Bank

With that third win in the bank, Sunday morning is all coffee and donuts. A beautiful autumn day. I’ll treat the wife to a movie and dinner and try not to get caught checking the scoreboard on my phone. The only chance the Bills have is a debilitating case of jet lag for the Cardinals. The Dolphins should take care of business playing at home against the hapless Browns. Let’s face it, all I really care about are Manish Mehta’s first place New York Jets. Can the Chiefs stop the Jets in Arrowhead? Yeah, I’m not counting on that.

Finally, a little bit of good news for Patriots quarterbacks. Jacoby Brissett’s thumb injury may have been minor; just a sprain rather than the torn ligament first reported. Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo could both be ready to play by next Sunday. Not that we’ll know one way or the other. Bill Belichick will want to force Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills to prepare for both a pass-first offense with Garoppolo and and a run-first offense with Brissett. Expect both Brissett and Garoppolo to be seen at practice and both to be listed as Questionable throughout the week.

To my brother-in-law Scott, who’s a long-time Bills fan: Sorry, bro. It’s going to be a long, long season. I’d say I feel your pain but clearly I don’t.

What Might’ve Been

Yes, I would’ve liked to have seen Julian Edelman (or even AJ Derby, the college QB turned TE) take some snaps at quarterback. As Hunter S. Thompson said, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” It would’ve been amazing to see what Josh McDaniels cooked up for Jules (or even AJ Derby). Having said that, I’m totally good with seeing Jimmy G warming up on the sideline next Sunday.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

I’ve heard Tom Brady’s four-game suspension was supposed to be a punishment but if so, I’m confused. According to my dictionary, a punishment is “the infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense.” The Patriots are 3-0-0 and playing like pigskin shapeshifters, adapting to and dominating despite Brady’s absence and injuries to key players. And Tom Brady is chillin’ in Capri with his supermodel wife. Am I missing something here?

Maybe it’s just pigskin karma. Tom Brady and the Patriots didn’t actually commit an offense; there was no tampering with footballs - other than that by Mother Nature - so the there’s no penalty.

He’s Just That Good

In the wake of the impressive win last Thursday night, local pigskin pundits and bobbleheads have been making the case for Belichick as Coach of the Year, and rightly so.

I think you could also make a case for Belichick as Executive of the Year.

Rich Hill in his Sunday Notes on Pats Pulpit breaks down the 2016 rookie class and it’s impressive. Starting left guard Joe Thuney alone puts this year’s draft on the plus side but there’s also DB Cyrus Jones, DT Vincent Valentine, WR Malcolm Mitchell, ST Jonathan Jones and of course, QB Jacoby Brissett making meaningful contributions.

Belichick also added veterans TE Martellus Bennett and Clay Harbor, WR Chris Hogan, LB/DE Shea McClellin and Barkevious Mingo, DE Chris Long, DB Eric Rowe and OG Jonathan Cooper. The jury is still out on the injured Cooper and Rowe but Bennett has me thinking I haven’t seen a career renaissance like this since Randy Moss arrived in Foxborough. Long is a close second in that regard. Hogan looks like he was born to play in the Patriots offense while Harbor, McClellin and Mingo have all contributed to New England’s 3-0-0 start.

The bad news? Figuring out who to cut when Brady and Rob Ninkovich return from suspension. Whoever those two guys are, they won’t make it to the Pats practice squad. One of the Other 31 is going to put them on their roster.

Getting Ahead of Ourselves

Let’s start with this: Tom Brady is not a system quarterback but he is the perfect quarterback for the offensive system the Patriots run.

I’ve noted in previous posts that (a) Bill Belichick will do whatever he thinks is best for the team (meaning, yes, he could trade Tom Brady) and (b) Tom Brady is worth more to the Patriots than he is to any other team (meaning Jimmy Garoppolo has more trade value than TB12).

So, I’m not going to call the “Trade Tom” crowd crazy, though I do question their basic math and analytical skills. Let’s not forget we’re also dealing with a small data sample and recency bias when it comes to Jimmy G, too. Having said that, the first half against the Dolphins was startlingly good. I saw the trade price jump from one 1st and maybe a 3rd or 4th to two 1st round picks, minimum as Garoppolo threw his third TD pass. After he was supplexed by Kiko Alonso I was thinking a 1st and maybe a 5th.

If Jimmy G can play against Buffalo and play at that same level - demonstrating the toughness required of a franchise QB - I’ll be upping the price tag in the Jimmy Garoppolo Trade Machine to two 1st rounders again.

Checking Myself

Is there another NFL franchise that could value Tom Brady more than the Patriots? Since I believe in many possible futures…

The Detroit Lions - Can you spin this as a Michigan home-coming for Brady? Detroit has ex-Pat Bob Quinn running the show in the Motor City. The Lions are off to their usual puzzling if not inscrutable start, following up an impressive road win with a loss at home. Matthew Stafford’s picture is next to the word enigma in the dictionary. Swap out Jim Caldwell and Stafford for Josh McDaniels and Brady and you have instant credibility and a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. I’d still try to get McDaniels and Garoppolo but that’s probably a better match for…

Chicago Bears - Because Jay Cutler.

San Francisco 49ers - More of a true home-coming than Detroit so I’ll throw it out there but I’m not sure Brady is a great fit for Chip Kelly’s offense and I don’t see the Niners moving on from Kelly after just one year. It is up tempo and run first which might take some of the pressure off the 40-year old Brady so there’s that. But wouldn’t San Francisco also put a return on investment for Garoppolo?

Cleveland Browns - Because Browns. Do the Browns have any 1st round picks?

Jacksonville Jaguars - Good chance the Jags clean house after yet another disappointing season.

Los Angeles Rams - Is Jared Goff a bust? How does Jeff Fisher still have a job? McDaniels and Brady would sell a shit-ton of luxury boxes.

AFC East - Because Bill Belichick. Who else would have the stones to make a deal with a divisional opponent. He’s done it before, of course, sending Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo. Tom and Gisele have a place in NYC, just to continue the home-coming trope. Even given Belichick’s track record, I just can’t see him trading the most competitive man on the planet to a team he’ll have to face twice a year for until Tom Brady is 50-years old. It would also suck seeing the Jets, Bills or Dolphins - but especially the Jets - win a Super Bowl.

After throwing an icy-cold glass of water in my face...

There’s plenty of time for the armchair GMs (like myself, obviously) to debate what Belichick will do, how much New England could get in return, but I think it’s safe to say nothing is going down until after Super Bowl 51 is in the books.

For now only one thing matters.

We’re on to Buffalo!