By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer

What a long, winding road the Patriots went down this season.  It started off on a high note, with a point comeback against the Bills on Monday Night Football (I was there with fellow YawkeyTalkies writer Dan Massar), and ended in the 33-14 beatdown by Baltimore on Sunday (I wasn’t there, fortunately).

Quarterbacks:
Statistically, this was Tom Brady’s second best season.  He finished with 28 touchdowns, 4398 yards, a 65.7% completion percentage, and 13 interceptions, good for a QB rating of 96.2.  But there was something missing this year, performance in the clutch.  Entering this year, he had 29 fourth-quarter comebacks/game-winning drives in seven seasons (including postseason games).  This season, he had only the aforementioned one against Buffalo.  Granted, seven of the Patriots wins came by more than a touchdown, but Brady seemed to falter a bit in the clutch on the road against Miami, Indianapolis, and Denver.  Or, I’m just spoiled after seeing him engineer two last minute comebacks in the Superbowl in his first three seasons.
My Grade: B

Runningbacks:
A season both good (Laurence Maroney’s nine rushing touchdowns) and bad (his four fumbles, three of which were in the red zone).  Overall, the corps averaged 120 yards per game, good for twelfth in the league (though they finished nineteenth overall in yards per carry).  Statistically a mediocre season, but a real indictment of the group is their virtual disappearance from close games in the fourth quarter.   Clearly Belichick and his staff don’t trust the backs in close games.  Makes you wonder what would’ve happened if Fred Taylor were healthy all year.
My Grade: C-

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:
Randy Moss and Wes Welker combined for 206 receptions, 17 touchdowns and over 2600 yards receiving (and Welker missed the better part of three games)!  That’s more yards than four teams (Browns, Jets, Bills, and Raiders) had through the air all season.  Julian Edelman played well when called upon, and imagine what would happen if he and Wes Welker both lined up in the slot.  Unfortunately you might have to imagine it since Wes Welker might miss the better part, if not all, of next season.  The tight ends were consistent when called upon, just weren’t called upon much.
My Grade: A

Offensive Line:
Only gave up 18 sacks all year.  But at times the group let Brady get hit after the pass, which does take its toll.  And the line has to shoulder some of the blame for the woes in the ground game. 
My Grade: B-

Defensive Line:
The defense as a whole held opponents to 110 yards per game rushing (though they did gain 4.4 per carry).  Mike Wright and Derrick Burgess both had five sacks.  Vince Wilfork proved this year that he is arguably the pure nose tackle in football with his play, and will get a fat new contract from someone this offseason.  Not bad for a unit that saw Richard Seymour leave in September.  
My Grade: B

Linebackers:
Tully-Banta Cain had 10 sacks?  Talk about a breakout season.  Another breakout season came from second year pro Gary Guyton, who recorded 83 total tackles.  But the unit was exposed at times, especially against the Ravens in the playoffs.  This was sort of a rebuilding year for the ‘backers after losing Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel, and hopefully the young group can learn from this year.
My grade: C

Secondary:
Basically, the same deal as the running backs.  Showed brilliance at times (Brandon Meriweather’s two touchdowns against the Buccaneers), and didn’t show up at times (the game against the Saints, the fourth quarter in Miami).  Will need a lot of work this offseason.
My grade: D+

Special Teams:
Good year for kicker Stephen Gostkowski (26-31 field goals made, didn’t miss an extra point) and punter Chris Hanson (averaged 39.7 yards per punt, put 18 of 56 punts inside the opponents 20).  And I’m not sure if you knew this, but the Pats had a rookie long-snapper all year, Jake Ingram (long-snapper is a position where if you don’t hear about the player, he’s doing good).  But the Patriots lacked a return game, while at times getting burnt by returns from the opposition (something we’ve come to expect around here).
My grade: B-

Overall team grade: Finishing 10-6 and losing at home in the first round isn’t what we’ve come to expect around here, especially coming off an 11-5 season where Tom Brady threw just one pass.
My grade: C-

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