New England Patriots' Midseason forum: The Secondary

Publisher's note: During the bye week, Foxborough Free Press will be reviewing the first half of the Patriots' season and taking a look at what can be expected moving forward into the stretch run.  Today's edition, we take a look at the secondary...

Last season, the New England Patriots shocked the football world when they selected Illinois defensive back Tavon Wilson in the second round, sending ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. into a disheveled, frothing rage - nervously shuffling papers, a forced half smile dominating his features, then slumping back in chair in disgust knowing that he had nothing for the viewing audience.

One would think that after that episode, and especially now knowing that Bill Belichick had switched gears into the absurd with his draft thinking, that Kiper would have been prepared with a scouting report on just about every prospect eligible for the 2013 draft...

...but when Rutgers' safety Duron Harmon's name was called on the second day of the draft, Kiper was left slack-jawed, and he was so steamed that a hair actually fell out of place.

Because no one, not even the great Mel Kiper Jr, knew who Duron Harmon was.

And now, with starting strong safety Steve Gregory out for a couple of weeks with a broken thumb, the rookie third round selection has his opportunity to prove to everyone that he was worthy of such a lofty draft status, as Harmon is in line to start at strong safety when the team faces off with the Carolina Panthers on November 18th in front of a national television audience on Monday Night Football.

Nothing like the brightest spotlight on weekly prime time television to make a debut, eh?

However, having a rookie filling in for an incumbent veteran is getting to be old hat for these Patriots, so no one should be surprised if Harmon glows under the bright lights of Bank of America Stadium.  In fact, rookies performing well under such intense scrutiny has become so commonplace in Foxborough that New England fans can probably just go ahead and expect such...

The New England Patriots' secondary, long a source for the teams' defensive woes, is now perhaps one of the best units in the National Football League - and it all started in the 2012 draft.

No, not with Wilson, who has fallen so far off the radar that he has been relegated to special teams duties only, but with the selection five rounds later - and mostly as an afterthought - of Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard.

Dennard, a model teammate and citizen so long as he stays out of Lincoln, Nebraska, was expected to be a second rounder coming out of college, yet an incident outside of a Lincoln nightclub just prior to the draft left Dennard with no leverage whatsoever, dropping him completely from every draft board but one - and the Patriots took a flyer on him with their final selection...

...and when he avoided immediate jail time for punching a cop on that night a few days before the draft, he became part of a secondary that was in disarray - the oft-injured Pat Chung and free agent acquisition Gregory both out for extended periods of time, which precipitated a move to safety for the teams' best corner, Devin McCourty.

In his stead came slot corner Kyle Arrington to the outside, where he got burned repeatedly, Marquice Cole taking the slot underneath and thrusting Dennard to the cover corner opposite the perpetually torched Arrington - where he became the team's best pass defender by default.

The secondary was still in a state of chaos, but there were rays of hope.  McCourty took to the free safety position as if he'd been there his entire career and Dennard was winning more battles than he was losing - but at strong safety, Wilson was horrific and Arrington was getting twisted into knots at the opposite corner - and there was nothing else to fall back on.

So just a day after Halloween, coach Bill Belichick sent a 4th round draft pick to Tampa Bay for their own troubled bad boy, former 1st round pick Aqib Talib, who was on suspension for violation of the league's substance abuse policy - but once he got into the lineup, he became the team's best corner since the days of Ty Law...

...Dennard followed suit, making play after play, and Gregory returned from injury and suddenly the new-look Patriots secondary was formidable.  Arrington returned to the slot where he suddenly became one of the better underneath pass defenders in the league and Cole returned to the bench along with Wilson.

But that was the problem - there was no quality depth behind the starters, so when Talib and Dennard both went down with injuries in the AFC Championship game, the Patriots aspirations of reaching the Super Bowl were doomed.

Fast forward to 2013 - Belichick went into the draft for the first time in almost a decade with a secondary that was set with it's starters, so he was able to concentrate on bringing in prospects that could be groomed while they provided quality depth - and while most experts felt that Belichick reached significantly for the defensive backs he did bring in, thus far in the 2013 season he has proven them wrong.

Harmon and cornerback Logan Ryan have been thrust into more than just depth roles as injuries have decimated the New England defense, the bug recently latching on to Talib's chronic hip and last week's gruesome thumb breakage for Gregory, giving both youngsters the kind of abbreviated on-the-job-training that has accelerated their learning curve, and both have responded better than the experts could have ever envisioned.

And now at the bye week, Talib - who has been out for the past three weeks - is set to resume his role as arguably the best cover corner in the game, joining Dennard and forming perhaps the best set of corners in the league, while mid-season All Pro McCourty has a stranglehold on the back end - and while Gregory was a pro's pro and the signal caller for the defense, his broken thumb has given Harmon his golden opportunity to take the job for his own.

Thus far in limited opportunity, the Dover, Delaware native has registered eight tackles, two easy centerfield interceptions and three passes defensed while serving in as the primary backup to Gregory, a set of numbers that when protracted across the season would put him right in line with Gregory's production - but with more adept coverage skills.

A big former high school running back and safety, Harmon became a two-time all Big East safety at Rutgers with all the potential in the world.

At 6' 1" and 200 pounds, he is a solid run-defending safety in the mold of the Big Nickle, who plays the game downhill and always keeps the action in front of him - possessing a pain-dispensing pop at the point of contact, and has the speed and coverage ability to play the centerfield ball hawk, which he has displayed just about every time he gets his chance for a couple of snaps...

...and now, he has the opportunity for more than just a couple of snaps, and to show the coaching staff that it is he - and not Gregory - who should be the incumbent.

But even if the staff elects to go with Gregory once he recovers from the broken thumb, the future looks bright for not just Harmon, but for Ryan and the entire Patriots' secondary, who, if grades must be given out for the first half of the season, deserves a resounding "A"...

State of Patriots' Nation: Part 1 - The Offense

Publisher's note: During the Bye Week, we will be publishing a series of articles that breaks down the state of each level of the offense and defense and try to ascertain their future success or failure moving forward to the second half of the season.

Knee jerk reactions are what drives social media.

They are also the staple of just about every fan base for any sport, and they know no boundaries, no race, no religeon - and no athlete is immune to the sting of the comments from the emotionally impared.

New England Patriots on Paper: Trading Places

In a dizzying display of aggressiveness on the free agent market, the New England Patriots have opened their cafeteria and check books, choosing to strike the market after three days of lurking in the weeds.

Last night word came of impending visits from defensive end John Abraham, formerly of the Falcons and safety Adrian Wilson, cut last week by the Cardinals.  Then the Patriots decided to make it an all you can sign buffet, adding former Colt defensive end Dwight Freeny and Steelers' restricted free agent wide reciever Emmanuel Sanders to the guest list.

To top it off, they even invited Former Bills' wide receiver Donald Jones to the party, with he and cornerback Kyle Arrington winning the raffle prizes, each given millions of dollars on long term contracts - some of which is coming out of Brandon Lloyd's pocket, as the receiver has agreed to restructure his contract for less money in order to stay with the Patriots.

The Sanders move is not only sheer brilliance on the part of Belichick, but also a reminder to the professional football world that he is indeed the preeminent leverage junkie in the sport.

Restricted free agents rarely are invited to speak with other teams, let alone sign with them - but as Sanders is just what the doctor ordered in New England, it is expected that the Patriots will go out of their way to offer Sanders an offer he can't refuse, and one that the cash-strapped Steelers would not be able to match...

...and though Pittsburgh owns the first right of refusal for any offer made to Sanders, it is widely believed that they would not be able to match a New England offer as the Patriots still have plenty of cap space to work with and the Steelers have virtually none.

If the Patriots are able to acquire the speedy wideout, they would owe Pittsburgh their 3rd round selection in this April's draft - a relatively small price to pay for an explosive deep threat with tons of upside.

And this is how Belichick operates.  Whether on the football field or in the board room, he attacks your weaknesses, gets inside your head and then stomps you like a grape.  And his boss is an even more savvy business man and his no-nonsense style could be considered abrupt, or just plain ruthless.

This entire free agency period reminds me of Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy in the film Trading Places when, towards the end when they team up to exact revenge on filthy-rich brothers who had pitted them against each other to satisfy a twisted wager - waiting in the middle of the Stock Exchange until the correct moment to make their move, becoming rich while putting the brothers on the bread lines.

I can just imagine Belichick standing in his war room like it was some sort of stock exchange in itself, watching all of the "elite" players get overpaid by desperate teams with lots of money and cap space...waiting for the exact moment when those teams reach a point where they realize their leverage is gone, or at least not as prominent as his, and then he strikes.

"Wait for it...wait for it..." Belichick says to Nick Cazario while keeping an eye on the numbers, the Patriots director of player personnel's rolodex handy and dialing fingers at the ready, then with a sinister grin he turns to Cazario and calmly gives the order: "Now."

And then all hell breaks loose - but we'll have to wait a while longer to see how the Sanders situation turns out, as the Steelers have up to seven days to match the Patriots offer, if any.

In the interim, there are several developments taking place around the league, more than just a few with a direct impact on the team:

* Danny Woodhead has agreed to a two year contact with the San Diego Chargers;

* Ed Reed has left Houston without a contract;

* Cornerback Eric Wright has been released by the Bucs, further saturating the market with corners;

* The Dolphins continue their spending spree, signing Brandon Gibson;

* The Jets can't seem to bribe anyone to join their team;

The Wright release has a Talib feel to it.  Talib's fellow corner in Tampa, Wright also got nailed for using PED's last season and was suspended - which voided the guaranteed money on his 2013 contract.  Wright appealed the case and was denied relief from an arbitrator and subsequently handed his walking papers.

How Talib fits into this is that with Wright further saturating the market and weakening further and already under-priced cornerback market, it gives more leverage to Belichick in negotiations with Talib.  If they really wanted to press the issue with Talib, they could bring Wright in for a cup of coffee.

As for Reed, it's clear that he's not shown enough interest in New England to warrant holding out some cap space to try and sign him - though it could be that Belichick is practicing patience with that situation and could very well strike when the time is right.

The Strange and Terrible saga of the Fixer, part 2: The Hoodie, Great and Powerful

Danny Amendola is not Wes Welker.

So he doesn't have big shoes to fill, and he shouldn't try.  He should just be himself and sooner or later, even the most ardent Welker supporter will come to appreciate his game...

...but there are going to be some fans that will stem on this and cause their faith in the Patriots to come into question, and that's something personal between a fan and themselves - but before these fans go all Hunter S. Thompson on the Patriots, take a few minutes to reconsider.

It is times like this that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick becomes vilified as the unfeeling cyborg that ships our favorite players off to play elsewhere - then we bitch and moan when the Patriots don't look as sharp as the could the first few games and blame Belichick for dumping this guy or that guy...

...but then around Thanksgiving every year, fans start to realize that the moves that he made, while unpopular at the time, are now paying off and the Patriots are once again favorites to go to the Super Bowl. 

It's an annual tradition, the vilification of the hooded one. 

He expects it - he just doesn't care.  He's a businessman, and his business is building a football team that can dominate their opponents, and that's important to remember here.  He does not make the moves he makes with personnel to just win football games, he does so to dominate - and with a mentality like that, and with the dedication he shows to his job, appearing to be ruthless and unfeeling just goes with the territory.

Anyone who saw Belichick sharing the Gatorade shower with his father as the clock ticked down on the most recent of his Super Bowl victories, knows that the man has a heart.  Sharing that moment with Tedy Bruschi dumping the cooler over both of them was a heart-rendering example of the affection and respect his has for family and friends in a personal respect.

In fact, tales abound of his respect and admiration for players, but successful is the businessman who can manage to separate his personal feelings from his business dealings, and both Belichick and his boss, Bob Kraft, have been very successful indeed.

The Kraft story is just as moving, but more of a private and personal thing, so I'll refrain.  Anyone who is a Patriots fan knows the story - but even then, staring mortality right in the face, being almost entirely consumed with grief, there was Kraft doing his job - and his job was to carry on the good work that he and Myra had spent a lifetime doing together.

Were it not for Robert Kraft and his no nonsense approach to life, love and business, who knows how long the lockout would have lasted.  Myra told him to go fix it and, with a heavy heart, he did.

So when I hear Bob Kraft say he loves Wes Welker, I don't doubt it for a second.  When Bill Belichick said he wanted him on the team, I don't hesitate to believe it...

Just like when Belichick says when you build a team, you build it to be playing it's best ball after Thanksgiving.  How many times have you heard Belichick say it? How many times have we heard the players echo this statement?

How many times have we seen it come true?

Right, every single season - including the Matt Cassell led 2008 season.  They didn't make the playoffs, losing a tie breaker for the division title, but they were playing as well as anyone in football when the season ended, and there are many that feel the Pats would have made some noise in the playoffs.

Bottom line, it is dark business doubting Bill Belichick.

It has been a little over 48 hours since the NFL New Year was celebrated with the opening of free agency, and criticism of Belichick is mounting for his seeming passive approach, and every free agent signed by another team piles another swine atop the Belichick pig pile - and again, we tend to dismiss the lessons we have been taught.

Free agency is a process.  You target the players you want, set a dollar amount for said players and wait.  Yes, wait. 

Unlike the unpleasant business that Belichick had to address yesterday with Welker where Bill felt compelled to set the price for slot receivers to finally resolve the "Welker situation", he now reverts back to form and waits for the market to drive the lower tiered players toward Foxboro.

The deeper the NFL gets into free agency, the less and less money there will be.  Free agents will get nervous knowing that the money is drying up when, suddenly, Oh look, it's Bill Belichick with upwards of $20 million in cap space - and since teams like Miami, St. Louis, Cleveland, Seattle and, yes, Denver blow their cap loads early on, it's going to be teams like New England and Cincinnati feasting on the below market price talent that wins teams championships.

In part one of this twisted tale, the question arose:  If the Patriots are going to a more tight end-centric attack that was going to limit Wes Welker's impact on the offense, why immediately sign a guy that was widely considered to be a "Welker Clone" to take his place?

The answer to that is that he is not a Welker clone. 

Amendola is taller, faster. more explosive and, ultimately, younger.  He was the Rams go-to option on a mediocre offense and lined up not just in the slot, but also did work on the outside, projecting him as a possession reciever with a hybrid skill set that combines the work in space skills of a Welker and the sideline work of a Lloyd, only with more yards after the catch.

Versatility?  The ability to line up just about anywhere in the formation and to satisfy the route tree?  Sounds like a perfect fit for the 13 personnel package to me...

...and just the fact that Belichick was exploring the possibility of surrendering a 2nd round draft pick last season to pluck Amendola away from the Rams as a Restricted Free Agent tells you everything you need to know about why the Patriots moved on Amendola.

Does that make Lloyd expendable, too, since Welker appeared to be?  Not necessarily, but the Patriots have just three days to make that determination before a roster bonus of $3 million kicks in on March 17th.  After a season which saw him reasonably productive as a tight rope walking, outside the numbers possession reciever, reports of "erratic behavior" have surfaced and allegedly threaten his roster spot.

And if they do end up cutting Lloyd, there's no shortage of recievers out there that will be anxious to settle their status, and Belichick will be right there to help them out...

It is very dark business to doubt the Hoodie, Great and Powerful.  It's even more sinister to doubt his boss.  When they said they loved Welker and wanted him to return, they meant it...but it had to be on their terms.  When he rejected them a second time, Belichick did what he had to do.

And Belichick is going to continue to do what he has to do.  It's a business putting a team together, and for the past decade and a half, there has been no one better in the business.

Wouldn't you think he's earned at least the benefit of the doubt?

New England Patriots on Paper: The strange and terrible saga of the Fixer

Stunning.  Incomprehensible.  Angering.

Patriots' nation is in collective shock this evening over the departure of Wes Welker, but they really shouldn't be - the impetus for this event was conceived 9 months ago.

The gestational period is over.  Wes Welker is gone.

But it's not a surprise, not stunning...it's what was supposed to happen last season, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick wasn't going to implement his grand scheme without a backup plan, and that backup plan was a franchised Wes Welker.

Bill Belichick used someone for his own ends?  Belichick?

Lawd, have mercy...

Last summer, The Patriots gave their two-headed tight end monster shiny new contracts which, in their own way, were NFL records for the position.  Why?  Simply because Belichick was planning on building the offense around Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski...

...especially Hernandez, whose unique hybrid skill set was set to make him the Patriots' X-factor - in the slot, lined up out wide, in the backfield or as an in-line traditional tight end, fluidly doing all extremely well.

Gronkowski presented another intriguing skill set.  More of the traditional tight end in that his blocking skills, particularly on the wham block, are on a level reserved for the finest run blocking tackles - and a combination of size, speed and freakish athletic ability makes him nearly impossible to cover and a huge safety blanket for Tom Brady underneath.

Add those two together with Visanthe Shaincoe on the non-season ending IR and the Patriots had the perfect plan.  Newly signed Brandon Lloyd was to play outside of the numbers, taking a corner out of the play horizontally, far away from Gronk up the seam, making the safeties and linebackers have to cover what were essentially very large wide receivers.

The 13 personnel package was to be featured, with Gronk, Hernandez, Lloyd and Michael Hoomanawanui up on the line with a stable of young greyhounds to plug and play as running backs, with Shiancoe coming off the IR for the stretch run as insurance in case the ranks suffered another injury, like Gronk's ankle injury that contributed mightily to the Super Bowl loss to the Giants.

The idea was - and is - to isolate Hernandez on the best possible mismatch.  Utilizing the 13 Personnel as a base package and switching back and forth between up-tempo and standard play calling, Brady could scan the defense, the up-tempo designed to keep them in their stances for long periods of time while Brady looked for clues to tip him off if something funky was about to go down...

...and at the same time using audibles to move the offense around to whatever formation would take advantage of the best mismatches - and the beauty of it was that if the defense by some miracle had the proper players on the field to match up with the audible, there was still plenty of time to do a little last second shifting.

Welker found himself to be the odd man out despite his huge franchise tag salary, with Julian Edelman taking his snaps, meager as they were, in the 1st game of the year - and in reality Welker was only on the team as an option to fall back on in case something went wrong.  If things were going well, the Patriots may or may not have moved Welker at the trade deadline...

...and something did go wrong.  Hernandez suffered a severe ankle sprain in the second game of the season that kept him out or hampered his performance for half of the season - and just when he came back, Gronkowski suffered the broken forearm.  Shiancoe turned out to be a bust and was released,  Kellen Winslow Jr. was signed, then cut after the first game - and the entire time that all of this was going on, the Patriots reverted back to their offense from the previous year with Welker at the point.

It took a few games, but once the offense started clicking in the 4th quarter of the overtime game against the Jets at Gilliette, it was pure smooth hell.

So Belichick was using Welker as an insurance policy, which turned out to be a shrewd investment as Welker posted typically productive numbers.  As the team did last off season, they again offered Welker a contract...but this year's numbers were far below what he was offered last season and Welker and his agent felt humiliated and insulted by the Patriots offer.

So Welker and his agent went to the Broncos, whom had obviously shown some interest, Welker armed with the Patriots' puny contract of 2 years, $10 million and said beat this and I'm yours - and they beat it, alright... 

...By a number that should have made them feel even more humiliated, because not even the Broncos, who have seen up close and personal what Welker can do on a football field many times, were willing to pay him what Welker's agent thought the market was going to bear.  And with Welker being the preeminent slot receiver in all of professional football with six years of having one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time throwing him the rock, Bill Belichick is the authority on what slot receivers are worth.

Two years, ten million dollars.

Which is crap, of course, but it goes far beyond that.  In one transaction Bill Belichick has set the price for the receivers that he wants, working the greed factor to manipulate Welker's agent.  It's called price fixing, and apparently Belichick is a master at it.

Price fixing: Establishing the price of a product or service, rather than allowing it to be determined naturally through free-market forces.

Antitrust legislation makes it illegal for businesses to decide to fix their prices under specific circumstances - so fortunately, setting the price for slot receivers in free agency isn't covered so stringently, and usually the only way that price fixing breaks down is because of the power of large buyers to negotiate the price they are willing to pay.

In the NFL that means that teams with lots of cap space overpaying for free agents. 

Belichick dragged the process out for 24 hours, thinking all of the suckers would be weeded out before low-balling Welker.  By then Welker and his agent had no choice.  It was either take the Broncos two year 12 million dollar offer, wait to see if another team came forward with bigger money or go crawling back to the Patriots, who already had Danny Amendola in town taking a physical.

Welker really had no choice, sad as it is.  After all of the great performances, jarring hits and spectacular touchdowns, Welker's decision last off season to listen to his agent and play hard ball with the Patriots ended up costing him millions - had he signed New England's 2 year $16 million offer last summer, and after the season that he put together, he would have been in line for an extension that would have taken care of him for the rest of his career while being cap friendly for the team.

But now he's going to a new team, catching balls thrown by Peyton Manning for essentially half of what he earned last season and a fraction of what he could have earned by signing his contract last summer.

So Wes is gone, and the market that Bill set the price for - which affords a little wiggle room - brings in Amendola with a five year, $32 million dollar deal.

But, you may be asking, if the Patriots are going to a tight end-centric offense and Welker was the odd man out last season, why bring in a guy that is widely considered to be a Welker clone?

Why Danny Amendola?  Why indeed...
Tomorrow, Part 2 of this shameful saga - what the Welker and Amendola deals mean to other receivers in free agency.

Patriots stomp Steelers, take momentum into bye week

The Pittsburgh Steelers erased a 14 point halftime lead on two consecutive drives to start the 3rd quarter...

...then they got the living daylights beat out of them.

Not just on the scoreboard, which at the end of the game indicated a thorough thrashing dished out by the New England Patriots, the twenty four point victory the result of the Patriots surviving a momentum shift that a couple of errors created for their arch-rivals - then taking the momentum back by stepping on the gas and driving the ball down the Steelers' collective throat.

Tom Brady had by far his best day of season, throwing for 432 yards on a sniper-like 22 completions on 32 attempts, shredding the 4th ranked pass defense in the NFL throwing to six different receivers, three of whom - tight end Rob Gronkowski and receivers Danny Amendola and rookie Aaron Dobson - easily eclipsed the century mark in receiving...

...Stevan Ridley ran for 115 yards and two tough touchdowns and LeGarrette Blount again drove a stake into the hearts of the opposing defense at winning time, ripping off huge chunks of yardage to finish the game with 47 yards on just five carries, including a pile driving five yard touchdown stomp to cap a definative 55-31 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday evening.

And it could have been worse.

As it was, the Steelers allowed the most points in franchise history - that's 80 years worth of football - but credit the Pittsburgh run defense for holding Patriots' running backs out of the end zone on two attempts inside the three yard line, and also Troy Polamalu for stripping Ridley of the ball at midfield to halt the Patriots promising looking drive to state the second half.

Other than that, though, the Patriots had their way with Pittsburgh's defense, and their fans finally saw the offense they've waited all season for - and after the upcoming bye week, New England will have back their passing back, Shane Vereen, who is on the Injured Reserved List with a designation to return, giving Brady another speedy weapon to target.

Conversely, the Steelers' offense made things pretty interesting in spurts, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger far less efficient that his counterpart, though his 28 for 48 performance yielded 400 passing yards against a secondary missing shut-down corner Aqib Talib - a good portion of that against a New England defense in clear prevent mode...

...forced to abandon a running game that was productive against the much maligned Patriots' run defense, rushing for 109 yards on 20 carries before the score and time remaining on the clock forced the Steelers to the air - and that's when the beatings commenced.

Brady's four touchdowns through the air were certainly the most aesthetically pleasing scores, as the passing game emerged from hibernation, but the game had plenty for the old-school crowd as well - in fact, the running game dominating in the fourth quarter probably brought a tear to the eye of the elder gentry...

...and the balance between run and pass keeping the Pittsburgh pass rush and coverage honest, turning a game that was tied at 24-24 midway through the 3rd quarter into an unmitigated rout by the middle of the 4th, Brady and Dobson hooking up on an 81 yard bomb - set up, incidentally, by the line dominating in the running game - to put the game out of reach, then Blount stepping on their throats with his bull rush to account for the final score...

New England forced two turnovers in the first quarter, the first, a strip sack of Roesthlisberger on the Steelers first series that ended up not hurting Pittsburgh, though a Devin McCourty interception later in the quarter resulted in Brady drawing first blood on the very next play - Danny Amendola getting loose in the Pittsburgh secondary and taking a 34 yard pass from Brady right up the seam for the early 7-0 lead.

The Patriots second touchdown also came after a Pittsburgh turnover, this time on downs as rookie defensive tackle Chris Jones stopped running back LeVeon Bell on a 4th and inches at the New England 32 yard line - a handful of plays later Brady finding Gronkowski in the end zone for a 17 yard scoring strike and a 14-0 second quarter lead.

The teams traded scores for the remainder of the period, Pittsburgh kicker Shaun Suisham and Patriots' Stephen Gostkowski trading three pointers and Roesthlisberger hitting Antonio Brown with a 27 yard score before Ridley closed out the first half scoring with short touchdown burst as New England took a 24-10 lead into the locker room at the half.

Ridley's touchdown came with just seconds left in the half and gave the Patriots a chance for a two for one scenario to start the 2nd half, any type of score effectively dooming the Steelers, but Ridley's fumble to end the drive set up a Roesthlisberger 20 yard scoring strike to Jerricho Cotchery to get the Steelers within one...

...and a subsequent three and out on the ensuing New England possession coupled with a Brown 24 yard punt return set the Pittsburgh offense up in Patriots' territory again - and again Roesthlisberger  making them pay with another scoring toss to Cotchery to tie the game with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Back on their heels from the quick strike Steelers, Brady slowed things down on the next drive, giving the ball to Ridley and capitalizing on his hard running to retake the lead with a Gostkowski field goal, then getting back on track with the passing game on their next possession, Brady finding Dobson with a pretty back shoulder fade to build the lead back to 10 just seconds into the 4th quarter.

After a Ridley touchdown run created a three score margin, a Roethlisberger pass to Cotchery got the score back to 10 points with just over six minutes remaining in regulation - then Brady's longest scoring pass of the season to Dobson followed by a Duron Harmon interception and subsequent Blount running score left no doubt on the outcome.

Now the Patriots get to enjoy a their bye week, an opportunity to rest, heal and work on personal technique, returning to the field two weeks from Monday to take on the Panthers in Carolina with a two game lead over the New York Jets in the AFC East...

...hopefully with everyone properly healthy and ready for a stretch run that includes not only the hot Panthers, but also the Ravens, Broncos and Texans as well as rematches with division foes Miami and Buffalo.

But with Vereen returning from the IR and with the Patriots offense looking as if they've found their stride, Bill Belichick's annual assertion that his team is built to be playing it's best ball after Thanksgiving looks like it will come to fruition once again.

And that's really bad news for the rest of the AFC.

Week 8 final Grades: Midseason form?

For the New England Patriots, there's no such thing as midseason form.

For them, it's Thanksgiving form, as in coach Bill Belichick's assertion that he builds his teams to be at their peak efficiency after the most fattening of all major holidays - and this season more than others, the difference between now and then may not be as subtle, given the turnover and debilitating injuries.

The Patriots aren't there yet, but Thanksgiving is still four weeks away - and anyone who is paying attention knows that with the hardships this team has endured in the first half the season, to display the resiliency that they have on both sides of the ball makes this one scary team when the weather turns cold and they get some of their injured back and healthy.

What makes them so scary?  Mental toughness and intestinal fortitude and blatant talent at almost every position on the field.

At the halfway mark of the season, the Patriots are 6-2, a testament to those things as they have fought through injuries that would have broken many other teams, yet Belichick, Brady and the entire cast of characters just keep trudging forward, gaining toughness and battle-tested resiliency with each scrappy game...

...slowly but surely gaining back the injured players that they're going to get back, and strengthening the scheme to fill in the spots for the players that aren't returning, Belichick attestation that his team will be playing it's best ball after next week's bye and on through November looking to be more and more in focus.

But to be sure, New England can't afford too many episodes like that first half meltdown against the Dolphins and hope to win going forward - but if they play like they did in the second half, particularly when getting back some key weapons...scary....

Passing offense: B

Twenty two attempts from Tom Brady and the Patriots still win?  Hard to imagine, but very true.

The need for balance in the offense is very clear, and a week after abandoning the run in a loss to the Jets, Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels went run heavy against the Dolphins - perhaps in part due to the "Non-injury" to Brady's throwing hand which in shocking, tabloidal style photographs clearly showed some swelling going on...

...but Brady denies there's anything wrong with the hand and Belichick wouldn't say crap even if he had a mouth full of it, so we just have to go with Brady's Monty Python-esque denial and hope that it all just goes away.

Despite the low production numbers - Brady was 13 of 22 for 116 yards with a touchdown and a pick - there was some vintage Brady spark sprinkled in with some truly horrible throws.

The Dimitri Patterson interception on the second play of the game, everyone in the stadium and in the television viewing audience saw that coming, but apparently Brady didn't, and trying to thread the needle to a triple-covered Rob Gronkowski was a decision that he'd like to have back - but the touchdown toss to Aaron Dobson was money, as was a strike to Gronkowski in the back of the end zone...

...called back due to a holding penalty on left tackle Nate Solder, but a terrific throw nonetheless - and speaking of Solder, the offensive line was marginally better in this game than they were with the Jets, but that's not saying a whole lot. 

Marcus Cannon came in on the fly to assume the right tackle spot when Sebastian Vollmer went down with a broken leg and seemed to hold his own against a Dolphins' pass rush bent on getting to Brady - but there really weren't enough attempts to get a true feel for the pass protection, though the line as a whole surrendered three sacks, which is abysmal.

This unit has much work to do going forward in terms of pass protection, in terms of the receivers gaining separation and and in overall consistency - normally not something that one would expect to hear regarding the Patriots at this juncture of the season, but this has been far from a normal season.

Rushing offense: B+

Much has been made of the Dolphins "gouging" the Patriots run defense on Sunday, but we're not hearing a lot about the fact that the Patriots' running game was just as effective - in fact, more so as the game wore on as the New England running backs wore down the Dolphins' defense.

Not so much in the 1st half when everything was going wrong, though much can be said for the 14 carries into the heart of the Dolphins' defense wearing down and setting the table for the second half - and though the disparity between the halves when it came to total carries wasn't that overwhelming, but the production was like the difference between night and day...

...three yards and a cloud of dust in the first half compared to 5.5 yards and a royal ass kicking in the second.

LeGarrette Blount cemented his role as the designated clock killer with an impressive performance to drain nearly six minutes off the fourth quarter clock, grinding his way to 42 yards on seven will crushing carries - one yard shy of the Patriots entire first half total - yielding to Stevan Ridley on the three yard line, who punched the ball through to provide the Patriots with their final point total.

The loss of Vollmer to the broken leg was offset in the running game by the Patriots running off left guard, Logan Mankins and center Ryan Wendell ripping holes in the Dolphins interior run defense for a dominating seven yards per carry.

Rush Defense: C

Say what you want, but the Patriots' interior defensive line is better than what stat geeks will have you believe.  Granted, in the first half they stunk like the rest of the team, surrendering 114 yards on the ground - making the 31 second half yards allowed that much more impressive.

Granted, the Dolphins coaching staff abandoning the run in a panic when the game started slipping away from them played a large part in that, but overall the run defense made the stops when they needed to in the second half.

The Dolphins had equal success inside or out, though their longest runs were off left tackle right where out-for-the-season linebacker Jerod Mayo would have been.  The Patriots need to be more consistent setting the edge going forward.

Brandon Spikes seemed like a kid in a candy store, all excited and running up the aisles - but he was taking himself right out of the plays in the first quarter by aimlessly shooting the wrong gaps and showing little discipline, but once he settled down he was a force against the run.  There's not a more fun player to watch when he's playing north and south.

New England traded for Philadelphia's nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga to help shore up the interior of the defensive line, and having a Wilfork sized presence in the middle of the 3-4 defense that Belichick has adopted going forward should pay huge dividends for the rush defense.

Pass Defense: A-

The New England Patriots may have one of the best secondaries in the NFL.

Qualifying statement: With Aqib Talib missing the past two weeks, the quartet of Alfonzo Dennard,  Logan Ryan, Kyle Arrington and Marquice Cole were more than up to the task of putting the hurts of both the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins pass catching units.

Of course, both teams tried to take advantage of the Mayo injury by targeting their tight ends and running backs perhaps more than they would have otherwise, but the Patriots' safeties helped out in that department as well, rookie Duron Harmon acting as the big nickle...

...and with Steve Gregory doing a good job with the green dot and Devin McCourty playing at an All Pro level, there's no weakness whatsoever - and with Talib demonstrating before the hip injury that he is one of the top corners in the league...

Special Teams: A+

Solid, solid, solid.

This is getting to be like a broken record, but on a really good part of the song.  Stephen Gostkowski was perfect on his tries and the coverage teams were swarming.  Rookie punter Ryan Allen helped the Patriots win the field position battle.

On punt returns, Julian Edelman remains one the most slippery returners in the game while LeGarrette Blount is improving as a kick returner every week - add in the blocked field goal attempt by Chandler Jones and it's tough to find anything to complain about here.

Oh, yeah.  Gostkowski was named AFC Special Teams player for the month of October, so there's that too.