Requiem for the 2006 Season
It took me over a week to get around to summing up the Patriots’ 2006 season, and how it ended. It’s not that I was surprised to see Manning and the Colts finally be handed … er … win agains the Patriots. It’s just that they were so close – 1:10 – to another Superbowl appearance when a few months ago people wondered if they’d even win the division.
It was a season which started bad (1st play had Brady strip-sacked for a Buffalo TD) and had people coming and going right through to December. In November the team had a bad case of Fumblitis and then, like a veteran team will do, they just decided to buckle down. The turn-overs stopped, the offense got on track, and within a few weeks a scatter-shot looking team suddenly looked like a contender.
So let’s get to it, here’s the highlights and lowlights of the season.
Coach Belichick – Few NFL coaches are as able to deal with adversity and still produce winning seasons as this guy. This team had new offensive and defensive coordinators, a rookie kicker, a rookie running back, an all new receiving corps, and devastating injuries to key defensive players. And they still went 12-4 and were a game from the Big Game. Belichick took some hits for his brusque manner, but screw everyone who bitches and whines because he hates to lose. Larry Bird wasn’t always a gentleman either.
The New Coordinators – Dean Pees did a good job for the most part. There were some games were you wondered what he was up to, but his defense set a franchise record for fewest points allowed. They didn’t come up with as many big plays as in seasons past, but inside the red zone they were rock solid. “Bend but don’t break” worked. The other side of the ball, though. Yikes. Josh McDaniels needs to go back to being a QB’s coach – because that’s how he behaved as an offensive coordinator. He abandoned the run in the second half of games for no reason, put players into situations which nullified their skills, and in general had some pretty idiotic play selections.
Tom Brady – A lot of people probably think he had a bad season. But he spent extra time with the new receivers teaching them the routes. Can you picture Peyton Manning running routes for his receivers so they know what he wants? No frikkin’ way. He wasn’t as sharp as in years past, but you take any QB and give him all new receivers, and a new OC, and see how sharp he looks. Brady is still The Man – New Englanders will take him over a dozen Mannings any day.
Stephen Gostkowski - Our new kicker – the “New Adam.” He had a rough start, but no rougher than Vinatieri’s first year. He was solid down the stretch. Made the long kicks we needed, and pinned the opposition with his kick-offs. Good call by Belichick and Pioli drafting this kid.
Troy Brown – What can’t he do? After 14 years in the game he still is a solid receiver – as good as any slot receiver in the game. Plus he returns kicks and plays corner in a pinch. He does it all, he does it well, and he doesn’t gripe about money or not being in the Pro Bowl. He set the franchise receiving record, eclipsing Stanley Morgan, this year too.
Corey Dillon – He had a pretty good year all things considered. He showed he can still get it done for sure. But for some reason he was non-existent in the second half of too many games – especially when we needed to be killing the clock. Is he injured or tired or is McDaniels just not thinking?
Laurence Maroney - This guy will likely have an explosive second season. He showed how dangerous a runner he can be, but the offense needs to be built for him a little more. He’s also got a great attitude, a real happy player unlike many RB’s who have just way too much ego.
Kevin Faulk & Heath Evans – The other running backs. Faulk has come through for the Patriots so often and in so many ways it’s not funny. We wouldn’t have beat the Chargers without him. Evans is a quiet hero out there. It’s a shame we don’t have an OC who gets him more involved. Evans is also loyal – he’s come out and stated that he wants to be a Patriot and doesn’t care about the money. When do you year that in the NFL?
Chad Jackson – They hopes for this kid were so high. But he was injured in pre-season and for most of the regular season it appeared. A very disappointing performance, especially given how badly the team needed a spark at the WR position. He needs to get in shape and be there for every game next year.
Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney – The New WR’s. Reche took a lot of crap early in the season because people thought he was the replacement for Branch – which wasn’t fair to him. They had him lining up someplace different each week so it was tough for him to get consistent. Once he got into a groove, though, he showed real ability and had a couple 100+ yard games – something many fans thought no Pats WR would do all season. He had two bad, bad, bad costly drops in the AFCC which will no doubt haunt him all summer. Gaffney joined very late and developed very fast. He was instrumental in beating the Chargers and should have a nice second season with the team next year. He’s also happier than hell to be on a winning team after four years with Houston.
David Thomas, Daniel Graham, and Ben Watson – The Tight Ends. Thomas showed incredible potential late in the season, fans are having a tough time figuring out why he didn’t get more balls thrown to him. Graham is absolutely indispensable to the running game, plus he’s like Faulk in that if you need 7 yards for a 1st down, he’ll get it for you or die trying. Graham had a great season and was named a team captain. Watson, though, man, the fumbles week after week. He was supposed to be the difference-maker while our WR’s got up to speed but it just didn’t work out that way. He needs to work on his concentration and blocking or he could find himself traded.
The Offensive Line – These guys did a pretty good job protecting Brady. Very few really glaringly bad series. The run-blocking needs to improve, though, to make Maroney the weapon he could be. Maybe that starts with the OC, though.
The Defensive Line – Another bunch of really solid players. It’s almost a shame Belichick doesn’t go to the 4-3 more so they can really attack. Wilfork is a monster. And Mike Wright did an amazing job filling in as needed.
Junior Seau – This was one of the feel-good stories of the season. Belichick grabbed him a day after he retired and at 38 years of age he was leading the team in tackles when he broke his arm. He was also having fun playing – he was on a winning team with his friend Rodney Harrison. The guy can still play big time and I hope they bring him back.
Rodney Harrison – Speaking of Rodney … just getting back on the field was a major accomplishment given the injury he sustained last year. He’ll be back next year, badder than ever. He is the heart and soul of the secondary.
Ellis Hobbs – Ellis suffered a broken hand early in the year which really hurt hsi play. But when Belichick demoted him to a back-up role it lit a fire under him. All of a sudden he was playing big, and coming up with huge kickoff returns. Some of the passes he knocked away in the playoffs – against players six inches or more taller than him – were amazing. He’s a brash, trash-talking little guy but he plays hard and had a stellar second half of the season.
Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel - Vrabel was the rock of the LB corps this year. He was making the big plays. Tedy seemed to have lost a step, but not any of the intensity. These guys are both veterans now, but what they may have lost in speed they surely make up for in game-sense. Tedy may retire, which would be a shame given how close the team came to another championship.
Rosevelt Colvin and Tully Banta-Cain – “Rosy” had a solid year at LB. He’s become one of the more dangerous rushers on the team. Tully had some really big plays and big games, but he makes a difference mainly on the pass rush. I’m not sure that’s good enough for the Patriots.
Artrell Hawkins and Asante Samuel - Asante really came on in the second half of the season and ended up with 10 interceptions. Of course, he was motivated by big dollar-signs as he’s a free agent at the end of the season. I wasn’t happy to see him bad-mouthing the way he was being treated to the press, but hey, what can you do. He wants to be a millionaire. Hawkins has been a real nice surprise and provided solid, steady play. James Sanders also made some big plays at safety, maybe he will be the heir to Rodney’s “enforcer” role.
Todd Sauerbrun – After having two punters go down to injury in the last month of the season, and with neither of the two on the practice squad looking up to the job, they brought in a veteran with a somewhat checkered past. But Todd really boomed some punts for us and I’ll be amazed if he’s not the starting punter next year.
Robert Kraft – Mr. Kraft, thank you for the FieldTurf! When the Pats played the Vikings, Tully Banta-Cain’s girlfriend had their first child the same day. Kraft flew Tully back home right after the game on his private jet. What a great owner.
The NFL Officials - Lord, what a horrific job all season. The missed calls, the one-sided games, the manufactured penalties, all of it. Not just the Patriots games, but all the games. It’s gotten to the point where fans hope for a game with “no injuries and no bad calls.” Having it be close or even exciting comes in third.
ESPN and the other Talking Heads – Screw you all. Hey, Belichick likes sweatshirts. Deal with it. The Patriots don’t trash talk and give you nice sound bites, and don’t throw temper tantrums you can write about. Deal with it. The Patriots don’t care about personal records, they want to win rings – so your predictions about the team will always be wrong. And a special “screw you” to Mike Ditka – what a jack ass.
Bill Polian - Yeah, your lobbying for preferred treatment by the referees got you a win against the Patriots. What a sad statement of the league that he got his way. What a despicable, vile cesspool of a human being. Drop dead, Bill.
LaDainian Tomlinson – For his juvenile and hypocritical comments after losing to the Patriots. Hey, when you condone Meroidman’s taunting you have no grounds to complain about what anyone else does. When you condone Meroidman’s substance abuse you have no grounds to talk about what message what someone else does sends to “our kids.” And you can’t on one hand presume to take the moral high ground and then say you won’t talk to someone if they’re the Pro Bowl. LDT showed himself to be a childish egomaniac. Lashing out at a player who was taunting is one thing, lashing out at one of the best owners and best teams in the league, and one of the best sports towns in the country was itself “classless.” I doubt he’ll ever apologize, people that self-absorbed rarely do.
Jeff Fisher and the Tennessee Titans - What a bunch of thugs. Deliberately taking out Rodney Harrison’s knee and then laughing about it on the sidelines. Fisher should be yanked from the Competition Committee for his actions, and the way he runs that team.
Jack Del Rio and the Jacksonville Jaguars – For spearing Brady with a helmet-first hit and then for Del Rio saying he had it coming. Had this happened to the league’s Golden Boy, Peyton Manning, they have brought out a firing squad. But since it’s just Brady and the Patriots, they call it a legal hit and let Del Rio get away with his comments. Despicable.
The Pro Bowl – How much of a joke is this now with Tony Romo going and Brady not.
Peyton Manning – You know, I really felt bad for him in the last 1:10 of the AFCC game. He couldn’t watch. Brady likes the guy so I guess I can be happy for him in that regard. But given the circumstances of the win – the Pats down with flu, the fix being in on the ref’s (one of the calls was admitted to be bad after the game), it’d be easier.
The Tuna and Bledsoe – While not technically part of the Patriots season, there is a link. The Tuna, Bill Parcells, is retiring. Again. After a roller coaster season where the media did their best to make him out to be a genius. His record with the Cowboys is just barely above .500. He couldn’t control Romo (who seemed more interested in courting trailer-park starlets than practicing). He couldn’t control TO. And when you look at the numbers for Bledsoe and Romo, there wasn’t much of a difference. Except that Tuna couldn’t get the team to play for Drew. So he demoted Bledsoe and put in the “Pro Bowl” QB Romo. What a sham. Bye, bye Tuna.
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