Coffee and Pgskin Contemplation

Sunday morning. A cup of coffee. Some contemplation.

Contemplating Brady's knee and how it's supposed to get better while he's still playing football. It's something of a yellow flag, too, in regards to Brady's plan to play until he's 45 or sucks (whichever comes first). There's only so much TB12 can control, of course; step on a football field and you're in harm's way. A bye week would certainly help. Locking up the bye week before Week 17 and giving Jimmy Garoppolo the start in Miami would be even better.

Contemplating a Too Short to Get on This Ride offense for the Patriots with zero tight ends and some combination of Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola, Malcolm Mitchell, James White or Dion Lewis on the field together for Tom Brady. Throw D.J. Foster into the mix as well. Not that I want to see Josh McDaniels abandon the running game but given Brady's ability to read defenses and his quick twitch delivery this configuration of skill players could provide plenty of no huddle/hurry up fireworks. That's what my second cup of coffee is saying.

Contemplating pigskin karma when it comes to injuries. In an All Things Being Equal pigskin universe, Gronk's loss would insulate the roster from further damage. Unfortunately, recent events have led me to believe we do not live in an All Things Being Equal universe, pigskin or otherwise. Wishful contemplation? Wishful contemplation.

Contemplating Matt Patricia giving some love to the blitz. With all the young, fast hybrid type players on the roster, this looks like a defense built to go NASCAR on the D-Line and blitz linebackers like Kyle Van Noy, Barkevious Mingo and Elandon Roberts (better to blitz Roberts than leave him in coverage), safety Patrick Chung or even cornerback Logan Ryan now that he's playing in the slot. I'd like to see five and six defenders rushing the list of Quarterbacks Not Bound for Canton Except as Visitors that New England will be facing in December and January. Rookie Jared Goff today, Joe Flacco, who needs time to throw deep, either Trevor Siemian or Paxton Lynch, two young QBs in Denver, Ryan Fitzpatrick in Foxborough and Ryan Tannehill in Miami. Are any of those guys better against the blitz than they are against coverage? Seriously, are they? I have no idea. I just want to see the Patriots defense blitz, sack the QB or force bad throws that turn into interceptions.

Contemplating how I'm actually looking forward to seeing how Bill Belichick manages the post-Gronk push for the playoffs and one more run for a Super Bowl. Don't get me wrong, I was really looking forward to a healthy Gronk/Bennett combo at tight end (along with the return of Dion Lewis) but Rob Gronkowski's injury only adds to the This Would Be Their Greatest Championship Ever narrative. The stolen 1st round draft pick, the attempted theft of September, Dante Scarnecchia laying hands on Marcus Cannon, LeGarrette Blount having the best season of his career and James White stepping up, Dion Lewis returning from injury and now the loss of Gronk, one of the 10 best players in the NFL. A whole lot of ins and outs.

Contemplating my cold coffee and the now impending kickoff… Go Pats!