Randolph Charlotin's New England Patriots fan blog

Head coach Bill Belichick added Corwin Brown to the coaching staff. The former Notre Dame defensive coordinator now commands the New England secondary. It’s a homecoming for Brown, as he was a fourth round draft pick of the Patriots back in 1993.

Belichick still has some work to do to fill out his coaching staff. The team lacks a defensive coordinator since Dean Pees’ contract expired and he decided to move on. Pees will be Baltimore’s linebackers coach in 2010.

The two projected favorites to replace Pees are defensive line coach Pepper Johnson and linebackers coach Matt Patricia. If one is promoted, it will leave a hole in the coaching staff. As Belichick mulls his decisions, hopefully he extends an offer to retired LB Junior Seau to be a linebackers coach.

Continue reading "A New Coach"

Head coach Bill Belichick knows he has to make changes to the Patriots in order to reverse the sliding trend. Fortunately, two were made for him.

LB Junior Seau announced his second retirement. This time he says it is permanent. He wants to spend his days surfing. And defensive coordinator Dean Pees, whose contract expired, won’t resign and will pursue other options.

While this may slightly clear things up, there are still plenty of decisions left to make regarding New England’s free agents. The decision for the exclusive free agents shouldn’t be hard. Between Brett Lockett, Gary Guyton, and Chris Taylor, Guyton should be resigned. Some thought must go into what to do with the remaining free agents though:

Restricted

K Stephen Gostkowski – A young, accurate kicker with a strong leg and a Pro Bowl under his belt should be back. By virtue of the position he plays, he won’t be too expensive to keep.

Continue reading "Free Agents"

The loss was the equivalent of a mugging. The Patriots didn’t see it coming, and before they knew it, New England was on the ground, wondering what happened.

There’s no sugar-coating this. They got whipped. Baltimore came out with a fury and the Pats had no answer for the rapid flurry of haymakers.

This is easily the worst loss of the year because the expectations were, despite the difficulties over the course of the year, they would respond to adversity and put up a good fight. But the Pats couldn’t stop the freight train moving at full speed.

Now that the season is over, head coach Bill Belichick has to take a real tough look at his team and no one is spared. Players, coaches, and scouts must be evaluated and determine who’s doing a good job and where there’s room for improvement. Based on Sunday, looks like a lot.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Wild Card"

Don’t buy it when the Baltimore Ravens say they put the week 4 loss behind them. LB Ray Lewis avoided talking about it by saying it was in the past, but it’s on his mind.

Baltimore hasn’t forgotten the game that got away. DL Haloti Ngata has a picture of his contact with QB Tom Brady’s helmet. LB Terrell Suggs will have the time of his personal foul written on the tape on his wrist. WR Mark Clayton spent extra time catching passes so he won’t drop another fourth down pass.

Playing with emotion is encouraged, but to a point. You never want to let your emotions get the better of you. It could lead to costly penalties. But when harnessed right, a team plays with high energy and aggression, without crossing the line.

The Ravens is a team that plays with just enough emotion. Always a tough and physical team, B-more will stride into Gillette Stadium with an impetuous attitude, confident the only obstacle to success is themselves.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Wild Card"

The linebackers have a big challenge on their hands. Baltimore’s offensive line is big and physical with a run first mentality. The ground game, led by RBs Ray Rice and Willis McGahee, averaged 137.5 yards per game at a 4.7 yards per gain clip.

It’s going to be very important for the defense to stop the Ravens on the ground. As always, it is easier said than done when Rice averaged 5.7 yards per carry and McGahee 5.0.  But if the Pats can hold Baltimore to short gains on first and second downs, they can attack the Ravens’ pass protection.

Baltimore gave up 36 sacks in 2009. But what sets off alarms is in the last four games, QB Joe Flacco was dropped 10 times in the last three games, eight in the last two.

Now I’m not comparing New England’s meager pass rush to either Pittsburgh’s (47 sacks) or Oakland’s (37) as the Pats finished with 31 sacks, just below the NFL’s Mendoza Line in that category by my standards. But a few players are getting hot at the right time.

Continue reading "Line of Defense"

With WR Wes Welker expected to be out for the playoffs, all the attention went to his replacement known as “Mini Wes” to some (I prefer Fat Welker), Julian Edelman.

Sunday Edelman had a Welker-like day as he caught 10 passes for 103 yards, including a 25-yard catch and run that would make Wes proud of Edelman.

Usually teams try to not to change the approach when a player goes down. Under that line of thinking, Edelman gets promoted to starter opposite to WR Randy Moss. Julian will execute Welker’s plays for the afternoon.

I understand the desire to keep the continuity as best as possible, but I hope the offense goes the unpredictable route that QB Tom Brady suggested. The first step would be to start WR Sam Aiken.

No big deal? Yeah, maybe. But this wrinkle could help the passing game along.

Continue reading "Welker Remix"

It’s the kind of injury that believers in playing it safe use as an example. WR Wes Welker injured his knee when he planted his left foot to change direction, but the knee gave away. People believe he tore his ACL and MCL, ending Welker’s season just before the playoffs.

When Indianapolis’ head coach Jim Caldwell benched his starters with about 5:30 left in the third quarter in week 16, it was an injury like Welker’s Caldwell wanted to avoid to a key player. The Colts are already without safety Bob Sanders and had several others nursing injuries. It’s better to rest the starters and not put them in harm’s way.

That line of thinking is sound, but playing it safe wasn’t as important as playing to win. There wasn’t a player on the Patriots that would rather sit out a game than suit up and take the field, Welker included. New England needed the best players if they wanted to beat Houston.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 17"

Is it better to rest players for the playoffs or play the final game to stay sharp? This has been heavily debated since Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell withdrew his starters during the third quarter of last week’s game.

Naturally the discussion spreads to the teams with a playoff spot secured. New England is in this category as they have a Wild Card locked up. There are a dozen players on this week’s injury report. Fortunately only DLs Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork are questionable for the season finale.

Assuming head coach Bill Belichick plays it safe, Warren and Wilfork will be held out of the season finale against Houston. After that, it’s a case by case basis.

Quarterback Tom Brady said he will play and I hope every able bodied player joins him on the field. It looks like the Patriots right now are playing great football on both sides of the ball heading into the playoffs. It’s encouraging and they should keep the momentum, if not build on it.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 17"

Maybe RB Laurence Maroney is a slow learner. After all it took him about three and a half years to figure out how to run the football in the NFL.

Maroney has been a different player after the bye week, for better and worse. He’s running decisively and physically, but Laurence is fumbling the ball more. Since the bye week, Maroney put the ball on the ground four times.

And his timing couldn’t be worse. This past Sunday against Jacksonville, Maroney dropped the ball on the goal line. He did it before against Indianapolis, a game the Pats lost by one point. And his fumble on the opening offensive play of the first half against the New Orleans Sants could had been devastating if Maroney didn’t force a DE Shawn Ellis fumble after the Saint recovered the free ball.

Continue reading "Loose Laurence"

When a game in played in just over two and a half hours, there’s really not much to say:

1. After struggling on offense, the Pats exploded with 35 points. It was the most points in a game since the win over Tampa Bay in week seven. The 28 first half points was more than New England scored in a game the previous four weeks.

2. With TE Chris Baker catching a pass during the opening drive, it foreshadowed his first touchdown since week three against Atlanta.

3. As well as RB Laurence Maroney has improved after the bye week, there’s a serious problem. He fumbled for the fourth time this year, the second fumble inside the five yard line. After the fumble, Maroney didn’t get another carry. Those carries went to Sammy Morris, who almost became the third running back to run for 100 yards this year with 95 on Sunday.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 16"