Can Brady Once Again Lead the Patriots to the Promised Land?

Last year was somewhat of a disappointing season for some NFL fans. Something special happens when Tom Brady takes the field, and we did not get to see too much of it. Sure Matt Cassel emerged as a legitimate starter, but the Patriots were just not the same. Brady is a star, his work ethic is unrivaled and he brings something very special to the game. It is great news for many that Brady will be returning this season and looks to be 100 percent healthy. He has even hinted that he would like to continue playing for another 10 years, which means we have a good decade left of exciting Brady style football.

The bad news for the Patriots is that they still have a lot of work left if they want to return to the success they had in the 2007 season. They need better pass protection. Everyone in the organization can remember their Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants when Brady was knocked down nine times and sacked five times. Defensive coordinators took note of that game, and the Patriots have never looked the same. Teams began attacking Brady and it seems to be the best way to slow down the offensive machine that the team was built around.

In the season opener of the 2008 season, Brady was hit twice in just 11 plays and was sacked once for every 16 pass attempts in the last five games of the 2007 season. If this protection does not improve we could see Brady on his back more than 30 times in a full season, which could obviously lead to another serious injury. And even though the Patriots were not dominant last year, you better believe they still have a huge target on their backs after their undefeated 2007 season.

In a recent interview with Randy Moss he stated that he feels the Patriots will be even better this year largely due to the emergence of Wes Welker as a key to the offensive strategy. Is it possible for this team to actually improve on their 2007 regular season? Maybe, but they are going to need to implement new strategies to prevent the pressure that gets to Brady on every play.

It is hard to compare the way the team played with Matt Cassel under the gun last year. Cassel has the ability to take off and is pretty mobile, Brady isn’t. He has never been known for taking off with the football and is as much of a pocket passer as there is in the league. That is why it is so desperately important for the team to give him enough time on every play. If he gets sacked regularly, we could see the Patriots fall from grace, and fast.

It is exciting that Brady is coming back, but the Patriots and their fans cannot start counting their chickens before they hatch. This team has a lot of improvements that need to be made and this season they will most likely be under more pressure than they ever have been before.