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| | | | | | | |  Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Patriots have always been an unpredictable team
By Eric Dickerson
Special to ABC Sports Online
Let me first say that the AFC East is a very tough division right now. The Colts are one of the league's best teams, the Bills have always been pretty good, and the Jets have really come on ever since Bill Parcells got there. But to me, you were never sure which Patriots team would show up.
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Bill Belichick's task is to keep the Patriots up to speed with their AFC East rival Colts. |
New England has always had talent. When I played against them years ago, I always thought, "Alright, either the 'A' team will show up, or the 'F' team will show up." They were either a great team that looked like they could win the Super Bowl, or a cast of clowns. And the question always was why? Maybe it was a lack of preparation or concentration. I can still see it in the Patriots of today.
If you are a great team, you are a great team almost every week. Even if you lose a football game, you still play great. Let's take the Colts in that same conference this year. They will be just as good as last year because of they way they are coached. If they lose a football game, it won't be because of a lack of preparation.
Now the Patriots have the same type of team, but they do get dominated. I just don't understand that.
Beginning with the Hall of Fame game (ABC, July 31, 7 p.m. ET), New England has to find a running attack after the loss of Robert Edwards two years ago. The most important ingredients of a football team are the quarterback and running back. Without a back, all the pressure is on Drew Bledsoe's shoulders. Bledsoe sometimes threw the football 50 times last year, and the defense knew it was coming. He also had to pick and choose his spots with perfect passes, because sooner or later when you throw that many passes, you are going to get picked off.
A back like Edwards gives the Patriots balance. The Colts were balanced; you never knew what they were going to do. During some games, the running of Edgerrin James and timely passing of Peyton Manning worked and the defenses didn't know how to play them. The Patriots really miss Edwards in the backfield; he was a downhill runner. Before that running back class of 1998 came out, I looked at Edwards, Curtis Enis and Fred Taylor. The Rams asked me whom I liked better. My first choice was Taylor, the second was Edwards and I told them to count out Enis. The Rams didn't like Edwards, and I thought he was excellent.
I haven't seen Patriots rookie running back J.R. Redmond play yet. I know he's got good size and has some moves. But can he carry the Patriots like Edwards did as a rookie? We'll see. I'm not saying it can't be done. For a rookie runner to succeed, you must have a good seasoned offensive line to take some pressure off. They do have a great quarterback, but that offensive line must also come together.
Once the stars like Bledsoe are out -- sometime in the first quarter -- other guys come in that you'll see flying around. They have to do crazy things to impress the coaches in the latter part of preseason games. If you are not a first or second round draft pick, your chances are pretty slim. Sometimes a third round pick will be protected if they feel they got a steal. But after that, you'll see some guys at the Hall of Fame game that will be gone the following week. And then you will see some guys that will surprise you, and the coaches will say, "Where did this guy come from?"
That's one good thing about these early preseason games and training camp. You give these guys a shot to make the team who wouldn't have made it if you just had a training camp and jumped into the regular season. A lot of guys wouldn't have been able to prove themselves. Chop, chop, chop, they would be gone.
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