Well I guess it’s time to look back on the New England Patriots 2011 season. A season, which by all accounts, was supposed to be more of a rebuilding year turned into a wonderful regular season that ended once again too early with a disappointing playoff loss. And a home playoff loss at that.
Back in the preseason I predicted the Patriots for 12-4 with a 7-1 record at home, 5-3 on the road, 5-1 in the division and 9-3 in the conference. I had them losing to the Jets on the road, which they did. I also had them taking back to back loses against the Ravens in Foxboro and the Chargers in San Diego. They actually won those games. I had their fourth loss in Chicago, which turned out to be a blow out win. This would have given them the AFC East title in a tie break with the Jets and the #3 AFC seed. I had them winning in the wildcard card weekend, but losing in the division weekend, right where they bowed out. So for predictions I thought I did pretty well.
In reality, they finished 14-2 with an 8-0 home record, 6-2 on the road, 5-1 in the division and 10-2 in the conference. Their only losses were Week 2 at the Jets 28-14 and the disturbing blowout loss at Cleveland in Week 9, 34-14. They won the division and earned the top AFC seed and got a wildcard weekend bye. They then lost to the Jets 28-21 in the division round.
As Patriots fans we are all disappointed in how the season ended with what was a pretty poor showing in the playoffs for the second consecutive year. What we have to realize is that this team, especially on the defensive side of the ball is very young.
Defensively three starters this season were rookies. CB Devin McCourty, LB Brandon Spikes and LB/DE Jermaine Cunningham. After that you have many players with only 2 or 3 years in the league like CB Darius Butler, S Brandon Meriweather, LB Jerod Mayo, LB Rob Ninkovich and others. The defense did a good job growing into the themselves and getting better as the season progressed. In fact over the last five weeks of the regular season they went from being ranked 22nd in scoring defense to finishing 8th.
To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
They had outstanding contributions from Mayo who led the NFL in tackles and McCourty who was second in INTs to Wilfork who was the true big man in the middle.
Special teams wise this team was well, special. They had eight non-offensive TD’s this season two of them were KORTD’s, there was a punt return TD, a blocked FG returned for a TD and a blocked punt returned for a TD. S Patrick Chung, WR Matthew Slater and WR Brandon Tate were exciting to watch all season long.
On offense they were record setting. nine consecutive games with 30 points scored, eight of them in a row without a turnover. Probable NFL MVP QB Tom Brady had a 9:1 TD to INT ratio and went an NFL record 335 pass attempts without a pick, throwing only four all season. The team itself had only 10 turnovers all season establishing a new NFL record. They played better than expected and we got sucked in.
In the end they just weren’t good enough to get deep into the playoffs. I heard someone say they remind him of the New York Yankees. They haven’t won in a while but they’re always lurking, always dangerous to make that run. They always have a good season and are just a few moves away from a great one. I believe that the next three seasons maybe the greatest you will ever see a New England team have. They have the best QB. They’re sold at WR although they do need a deep a threat and getting Chad Ochocinco from Cincinnati or drafting A.J. Green (Georgia) would do them a world of good. They have two solid backs in BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead and hopefully Kevin Faulk is back. They also have some fantastic young TE’s that are here for a while as well in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.
Defensively thought, they need a pass rusher badly. Someone to terrorize opposing QBs off the edge. They need a James Harrison; they need a Dwight Freeney; a Julius Peppers. The back end of the defense in the linebacking and secondary is young and solid as is the kicking game. This team is good. This team is just a few moves away from being great. I trust Bill Belichick will make them so.
Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem and don’t forget to become a fan of us on Facebook.
Photo credit: AP Photo
