Patriots have what it takes to repeat
Returning players, team concept can prevail
The Patriots are well equipped to defend their Super Bowl championship, according to columnist Ron Borges.
By Ron Borges
NBCSports.com contributor
The New England Patriots haven't lost in so long they can barely recall what it feels like. If they can shake that notion by September, it could be a long time before they lose again.
Repeating as Super Bowl winner is an extremely difficult task, a fact that should be fresh in the minds of the defending champions. It was just two years ago that the Patriots not only failed to defend their title, but failed to even make the playoffs. Five of the past six teams to reach the Super Bowl failed to reach the postseason the following season, the only exception being the Baltimore Ravens.
Another measure of the arduous task in front of the Patriots is that only seven teams have been repeat Super Bowl winners in the 38-year history of the game, and one could argue that the core of the Steelers team that did it twice (1974-75, 1978-79 seasons) was the same. Back-to-back championships were last put up by the 1997-98 Denver Broncos, a feat already a half a decade old.
Although the task may be difficult, it is not impossible. If there is a team in recent memory that has a chance it is the Patriots, winners of their final 15 games last season. With four home games in the first six weeks this season, New England has a solid opportunity to better the NFL record for most consecutive regular-season victories (17) set by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears.
But this is hardly their aim. Their goal is to do what they failed to do two years ago.
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Can they do it? The odds say no for a host of reasons, the most obvious being that it seldom happens, even under the best of circumstances. Arguing in their favor, however, is that this may be the best of circumstances. The Patriots have all but two regulars returning from last season, and neither of their coordinators was snatched away by a better job opportunity.
In this day of salary cap-imposed parity, that is unusual for a defending champion. The only players New England lost in the offseason were players they were willing to part with: guard Damien Woody, who signed a huge contract in Detroit; nose tackle Ted Washington, who went for the money in Oakland; and defensive end Bobby Hamilton, who was being fazed out to make room for former No. 1 pick Ty Warren.
Coach Bill Belichick reduced the average age of his defensive line from nearly 30 to barely 24 ? and paid less to do it. That should bring not only fiscal responsibility and youth to the Patriots' front three but also a bit more speed and quickness.
This is a line that could have three former No. 1 picks starting at some point: Warren, Pro Bowl selection Richard Seymour and rookie nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who surprisingly fell to the Patriots on draft day.
Yet New England has a veteran presence at that position as well, having signed free agent nose tackle Keith Traylor. Traylor, 34, is a wide load who's difficult to move, although he's not what he once was.
The loss of Woody, who some feel has the potential to be a consistent Pro Bowl performer if he can keep control of his waist line, is not seen as a major problem on the other side of the ball. After all, he was hurt late last season and replaced by Russ Hochstein with no apparent dropoff.
Hochstein is back, as are the remaining four starters from a year ago, meaning New England's offense enters the season with the same starting line that opened Super Bowl XXXVIII. The difference on offense is that running behind them will be former Bengal Corey Dillon, who may prove to be the steal of the offseason if he returns to the form that allowed him to rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons.
Dillon was a consistent malcontent throughout his time in Cincinnati and that has to be a concern for Belichick, who has built the Patriots' success around an unselfish acceptance of his team-first philosophy, but he feels Dillon will respond differently playing on a legitimate Super Bowl contender. If he does, he will give New England its best running back since Curtis Martin left for the Jets nearly a decade ago.
Just the thought of a more thunderous running game being coupled with the gameplan wizardry of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and the aplomb of two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady makes it easy to see why Patriot Nation is beginning to utter the word "dynasty."
Defensively, the linebackers are starting to show some years. There is little reason to believe last year's high-priced free-agent acquistion, Rosevelt Colvin, will be on the field when the season begins after missing most of last season with a severely injured hip. Yet even at that, the defense is a veteran unit that has shown enough depth to fill all the needs of Belichick's complicated schemes. So why shouldn't the Patriots repeat?
Well, there's the matter of the Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs, for starters. But when the Patriots hear that, they respond this way: Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning is 2-8 against them in his career, they beat the Titans and their co-league MVP Steve McNair in the playoffs and any defense with all the holes the Chiefs still have will have a hard time handling the multiple ways Weis and Brady will attack them.
Injuries are, of course, always a wild card, and they are particularly significant at quarterback. Despite the recent signings of free-agent journeymen Jim Miller and Kurt Kittner, there will be no one on the roster ready to replace Brady if he sustains the first significant injury of his career.
Then again, that could be said of any team. Who replaces Manning in Indianapolis or McNair in Tennessee or Trent Green in Kansas City? No one, really.
Worse for their opponents, the Patriots won all those games last season despite having many different starting lineups due to injuries to such key elements as Colvin, Washington, linebacker Mike Vrabel, wide receiver Troy Brown, Woody, now-departed guard Mike Compton and on and on.
New England never missed a beat and because of that, many of their younger players got the game exposure that should only help them this season. Safety Eugene Wilson, who started as a rookie, and cornerback Asante Samuel have a year of experience under their belts.
This is a team far better equipped to defend its Super Bowl XXXVIII title than it was its Super Bowl XXXVI championship.
A year ago New England finished 27th in the league in rushing, averaging only 100.4 yards a game and scoring only nine touchdowns on the ground. The addition of Dillon and rookie Cedric Cobbs addressed that problem nicely.
A year ago, New England was first in the NFL in the only defensive statistics that really matter ? points allowed (238) and turnover ratio (+17) ? and they added the top-rated defensive tackle in the draft and a veteran to pair with him, as well as a young defensive end in Bailey who they believe could become a major contributor if finally given a chance to play regularly.
Someone may still unseat the Patriots, but any team that pulls it off will have to have few weaknesses, and a very good day when they cross paths with the defending Super Bowl champions.
Ron Borges writes regularly for NBCSports.com and covers the NFL and boxing for the Boston Globe.
