Evolve, don't change!

That's a word that I'm sure is already making fans of the New England Patriots sick to their stomachs, change. After what was an embarrassing performance this past Sunday versus the Baltimore Ravens in their AFC wild card game, the Patriots are entering into a somewhat unfamiliar position, ( for the Belichick era anyway ), it's a position of necessary change. Unlike the post 2004 superbowl period, in which they were forced to replaced their hot commodity offensive and defensive coordinators ( Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis ) due to both being offered other head coaching positions, the Patriots and coach Belichick find themselves hopefully, doing some inner reflection. Will we find him locked in a temple of his choosing, neck locked back looking to the sky for answers? Most likely not. Not exactly Bills style. However, he does need to begin to question whether or not his coaching and management decisions have been what's best for the team. The none signing of Asante Samual, the trading of Richard Seymour and inclusion of Mike Vrabel in the Matt Cassel deal all come to mind for me. Each of these decisions, have come with great consequences, consequences that Bill Belichick obviously thought he could avoid, or at the very least, quell.

It appears he may have failed to do that. Offensively, the Patriots must evolve, in my opinion that will require removing Bill O'Brien from his position as offensive coordinator and play caller. With Josh McDaniels departing for Denver last year New England was left without an offensive coaching personality. They never really decide who they were this year. O'Briens play calling was at times more predictable then a sure to come CSI Miami one liner delivered flawlessly by David Caruso as the hit CBS show begins. When you inherit an offense that broke every single offensive record imaginable in 2007, and cannot come close to duplicating the results, when not much has changed, fingers will be pointed at you. It may be a bit of a raw deal for O'Brien, but when you are in charge of an offense containing Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker, the expectations demand that you succeed! We will see over the next several weeks if Coach Belichick decides it's time to revamp the teams offense from a coaching perspective. On defense, the responsibility obviously falls on Belichick. Dean Peas is his coordinator, but he's running a Belichick scheme. Gone is the personnel Belichick needs to run his 3-4 defense, evident by the amount of 4 man fronts used by the team this year. Also gone, are Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, and the before mentioned Seymour and Vrabel who were shipped of in trades. Some of the parts are already in place. Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren are anchors on defense, along with Jerod Mayo who is a bright young star at middle linebacker, however, the talent is not around them, nor is the team as deep as it once was. When Warren and Wilfork went down with injuries this year, Belichick had no choice to turn to much less experienced players. The team needed to get young, but with that, they lost their leadership, their heart, and their desire to truly be what became know as a "Belichick defense". That defense being one that played with an edge, could make the big stop on 3rd and 1 and that collectively played above their individual potential. In 2009, the Patriots defense was made up of individuals, it's my hope, that in 2010, we once again field a team defense, a unit of 1. The 2001 superbowl champions entered that game against the greatest show on turf as a team, together, the 2010 Patriots need to enter this coming season the same way, otherwise, their result will be exactly the same next January. I hope not.
Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.