' issues this offseason have been the kind that either galvanizes a team or tears it apart - should it be a galvanizing force, the Patriots have the talent and leadership to once again contend for a title - should it tear them apart, well, they will say, it was bound to happen...

...and they deserved it, right? Many may feel as if they have a score to settle with the Patriots, either perceived or actual, but the fact of the matter is that the way the Patriots go about their business is their business, and theirs alone - and they don't concern themselves with petty squabbles, narcissistic sports writers or cheap punks set on vengeance.

Perceived scores to settle was the impetus to Hernandez's life collapsing around him.  The Patriots don't have a score to settle with anyone, just a goal to attain, and if you happen to be in their way, well, you may just get stomped like a roach anyway.

Their method of operation since Bill Belichick assumed control of the product has been to bring in versatile talent, assimilate that talent into a collective way of thinking and to cohesively display this assimilated and versatile talent as an unstoppable force - a piece of the irresistible force paradox that has nothing to do with anything but winning football games...

...and in the weeks leading up to training camp and the preseason schedule, that paradox will be put to the test, as will the resolve of the team, from Bob Kraft all the way down to the temp that shovels snow from the seats at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots organization will be scrutinized like never before by the immovable object that is public opinion...

...and the only way to do that is to go about their business, continuing to both build the unstoppable force and to keep their mouths shut - to put a product on the field that dominates and makes the afore mentioned narcissistic sports writers and cheap punks have to deal with them - to put a champion on their field.

Yes, despite this offseason of misery full of arcane public relations nightmares, the Patriots still have a football team - and a good one at that.  Perhaps a great one.  Perhaps a championship one.  The season will play out and tell us which one it is, and with training camp a full month away, many questions up and down the roster await answers.

What those questions are have already been asked, and in the weeks leading up to training camp we will attempt to prepare our readers for what the answers will be.

Next, The Truth: Part 2 - If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts...

The Truth: Part 2 - The fundamental fail

Bill Belichick makes mistakes. Just so we're clear.

The New England Patriots coach is many things to many people and opinions on him vary from genius to scum, depending on your affiliations - but in the end, he is human, unlike the pious beings that he attempted to defy last season.

With as many players that he has under his charge, complete with all of the potential and possibilities and the ultimate frailty of the human body, things are going happen - guys are going to get hurt or do stupid things - and the dauntless Belichick is one of the best there has ever been in the game of football at making adjustments and trudging forward.

But he is not immune to error, whether it be because of oversight, deception or merely arrogance - so what happened with the offense last season should be considered an anomaly, because given the fact that Belichick benches people for being what he classifies as "error repeaters", it goes without saying that he himself is not going to repeat the errors of last season...

...which came down to sacrificing the receiving corps in favor of his plan to crush the rest of the NFL with his tight end-centric offense and power running game - a plan that was dictated by the strength of two tight ends and stable of young running backs that were so athletic and so powerful and so versatile that on paper they could overwhelm almost any defense in the league.

Almost.

It took one of the best and most veteran-laden defenses in the NFL to take full advantage of Bill Belichick's error, end even then it wasn't overwhelming by any means - in fact, it took fundamental breakdowns in the most clutch of circumstances combined with just flat running out of options for the mistakes to come full circle...

...but come full circle they did, and the Patriots wound up watching the hated Baltimore Ravens celebrate the AFC Championship on Gillette Stadium's turf - then watched on as bystanders two weeks later as the Ravens celebrated the ultimate prize, the Lombardi Trophy.

Forget about the defensive struggles, conspicuous as they were, because those were magnified by the mistakes made on the offensive side of the ball on a game to game basis.  That defense was stout, quarterback Tom Brady singing its praises after many a contest, though it suffered from omission and lack of quality depth - which has actually been a consistent theme for the unit since they last won a title.

Going into training camp last season, the Patriots employed up to a dozen receivers on their 90 man roster at any given time, but by the time camp broke and the final preseason game was played, Belichick had gone all Texas Chainsaw on the receiver's corps, sparing only three legitimate wide receivers on the depth chart, while keeping four tight ends and four running backs.

And it worked, initially.

The plan that was put into effect was surprising to many fans because it did not include All Pro Wes Welker, rather, in the first regular season game the Patriots chose to jab the Tennessee Titans with play after play of Brady exploiting every mismatch on the field to the point that they inevitably were overwhelmed and folded like a card table.

Of course, it worked so well because Brady ran the offense so efficiently - or as more than one general manager anonymously lamented, "He can make you feel as if you are in the wrong coverage, every time, even if you're in the right one." - but even with Brady running the show, the offense would go only as far as his supporting cast could take them.

The tight ends were dominant and the running game solid, all with Welker riding the pine in favor of Julien Edelman, leaving many to speculate that Welker and his sniping little comments had worn out their welcome - let's see how the offense looks up until the trade deadline in October, they said, then deal Welker to some needy NFC team for a King's Ransom.

Edelman was good enough for this brand of football, they thought, what with Brandon Lloyd taking a corner outside the numbers, Aaron Hernandez taking a corner and a safety up the seam and Rob Gronkowki sitting in the flat after chipping the defensive end, leaving Edelman to the underneath coverage, who also had to be aware of Danny Woodhead or Shane Vereen curling out of the backfield.

And there was depth at the power positions, with Daniel Fells and Michael Hoomanwanui at the tight ends and with the tough running Stevan Ridley backed up by a trio of capable, hard running young greyhounds - not to mention perhaps the best offensive line in the NFL leading the way...

...but lost in all of that, it was just Edelman and the mercurial Lloyd at wide reciever, with Welker pouting on the bench - to be inserted into the lineup in the event of emergency - and that was it, the entire corps rendered a complimentary entity in the face of the overwhelming bulk and power of the irresistible force.

Still, the Patriots were in position to dictate terms and to pound a defense mercilessly until they relented not just the game, but their will as well - Belichick style.

So...what went wrong?

Simply, by not having any receivers to consistently stretch the field when implementing their tight end-centric offense, the Patriots attempted to side step the most basic and fundamental of all rules in offensive game planning, and that is to make the defense defend the entire field, and it cost them a legitimate shot at another title...

...though it is important to remember that the Patriots were still thisclose to winning yet another AFC Championship and earning a rematch with a San Francisco 49ers team that had beaten them in perhaps the game of the year in the NFL just a few weeks earlier - and it was only by a handful of mistakes in the title game against the Ravens that prevented it.

The supporting cast was perfect for Belichick's scheme, but when they became hobbled and broken and ,ultimately, collectively inadequate, the envisage of launching an offensive juggernaut so powerful that the NFL had never seen anything like it evaporated like a dream upon waking - because as masterful as Brady is, even he could have substandard games, and when he wasn't operating as efficiently there was no one else to pull the offense out of it's funk.

Otherwise the game plan was obvious and perhaps impossible to stop in Belichick's view: Put two or three tight ends in the formation, mixing and matching receivers and backs - then turn Tommy loose with the no huddle, up tempo offense - surveying the field and calling the audibles to move his weapons around, taking advantage of any and all mismatches...

...which lasted all of one game. When former tight end Hernandez went down with an ankle injury in the second game of the season against Arizona, the game plan went down with him, the Patriots ill prepared to replace his versatility and athleticism. so a simple switch in philosophy went into effect, Welker put back into the game plan and Plan B initiated, which was nothing more than a return to the brand of the previous season.

Problem was, Belichick had cut all of the receivers in training camp and went all-in on the concept of ramming the football down his opponent's throats, and had only Welker to fall back on in the event of a chronic loss, so he was also forced to try and continue the power game with the depth at tight end - but Fells proved to be no more than an extra tackle and Hoomanawanui's versatility merely scratched the surface of what Hernandez brought to the table. 

Even so, as long as Gronkowski was still in the line up, the good work could continue with a tweak here and there...

...but the Hernandez injury was just the start of a long and cruel string of injuries, personnel mistakes and suspensions that consumed the bookends and every pass catcher brought in on the fly - the depth proving incapable of many of things the missing stars were taken for granted for - so it was a minor miracle that the Patriots ended up hosting the AFC title game, only to have every one of those issues come together all at once to doom the Patriots chances of going to yet another Super Bowl...

...pulled hamstrings, running backs knocked unconscious, fumbles here, interceptions there and dropped passes at the most inopportune of times - mixed in with the fact that the best tight end in the league, Rob Gronkowski, was sidelined with a twice broken forearm, Edelman with a broken bone in his foot and all of the relics the Patriots had brought in for replacements breaking like cheap glass - well -  it adds up to epic fail.

All because the offense was top heavy, which made it fundamentally unsound - with no vertical threat to populate the back third of the defense and to keep the safeties from cheating into the box - a mistake that Bill Belichick will not be making again anytime soon...

What New England was able to do last season was amazing given that their lone "deep threats" were a nimble tight end that missed all or parts of 10 games, and a seldom-used running back with sprinters speed, an ommission which allowed the opposition's defense to play the Patriots straight up - the illusion of greatness perpetuated by the play of Brady and their vastly underrated defense...

...the Baltimore Ravens ultimately solving the paradox in the AFC Title tilt by capitalizing on the Patriots trying to delude the sanctity of football - their hard hitting defense able to contain the Patriots' offense by aggressively coming after Brady and not respecting their inconsistent deep game - making Brady look ordinary by simply being able to match up.

Even so, the Patriots still had a shot at winning the game - the running game was working, but penalties and Ridley being knocked out and fumbling the ball, then both Hernandez and Welker failing in the most clutch of situations doomed their season to end right then.

But now Welker is gone, along with Hernandez, Lloyd and Woodhead - all of whom leave some pretty good sized shoes to fill to at least match last season's magic act...

...and since Belichick hates error repeaters, the task this offseason was crystal clear: Get Gronkowski healthy, bring in athletic, quality depth in the event he isn't and replace the outgoing selfishness and weirdness in the receiving corps with younger, faster and normal players, throwing in a few extra set of hands for good measure...

...all with fundamental football in mind - because ignoring the basics is what got them in trouble in the first place.

Given all of this, the question burns:  Has Belichick succeeded in leveling the playing field, and finding favor with the football deity once again?

Next: The fundamental fix

The Truth: Part 3 - Repairing the road to the Super Bowl

As off-seasons go, the New England Patriots' organization has seen better.

The Patriots' Summer of Pain has fans and beat writers alike walking around in a fog - some overwhelmed and jumping off the bandwagon, some holding on for dear life through blind faith - unable to look through the din of indiscretion and curative procedures to see the good things that the organization has been able to accomplish in spite of their well-documented and cringe-worthy burdens...

...what with the tight end depth chart altered by surgeries, subsequent infections, drunken wrestling and multiple felonies - and the wide receiver positions experiencing nearly a complete turnover in personnel, most see the summer of 2013 as a time of tribulation for the Patriots when the reality is that it is actually a significant step forward in a nearly complete multi-year overhaul.

For years, Bill Belichick's arrogance and stubbornness had trumped his coaching ability - perhaps one of the greatest game plan and on-the-fly tacticians ever to roam the sidelines, what he inherited when taking over the reigns of the Patriots in 2000 good enough for a scheme that took them over the top and winning three NFL Championships in four years with balance on offense and brutality on defense.

But the team has been in perpetual rebuilding mode since, as the core of the championship teams began to suffer age and attrition, Belichick seemingly content to stray from the championship recipe and never really acknowledging the errors of his ways, rather, continuously patching the potholes on the road to the Super Bowl instead of repairing the road properly with fine quality material.

This era of narcissistic delusion - borne out of sudden and protracted success - began when Belichick became distracted and obsessed by speedy objects in 2006 when the allure of world-class speed in the backfield produced Laurence Maroney, his frolicking style a departure from the bulldozing manner that dictated the championship style of the previous seasons - but by the time Belichick and the fans finally had seen enough of Maroney's ballroom act, another experiment with speed in the personage of Randy Moss was in full beast mode, presenting it's own unique set of distractions...

...all the while the defense was falling into disrepair, the result of questionable drafts predicated on Belichick's preternatural need for speed - missing on every pick with the exception of a couple of offensive linemen - his defenses steadily becoming reliant more on creating big plays at opportune moments than being fundamentally sound.

At the same time, the depth charts at receiver and running back became a revolving door while he and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels tinkered with the offense, consistently putting more and more of the anxiety and workload on quarterback Tom Brady...

...who in response became predictable as he clung to anything familiar he could find - which for the past 5 years has been Wes Welker, never really looking for anything else consistently, because there really was nothing after Moss crashed and burned like everyone said he would.  So defenses were able to focus on Welker - until Gronkowski and Hernandez arrived on the scene.

But when those two proved to be fragile despite their enormous talent, Brady tried focusing on Welker once again - the connection failing twice on two of the biggest stages that professional football has to offer.

The potholes were ok being patched, we were told, until there was a sufficient amount in the talent budget to fix the road properly - but in the interim, every time the Patriots' bandwagon hit one, it always stopped the Patriots from reaching their desired destination - which has been well-documented and used to depict the end of a patriots' dynasty or, even more disturbing, the end of the Patriot Way.

But in 2010, with McDaniels out of the picture and off failing in Denver as the Broncos' head coach, Bill Belichick took the title of both coordinators, putting into motion his sinister plan, rebuilding the team with almost complete turnover in an effort to return to the championship recipe - wanting to implement and build a base for domination on both sides of the ball and getting it up and running his way before handing over any responsibilities.

With stalwarts quarterback Tom Brady, guard Logan Mankins, Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and second year linebacker Jerod Mayo as a core, the 2010 off-season saw a concentration on replacing an aging roster with new young fireballers as part of what could now be termed as a five year plan to turnover the roster.

In the three years since, thirteen players were drafted that became starters, with another four arriving via free agency or trade, and all that is left to overhaul are the receivers this season and the offensive line next - all of this taking place while the Patriots remained among the top dogs in the AFC with smoke and mirrors, duct tape and Belichick's coaching talent, going to the conference championship game twice and the Super Bowl once, not finishing with less than 12 wins with teams that were inferior overall to the one about to unfold in Foxboro in three weeks.

So, the unfortunate Hernandez situation and the Gronkowski surgeries aside, things are going pretty much as planned for a Patriots' team that is on the verge of vying for yet one more run at being dynasts before Brady's time is up - and it is a time of great risk and even greater potential reward.

Forget about Aaron Hernandez.  Forget Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd.  Welker's whining about money and his sniping little comments got him a one way ticket to Denver while Lloyd's reportedly strange behavior alienated his teammates and made for some cringe-worthy moments in the locker room...and we don't need to delve into the Hernandez thing for any reason at all.

So of the high-impact pass catchers from last season, Only Rob Gronkowski is still under contract, but he won't be running folks over until about mid-season as he is expected to be a candidate for the PUP list due to a recent back surgery - so with Belichick's credo being to concentrate on the players that are in camp, it is obvious that we start there...

...with a genuinely diverse mix of veteran presence and youthful exuberance that will vie for up to six roster spots for the right to tell their grandchildren that they caught a pass from the Hall of Famer Brady, a stark contrast from last season's roster errors.

Danny Amendola joined the team just moments after free agency began in March, with former Bills' "Z" man Donald Jones coming into the fold a few days later - followed by tenured underachieving veterans "Molasses" Mike Jenkins and Lavelle Hawkins as Belichick built his veteran base before going into the draft...

...picking up big Marshall University receiver Aaron Dobson and TCU speed merchant Josh Boyce on the second day of the annual selection process - with the team hoping that Dobson would join Amendola split wide with Hernandez manning the slot and Gronkowski roaming the flat, with Stevan Ridley's bruising running style an impetus for the success of the play action.

But Gronkowski can't stay out of the operating room and Hernandez can't stay out of trouble, leaving many to concede the season as lost right out of the gates, when in fact a pair of rookie free agent pick ups could make the pass catching corps an even more lethal entity for Brady to target.

After the draft, many teams coveted Rutgers wide receiver Mark Harrison and Nevada tight end Zach Sudfeld, as both were projected second day selections - but both passed over, Harrison due to perceived maturity issues and Sudfeld to protracted injury history - and due to the bad luck with the tight ends, both have a chance to become legitimate steals for Belichick, who even during his seasons of delusion always seemed to find a gem or two in that manner.

Sudfeld is a 6' 7" 255 pound athletic freak coming from a program where tight ends were considered mostly extensions of the offensive line, and as a result is an excellent blocker with the size and pass catching skill to project as the in-line tight end along with former Giant Jake Ballard, and could provide enough of a skill set to bridge the gap enough to allow Gronkowski to heal properly and to get in football shape on the PUP list...

...and the gap in athleticism at the H back position created by Hernandez's alleged indiscretions has created a huge opportunity for Harrison, who has the track star speed that Hernandez didn't while bringing greater size - both he and Sudfeld adept at running the seam effectively.

Running back Shane Vereen fits into the mix as well, his role as a change of pace back likely to be magnified and expanding to more of an H back role as he could be on the verge of exploding onto the scene as a double threat both out of the backfield and the slot.

If things were to work out in this scenario, that would give Belichick the flexibility to employ seven receivers (with special teams All Pro Matthew Slater a receiver in name only) and just three tight ends, Dobson, Boyce and Jenkins split wide, Amendola, Jones or Edelman and Harrison flanked wide or in the slot - with Ballard, Sudfeld and Michael Hoomanawanui as the tight ends until Gronkowski is able to return.

No matter how the team looks when the season starts, the receiver position will have been completely retooled and Brady will have had no choice but to adapt his game to what turns out to be a receiving corps which is potentially much more explosive than what he's had the past three seasons - and the Patriots offense able to force a the opposing defense to truly defend the entire field for the first time in a decade...

...what with the power running game in excellent hands with Ridley, Vereen and LeGarrette Blount, running behind the best offensive line in the game and Brady having a fine new arsenal of weapons - there may be no stopping this offense.

Next: In defense of the defense

The Truth: Part 4 - "Psycho" (Defense) R Us

Time was, a safety was a guy that could run really fast and whose entire purpose in life was to not let anyone get behind him.

Though those remain solid virtues, both free and strong safety positions have evolved over the years to include the dynamics involved with stopping the run and covering receivers.  Instead of being the guy that was too small to play anywhere else, a safety now needs to have tremendous feet and athleticism and to be built like a roman god...

...instead of being a scrapyard for college quarterbacks and washed up corners, the positions have become so defined and specialized that safeties may be some of the most athletic and versatile athletes on the football field - and borne within the framework of a modern NFL defense, the strong safety skill set has become the most sought after in the league.

Why?  Well, blame Bill Belichick and his hyper-tense contemporaries for advancing offensive ingenuity to a new level.

Yes, blame Belichick for unleashing the hybrid "12 Personnel" two tight end, two wide receiver, one running back up-tempo offense that, with the proper quarterback running the show, can make a defense feel as if they are in the wrong package, even if they are in the right one.

It's befuddling to be sure, but not a new concept - and many teams have some sort of variation, but it's just that quarterback Tom Brady makes it work better than anyone else can - or ever has - his mastery of the offense, 13 years under center and precision internal clock make him the greatest offensive weapon the NFL has ever seen.

To stop Brady means getting in his face and disrupting his rhythm, and that rings true for many drop back pocket passers, and while Brady adds about two dozen different degrees of difficulty with the up-tempo, no huddle angle, the Patriots defense only has to defend against him practice, not when the snaps count for real.

Not every team has a Tom Brady.  Some have a Drew Brees or a Peyton Manning or a Matty Ice or a Joe Flacco - pocket passers all - while others have a Ben Roethlisberger or a Cam Newton or even a Geno Smith, signal callers that are most dangerous on the move or as part of some sort of read option package...

...the emphasis on certain skill sets are as individual as the different teams employing them - which explains a lot in relation to Belichick's offseason moves both in the draft and free agency - both this year and last - and also why safeties have become such lusted after entities in the world of professional football. 

To stop the newest trends in the world of offensive innovation, it often takes the trendsetter himself to diffuse the symmetry - and that's exactly what the Hoodie, great and powerful, has been up to.

2012 second round draft pick Tavon Wilson was a shocker to most experts, but he has the background and skill set parallel to a position on the field known as the Big Nickle safety.  Same with 2013 draft shocker Duron Harmon, who also has the athletic ability to play center field if the need arises.

Many questioned these picks, but a quick glance at the big picture and how the 2013 draft essentially completes the defensive puzzle tells one that the forward thinking Belichick was right all along - and Mel Kiper be damned...

...because now it appears that with the addition of safeties Adrian Wilson and rookie Duron Harmon, cornerback Logan Ryan, linebackers Jamie Collins and Steve Beauharnais and free agent linemen Tommy Kelly and Armond Armstead to team with names such as Mayo, Talib, Spikes, Jones, Wilfork and Hightower, the Patriots' potential is unlimited - as are the ways that the defense can now attack the offense.

What it all comes down to is that the Patriots defense now has the capability to morph into whatever they need to be, even to the extent of being able to dictate to the offense - a far cry from the past decade, when the secondary was held together with duct tape and a prayer and the pass rush predicated on smoke and mirrors.

Last year with drafting Tavon Wilson, the Patriots had a potential Big Nickle 3-3-5 defense if they so desired.  Injuries and complexity forced Belichick to scrap the plan but, in contrast, with the depth added this offseason, the Patriots have such incredible athleticism and versatility that they can run anything from a standard 4-3 to a Big Nickle to a classic Psycho defense - which if implemented and used correctly, counters any matchup advantage the offense can muster.

For the uninitiated, the Psycho defense can only be described as orchestrated bedlam, a maximum of two down linemen and four defensive backs to go along with a minimum of five linebackers, the idea being to take advantage of several hybrid nickel safety-type backs and linebackers spread thoughout the second level...

...the hybrids jumping and moving all along the line of scrimmage before the snap, and becomes a zone blitz at the snap, any of them able to rush or rotate back into coverage effectively - but the confusion that can be caused by the sub package hides the intention of each player, so the quarterback never really knows where the pressure will be coming from...and neither will his protection.

The point is that only the best and most athletic defenses in the league are capable of pulling off that look, and every one of the Patriots four losses last season came at the hands of these units...but not by much, as the Patriots lost to the Cardinals by two points, Seattle by one, Baltimore by 3 and to San Francisco in what is being remembered as the game of the year.

The psycho is an extreme example and only for use a handful of plays per game, but it stands to showcase the level of athleticism that the Patriots defense has acquired this offseason - on paper edifying Belichick's defense to the status of those elite units.

That being said, the New England Patriots have the best defense they've ever put together on a field.

Ok, potentially.

But never before has the franchise had as much talent at every single position.  Oh sure, they've had some great defenses, and there have probably been better athletes at just about every position at one point or another, but collectively, this may be the best.

The line is anchored by the immovable object in Vince Wilfork, as disruptive a force in the running game as there is in the game.  Though he can reestablish the line of scrimmage three yards deep in the opponent's backfield virtually by himself, he is not a penetrating tackle.  His game is taking on double teams so that his teammates can penetrate and get to the quarterback.

Problem was, last season there was no one to take advantage of the lanes that Wilfork created, Belichick even employing the services of the likes of defensive ends Jermaine Cunningham and Justin Francis as undersized rush tackles last season, with predictable results.  So Belichick pulled a coup with his first move of the offseason, signing CFL defensive tackle Armond Armstead then adding massive ex-Oakland Raiders' tackle Tommy Kelly shortly after.

At 6' 5" and 300 pounds, Armstead was easily the most athletic and versatile tackle in Canada last season, earning a rare invite to the CFL All Star game as a rookie and he is now surrounded by talent such as Wilfork and defensive end Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich to form a quick and aggressive penetrating line that should be able to overwhelm just about any opposing pass protection...

...that is if Armstead can beat out the 6' 6", 325 pound Kelly in camp.  Kelly was a pass rushing force when teamed with Richard Seymour in Oakland, and the team hopes that he can be even better teamed with a true stop gap in Wilfork.  Camp battles abound along the line, particularly at end, where Cunningham will face serious challenges from Jake Bequette, Justin Fracis and rookie Michael Buchanan for his backup roster spot.

Ninkovich could also end up being a rush linebacker depending on how the team decides to use 2013 top draft pick Jamie Collins, the 6' 3" 250 pound physical freak having experience at defensive end in college, plus stints at strong safety and at linebacker - also making him perfect as the cover linebacker that the team so desperately needed last year.

Collins and fellow rookie Steve Beauharnais, he also a cover backer with strong safety experience, join tackling machines Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes and versatile strong-sider Dont'a Hightower as incredibly athletic depth, and putting pressure on a trio of try-hard, blue-collar backups that have a struggle ahead of them to preserve their roster spots.

Strong Safeties Adrian and Tavon Wilson will join the fold in the more exotic coverage packages requiring a big nickel, but both are also capable in backend coverage, though that would be better left to free safeties Devin McCourty and Steve Gregory.  Gregory filled in as a strong safety beside McCourty last season, but he is a natural free.  Surprise draft choice Harmon is capable of backing up both safety spots as well and could also figure into the hybrid coverages.

Harmon, along with McCourty, Francis, and Beauharnais should make 3rd round pick Logan Ryan feel right at home, as all played with him at Rutgers - and all figure to make the 53 man roster

Ryan joins a corps at cornerback that is as strong as any seen in New England since the championship seasons.  Aqib Talib came to Foxboro in a trade deadline deal last season with Tampa Bay and instantly became the best man corner on the roster, and his play enabled the Patriots defense in more ways than one.

For instance, his presence allowed McCourty - a corner his first few years with the Patriots - to stay at free safety where he has flourished into a potential pro bowl quality last line of defense, and also inspired 2012 7th rounder Alfonzo Dennard to ascend the depth chart to take over opposite Talib, knocking the overwhelmed Kyle Arrington to the slot, where he shows excellent short-range coverage skill and is a force against the run...

...Ras-I Dowling coming in as an afterthought, the oft-injured but big and talented corner that will press Dennard for his starting spot - and no matter who comes away with the label, the depth will be impressive...and when is the last time anyone could say that about the Patriots' secondary?

When is the last time that anyone could call a Patriots' defense elite, even dynastic?  Well, it's been a decade or so, and even then the defenses relied on a bend-but-don't-break philosophy that caused anxiety at times along the faithful, and that principle has carried through the Belichick era, much to the chagrin of title hungry fans...

...fans that have witnessed fundamental breakdowns on both sides of the ball at the most inopportune of times - many Patriots' teams coming within a dropped pass or two, coming within an incredible and perfect Eli Manning pass or two of having at least one more Lombardi Trophy to be displayed in the Hall at Patriot Place.

The defense put together by Bill Belichick won't need to resort to the antiquated and wrong flexible defensive ideologies of the past.  The only things they'll have to do is come off the field after many, many third down stops, and to come up with a scary sounding nickname for the force that it has become...

Next: Aw, Momma, is this really the end?

The Truth: Part 5 - Rude notes, random thoughts and pineal glands...

Pineal glands are weird.

Located on the vertebrate section of the human brain and situated between the gray hemispheres, many refer to the serotonin producing gland as the "Third Eye" or "Ajna" that, according to Hindu metaphysicists, is the point of the sixth chakra of the human lifeforce- more commonly known as the sixth sense.

It's the place where hunches are born, where reason and intuition meet to form speculation and opinion, and when combined with a constant as a base it becomes a football prognosticators greatest tool - so when one takes a step back to refresh the mind before processing all of the information leading into a season, the hemispheres come together and an honest evaluation evolves...

...and also for football coaches and personnel mangers and scouts, who are paid as part of an evaluation process to acquire players that fit into a designated scheme, a complex and often times complicated matrix that values hunches and instinct just as much as film and testing and interviews.

It isn't an exact science, to be sure, but it's not just a stab in the dark either - though that's what it seems at times - so it's really no surprise that the obituary for the New England Patriots dynastic run is being written by media around the country, starting with their own beat writers and radiating outwards as far and as fast as the internet can carry it...

...so it is important in times like these for us to take that step back, take deep breaths and meditate on fundamental football - not the opinion of others, rather, to activate that weird little gland that sits at the base of the brain, not only spewing chemicals that regulate sleep patterns and internal clocks , but also acts as an intelligence gathering warehouse that accepts information from one side of the brain, mixes it all up with natural intuition from the other side of the brain...

...and, yes - the brain.  How little is known of it?  How heavy a subject is the brain on a meditative walk in a dirty little burgh in central Maine, especially at such an hour?

It is 3:00am on a misty New England morning.  The sun will peek over the horizon in less than two hours, but chances are that I won't see it - not because of this ungodly overcast sky that is secreting this spray bottle mist, but because I am tired, and as soon as my body tells me it's had enough of this asphalt track lining the football field of the local high school, I will trudge home.

This is my meditation - how I converse with my inner voice, my soul.  Not much traffic nor any sign of human existence to break my concentration out at this time, none of those annoying black gnats that fly into every exposed orifice of your body, not even the family of groundhogs that live burrowed under the port-a-potty's at the east end of the facility are out at this hour - just me taking my soul out for a walk in the weather...

...and the subject we've chosen to meditate on is football - and the football brain in general, the Pineal gland specifically and, ultimately, a thing called ajna -  the sixth of seven energy centers in the body, tied by Hindu tradition to the pineal gland, the very thing that brings insight, intuition and imagination to life - activating my own and pondering that of New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick...

...looking for a confirmation of everything that I have written in the previous four portions of this doomed series - for after meditation lifted the veil of uncertainty from around my inner vision, Belichick's master plan seemed so obvious that why I didn't recognize it sooner is the only mystery that remains.

When I wrote in the first four parts of this series that the 2013 New England Patriots were still going to be a juggernaut on offense and will field the best defense they've ever had, I honestly believed it - from my muladhara (base) to my sahasrara (crown) I believe it, or I wouldn't have written it - and I'd like to think that decades of studying football has enhanced the projection, not closed my mind off to truth.

French philosopher Rene Descartes called the Pineal gland the "Principal seat of the soul" and believed it to be the metaphoric umbilical between the intellect and the body - and other scientists and philosophers spoke of the mystical awakening and enlightenment that came from the activation of the Pineal, along with things such as clairvoyance and higher states of consciousness.

We all have them, those pineal glands.  No bigger than a grain of rice, yet it is the most important part of the brain, enabling creative genius by linking the rational, thinking hemisphere of the brain with the intuitive, feeling hemisphere - so it goes without saying that it is the balance and health of the pine cone shaped gland that determines a person's course, be it as a dreamer or as a doer.

Unless, of course, you are the rare individual who can do both at the same time.

Bill Belichick is a creative genius, and all of football has marveled in his wisdom for going on a decade and a half now - his chakra, when balanced, leading to inspiration - believing in himself to the point of perceived arrogance, his unique sense of personal style and individualism fodder for those who wish to be his foil...

...some accuse him of having an overdeveloped gland, as he is judgmental, inflexible and pragmatic - always thinking outside the box and in touch with his ego - in essence, a know-it-all.  Still others judge him as having an under-developed chakra due to his propensity for avoiding the spotlight and his conspicuous distaste for the media. - but he is in fact all of those things solely as a result of being a football coach and a master tactician.

And not just that, as he also subscribes to the annihilation theory - that he doesn't just want to win football games.  He's been doing that, rather, he wants to punish the opposition, running them over like he was in command of a division of tanks.  His no huddle, up tempo offense has been fully capable of doing this to the opposing defense, and now he has the pieces to do the same on defense, though it has been a long process...

...one that started once his confidants and good friends left his coaching nest, leaving Belichick bare of his sounding boards - once his Patriots had properly disposed of the Philadelphia Eagles on a cool northern Florida night in February of 2005, he stood on the sideline in an embrace with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel...

...which would have been awkward, but given the gravity of the moment - the Patriots had just won their third Lombardi Trophy in four years, and all three knew this would be the last time they would ever coach from the same sideline together - nobody really cared about perception.

Weis had the head coaching gig at Notre Dame waiting on him and Crennel the same position with the Cleveland Browns - leaving Wild Bill to his own devices with no one to tighten the reigns when he got a little too smart for his own good - the result, an eight year hiatus from hauling in big silver trophies.

But Belichick learned from his mistakes, learning that 19-1 will never be better than accepting the Lombardi Trophy from the commish, learning that speed kills in more ways than one and that arrogant presumption is not a firm base from which to build a football team - and once that balance returned to his Chakra, his want and desire was to build once again what had brought him championships with his old friends Charlie and Romeo...

What Belichick had with those two on the sideline was a balanced offense with a bruising running game and brash young quarterback that liked to spread the ball around.  They scored plenty of points, or at least enough to allow the defense to go full speed without worrying about the risks - a defense that counted on it's cornerbacks to eliminate the opposition's receivers so that the front seven could harass the quarterback with vigor.

The quarterback isn't so young any longer, but he's still the quarterback on the back end of a Hall of Fame career.  The running game is bruising once again and the team has brought in new pass catching talent to spread the ball out to.  They will score many points, more than any of those championship teams ever did...

...and the defense once again has the talent and violent intent to give pause to many an offensive coordinator - and combined with the knowledge of what Tom Brady is capable of doing to their own defense, these coaches know the truth - that the Patriots are formidable and to write them off or to merely underestimate them is a dangerous way to proceed.

Yet in the wake of injury and felony and rumor of dark malfeasance, those without clear chakra see only a franchise and a dynasty in chaos - the end of the line for the mythical Patriot Way - but consider before jumping off the bandwagon:

Training camp begins in just a few weeks, and there is so much talented depth on the preseason 90 man roster that camp battles for spots on the regular season 53 man roster could constitute a free for all - not because there needs to be significant turnover, but because the depth is that talented...

The camp battles will be intense, with many players with plenty to prove, and some of the more intriguing...

     * The mix at linebacker is an absolutely loaded with talent - The incumbents, Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and Dont'a Hightower are a solid trio and appear to be safe going into camp, but the Patriots need to find ways to get multi-tool talent Jaime Collins on the field as much as possible - and also it will be interesting to see if and where Steve Beauharnais fits in the scheme.  Both are hybrids, Collins at rush linebacker and defensive end, Beauharnais at inside linebacker and safety.

     * Both cornerback positions are as strong as they've been in years, yet a battle appears to be brewing between oft-injured Ras-I Dowling and incumbent Alfonzo Dennard.  Dowling is a bigger, more rangy back and one gets the feeling that the position is actually Dowling's to lose, as the Patriots have been waiting for two years to see him be able to perform.  Logan Ryan could be in the mix as well, has the look of someone that could give Arrington a run for his money as physical as he plays in the slot.

     * The addition to Collins on the roster add just more options to a Patriots defensive line that suddenly has plenty of them.  With Armstead and Kelly joining Vince Wilfork at the tackles, it is conceivable that Collins could team with Chandler Jones as bookends, though Rob Ninkovich is the incumbent and a terrific player.  The real battles will be between Jermaine Cunningham and those looking to eclipse him as top line depth.  Michael Buchanan, Jason Vega and Jake Bequette are those with a realistic shot to do just that.

   * Along the offensive line, right guard is the only position that could be labeled as "unsettled", and that's only because the question looms as to whether Marcus Cannon would be an upgrade over Dan Connelly, and if so, would it be prudent to just leave him as the top depth anyway.  Really no need to mess with this winning formula at all, so versatile depth is where the coaching staff will be looking, with Will Svitek and Nick McDonald the favored.

    * The running game is in excellent shape, as Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Bolden and Leon Washington all could earn final roster spots - and running behind the best run blocking offensive line in the NFL doesn't hurt.  Vereen will also be used extensively in the passing game, so Ridley is the man in the backfield, and don't rule out a pro bowl type performance from him.

     * Tight End obviously took a big hit with the release of Hernandez and Gronkowski's protracted surgical history, but this is where Belichick's forward thinking pays off.  He acquired Jake Ballard last season while he rehabbed a knee and rookie Zach Sudfeld is proving to be a find in OTA's.  Michael Hoomanawanui and Daniel Fells round out a group that may see only three roster spots available.

     * As well documented as the turnover at receiver has been, there appears to be somewhat of a comfort zone between Brady and the trio of Danny Amendola and Julien Edelman with Shane Vereen as an X-factor out of the backfield - and all should have roster spots.  What Brady needs is to have three more receivers make an impact in camp and seize roster spots.  Michael Jenkins appears to have an inside track by forming a repertoire during OTAs, so it will be up to rookies Aaron Dobson, Mark Harrison and Josh Boyce to fill out the roster.  All three have experience in the slot and out wide, with Harrison a candidate to fill the H-back role.

     * Tom Brady is the quarterback - after that, well it's a strange mix of a tall guy with a cannon for an arm and an elusive signal caller that can run the option but doesn't have a big arm.  Either way, if Brady ever got hurt, the question would be which style they'd be more comfortable with.  That being said, Tim Tebow has an excellent chance to make the roster because not only are the Patriots adept at play action, but they are also set up to succeed with a tremendous ground attack that Tebow would thrive in, otherwise it's up in the air - as would be the Patriots' chances with Brady on the mend.

It is easy to get lost in the fog of negativity surrounding the New England Patriots in wake of their Summer of Pain - well documented by Borges disciples and mostly in a sensationalistic manner - Many are blindly jumping off the bandwagon, choosing uncertainty over their own soul - a typical knee-jerk reaction to tribulation, a time when one truly discovers who has their back and who doesn't.

So go for a walk, preferably in the weird mist that swallows up New England on summer nights and think about this team and the job that Bill Belichick has done in building up the depth chart - don't take my word for it, nor anyone else's - do your own soul searching, differentiating between what you want in your heart and what you know in your head...

...because chances are that the two are only as far apart as the hemispheres of the brain and the pineal gland, which we now know isn't really that far at all.

Dennard's arrest puts Patriots on the spot once again

The New England Patriots Summer of Pain just got a little more painful.

Early Thursday morning, starting cornerback Alfonzo Dennard was arrested by police in Lincoln, Nebraska on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence, the second time in a little more than a year that the talented yet apparently immature defensive back has been in police custody.

Just prior to the 2012 draft, Dennard was arrested outside of a Lincoln nightclub after punching a plain-clothed police officer during a scrum with another patron.  The incident caused the projected second round pick to fall completely off many teams' draft boards and probably would have gone undrafted had the Patriots not selected him as an afterthought in the 7th round.

At the time he was drafted, coach Bill Belichick said that after doing extensive research and interviews on the University of Nebraska product he was comfortable with Dennard's situation and that the cop punching incident was "not who we believe he is", and his success on the field became a much needed personnel success story for New England.

Now he's just punch in the nose for a Patriots' franchise that was already bleeding

During the sentencing hearing for his assault conviction, Judge Stephanie Stacy agreed that she would listen to motions to suspend Dennard's jail sentence should he comply with all of the terms of his probation. It's not clear how this latest episode will impact Dennard's 30 day sentence on the felony conviction, if at all, but one has to think that any chance he had at having his jail sentence reduced or suspended is now gone - and, in fact, the terms of his probation may be revisited by the court...

...up to and including the court remanding Dennard to a correctional facility to serve his probationary period behind bars, the order including terms that he refrain from breaking any more laws including "disorderly conduct or acts injurious to others."  It's too early to know whether prosecutors will move to have Dennard's probation revoked, but if they do, it could mean that the promising corner could lose the 2013 season, at the very least.

There was no stipulation in the terms that prevents him from consuming alcohol, but drunk driving is a different matter all together.

Dennard refused to submit to a chemical test upon being pulled over by Lincoln Police and reportedly failing a field sobriety test - which Dennard and his legal team disputes - and he landed in the detox portion of the jail and not in a cell.  The Patriots issued a statement expressing disappointment at the news.

The Patriots, who were already in full damage control mode due to the Aaron Hernandez release after he was arrested and charged with Murder, now will take even more heat for taking a chance on a troubled player that apparently has an issue with alcohol, given his history...

...and it's just a matter of time that the media starts making a big deal out of the alcohol / nightclub angle.  Whether fair or not, the spotlight is about to land very heavily on Dennard, a victim of his own poor judgement and also of former Patriots' tight end Aaron Hernandez's arrest for murder a few weeks ago, which already had the media in full rabid froth and violently attacking the Patriots' character.

Earlier this spring, tight end Rob Gronkowski took some heat for drunkenly wrestling on stage in a night club, showing little regard for his broken and casted forearm - Hernandez's violent life choices also have either occurred at a night club or shortly after leaving or as a result of something that occurred at a club, and now Dennard adding to his rap sheet.

Professional athletes becoming suddenly rich and getting themselves into trouble is hardly a new thing, but for a Patriots organization that prides itself for employing only people of character, the fact that Hernandez is apparently a murderous multiple felon put the tight-lipped Patriots under intense scrutiny and delivered a big black eye for the franchise.

Patriots fans have got to be feeling like they're being let down by the players that they expected to lead them into a 2013 season full of promise - and it still is full of promise and the road to the Super Bowl is still attainable for New England despite the latest legal issues...

...but many more potholes that cause them to lose players could also cause an even more rapid exodus from the Patriots' bandwagon, which is already being abandoned like rats leaving a sinking ship.

Dennard arrest raises maturity questions

Most folks are looking at Alfonzo Dennard's arrest on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence early Thursday morning as a lack of maturity on the part of the New England Patriots starting cornerback.

And why not?  Driving after drinking is never a smart move, and is in fact a flagrant and deplorable crime against society as a whole, and police agencies around the country have an incredibly tough job of keeping the streets safe from selfish and immature people who get hammered and decide to go for a drive, sometimes erring on the side of caution - completely understandable.

But Dennard denies that he was intoxicated.  Police reports claim that he failed a roadside sobriety test after they pulled Dennard over after observing him "straddling the lane line", while the second year corner said he blew the breathalyzer twice and was told each time that he hadn't blown hard enough to register a reading.

The police report claims that Dennard refused to take a chemical test to determine his blood alcohol level, which is within his prudence to do so, but the Dennard camp maintains that he was never asked to take a blood test and that he passed the field sobriety test...

...yet the former University of Nebraska standout was taken to the Detoxification wing at the county lockup, in custody on suspicion of DUI, refusing a chemical test and a driving infraction.

And blah, blah, blah, he said, she said blah, blah. 

Whether Dennard is guilty of drunken driving has no bearing on his most egregious crime of all, that of unbelievable stupidity.

What in the hell was he doing back at a night club in Lincoln, Nebraska?

This is the place that he was convicted last summer of belting a cop in the face outside (you guessed it) a night club - a felony conviction that carried with it a maximum five year prison sentence, but the court levied only a 30 day stay at the iron bar motel, and not until the completion of the 2013 NFL season...

...and if he stayed out of trouble, the judge said she would listen to a motion to set aside his jail time altogether - a ruling that probably didn't set too well with the officers of the city of Lincoln.

Knowing this, and knowing that during the assault trial his defense attorney had inferred that the city's police officers fabricated evidence and corroborated stories amongst themselves in the past  made him a marked man, the question looms:  Why?

Were he satisfying his 100 hours of court ordered community service, his presence in Lincoln would have been understandable, if not mandatory.  But to have even one drop of alcohol, or even just being seen leaving a night club and get behind the wheel of his car - knowing that they were watching him - constitutes stupidity beyond belief. 

Now, Dennard has to leave training camp six days in to appear before a Judge in Lincoln who will determine whether the evidence presented by the police and District Attorney amounts to enough to violate his probation terms which, if it is determined that he had, he will miss the rest of camp and at least portions of the 2013 season either in jail or under suspension by the team and the league - or both.

The evidence against Dennard will be disputed lustily by his defense attorney and he may avoid jail, but it doesn't mean that he will escape the wrath of Roger Goodell, who was already trying to find angles to punish Dennard for last summer's felony conviction...

...which happened before he was an employee of the league - so this latest episode makes it easy for the NFL's long-tenured disciplinarian to slap him with a hefty suspension as a habitual offender.

No matter how this turns out for Dennard, his next move is clear:  Serve whatever punishment the court deems necessary and get the hell out of Lincoln, never to return.

Got friends there?  Invite them to come visit you.  Pay for their trip. 

Got family there? Use your six figure salary to move them close to you. 

Concerned about the youth in Lincoln and want to continue your role in serving the community?  You've done your part.

Lincoln, Nebraska is not the only place in the world where cops have been alleged to fabricate evidence and stalk and entrap people that they've targeted, but it is the place where they've obviously targeted you, and to remain there is akin to self-abuse and career suicide.

Just sayin'...