Some thoughts on New England Patriots at the 2007 regular season quarter-way mark
Here we are now, a full one-fourth through the 2007 regular season, and the New England Patriots are entertaining us with a 4-0 record obtained by way of serious drubbings of hapless opponents. They are apparently the first team to win the first four games in a season by 20 points or more since some team in 1920. But has any 4-0 team started off against such a pathetic bunch of losers? The Patriots have defeated a bunch of teams who have beaten nobody other than a couple of teams who have lost to everybody, more or less. But 4-0 is 4-0.
At this time last year the Patriots were 3-1 but clearly a cut below the elite teams and fans were concerned about quarterback Tom Brady’s body language and the team’s lack of NFL-worthy number one, two, and three wide receivers.
This year we’ve had the absurdly overblown SpyCamHysteriaGate, safety Rodney Harrison’s four-game suspension for taking human growth hormones, the awesome awesomeness of the New England Patriots and whether or not they will go undefeated (I think that’s crazy talk, but that’s just me). Life is good this fall. Life is very, very good.
Here are some notables from the first quarter of the Patriots 2007 regular season:
Defensive player: Adalius Thomas. Thomas is a freaking monster. His run-stopping and pass-coverage as inside linebacker has been phenomenal, and on top of that he’s doubled as a very productive down lineman at times. His signature moment is his 65-yard interception return for a touchdown against San Diego Chargers. Runner ups: Ty Warren, Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin, Vince Wilfork.
Offensive player: Tom Brady. Runner ups: Randy Moss, Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Wes Welker.
Special teams player: Ellis Hobbs. Hobbs basically broke the New York Jets’ backs with his record-setting 108-yard touchdown return of the second-half opening kick off. Runner ups: Mel Mitchell, Wes Welker.
Back-up player: James Sanders. With Harrison out, Sanders stepped up big-time. Runner ups: Jarvis Green, Sammy Morris, Russ Hochstein.
Troy Brown: Wes Welker. He can catch! He can run! He can return kicks! But can he snag any interceptions? Force game-saving fumbles? Only time will tell. Runner up: What? You think there’s an army of Troy Browns out there? Pfft.
Formation: Brady in the shotgun, Kevin Faulk at runningback, Welker and Benjamin Watson in the slots, Moss and Donte Stallworth split wide. Good luck stopping that. Runner up: The Power-I, of course.
Mystery man: Dan Koppen. Is he having a kick-ass season like Light and Mankins or am I seeing him struggling a bit like Nick Kaczur? I can’t tell. Runner up: Donte Stallworth, Brandon Meriweather.
And here are some stats through four games:
Tom Brady: 95 completions on 120 attempts (that’s a 79.2% completion rate) for 1,118 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Randy Moss: 31 receptions for 505 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Wes Welker: 23 receptions for 243 yards and 1 touchdown.
Benjamin Watson: 11 receptions for 87 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Kevin Faulk: 10 receptions for 95 yards.
Donte Stallworth: 8 receptions for 115 yards.
Sammy Morris: 54 rushes for 268 yards, 3 touchdowns.
Laurence Maroney: 54 rushes for 252 yards.
Heath Evans: 10 rushes for 20 yards, 1 touchdown.
Kevin Faulk: 7 rushes for 44 yards.
Sacks:
Mike Vrabel 4
Jarvis Green 3.5
Rosevelt Colvin 2
Ellis Hobbs, Ty Warren 1 each
Adalius Thomas 0.5
Interceptions:
Asante Samuel 2
Adalius Thomas, Rosevelt Colvin, Randall Gay 1 each.
