By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies staff writer
It’s no secret that New England Patriots quarterback loves throwing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker. This season, however, Brady has found a new toy in rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez.
The Patriots do spread the ball on offense and a lot of guys get their share of touches, but Hernandez is not only gaining more targets per game (two in Week 1, six in Week 2, and seven in Week 3), he is also encroaching on the balls that Moss and Welker are getting their ways. Last week the former Florida Gator even led the team in targets.
Hernandez is earning Brady’s trust. He has led the team in receptions the previous two games (six) and yards (101 against the New York Jets and 65 against the Buffalo Bills). Even though he only had one grab in the opening weekend, he made it count for 45 yards.
He hasn’t caught a touchdown pass yet and isn’t a prime look on goal-line situations, where fellow rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski gets the nod, as will running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Hernandez also isn’t expected to do much blocking, but he does create a lot of matchup problems.
He’s a tad [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
With the start of training camp comes the start of a new NFL season. It’s a bit cliché, but every team starts 0-0 and with optimism that they could pull everything together and win the Super Bowl.
Some teams can be more optimistic than others. The New England Patriots are one of them. The Patriots have the talent and organization to be set up to win now.
That said, they are far from a perfect squad. The team is undergoing a youth movement on the defensive side of the ball, have some early injury concerns, and still have some off-field business matters to take care of.
Here are some of the Patriots’ biggest questions that need to be answered for the team to have a successful season.
1. Who will start at cornerback opposite Leigh Bodden?
Leigh Bodden’s five interception season earned him a new contract with the Patriots, but who will the team partner with him?
The two leading candidates are second-year corner Darius Butler and first-round draft pick Devin McCourty.
Butler played in 14 games last season, registering 33 tackles and three interceptions, including returning one for a touchdown.
McCourty is extremely versatile and could play a big role on special [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Two of the New England Patriots divisional foes, the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, have made trades for two of the elite wide receivers in the NFL, Brandon Marshall and Santonio Holmes respectively.
While other teams add, the Patriots seem to be getting thinner at that position.
Yes, if you look at just the roster the Patriots have two of the games very best at the position with Randy Moss and Wes Welker. However, with closer examination, those two are big question marks for this year and the future.
Thanks to knee and rotator-cuff injuries Wes Welker will most likely not return until at least November. When he does get back to the field, it’s difficult to imagine what kind of football-shape he’ll be in, especially since a lot of Welker’s game relies on his ability to cut, which could be hindered by the knee injury.
Randy Moss is healthy, and will again be one of the top wideouts in the NFL next season. His production could decline a little bit without the threat of Welker forcing teams to go into single-coverage against Moss. Even worse news is that Moss has publicly stated this will most likely be [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
New England Patriots fans were faced with a harsh reality at the hands of a crushing defeat to the Baltimore Ravens: their team just wasn’t good enough.
Sure they had their moments of brilliance during the season, but they also frequently looked far from the team that was a three-time Super Bowl champion this decade, or even the team that went 11-5 without Tom Brady playing an entire game.
And please, don’t even try to say that if Wes Welker played that last game he would’ve made a difference between winning and losing.
That’s why this offseason fans should expect a lot of changes in New England.
The glaring weaknesses the Patriots have are on defense. Watching Ray Rice shred through the Pats in the first minute of the AFC Wild Card round should’ve made that fact evident.
The first thing the team needs to take care of is hiring a new defensive coordinator.
Dean Pees, who has held the position the past four years, is stepping down.
Bill Belichick has hired in-house for that position the past two times it was open, so it’s possible that he would do so again. Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson, a ten-year member of [...]

By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
You can look at life with a glass half full, or half empty. Today in Boston is a little bit of both, maybe a touch more bad.
The Good:

Wes Welker, may have the biggest challenge of his career ahead, but his work this season hasn’t gone unnoticed. Welker got some positive news today, being selected to the AP All-Pro first team for his first time. No other Patriots made the cut.

The Celtics may be without Garnett and Wallace, but that didn’t stop them from rocking the Nets last night 111-87. This is the eleventh straight time the Celts have beaten the Nets. The Celts scored a season-high of 71 points in the first half, and Pierce scored 24 points in 28 minutes of game time.

The Bad:

Patriots linebacker Junior Seau reports that the Sunday was his last NFL game and he is retiring, as he approaches 41. As if the Pats needed to lose more of their defense.

The Bruins lost their third straight to the Ducks 3-4 last night, also their 4th loss in five games.

Duke proved their rep, beating BC 79-59, giving the Eagles their second loss in the ACC this season.

Celts coach Rivers was fined a [...]

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 [...]

Patriot fans at Devaney’s, a sports pub in Orlando, FL react to the demise of the Pat’s season. Thanks to them, for being awesome, and making me feel like I was home in Boston while on vacation. I think this covers the event better than anything else could. -Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor