I can no longer be surprised by what the New England Patriots do. If I woke up tomorrow morning and learned that the Patriots had traded Tom Brady for first- and third-round choices in 2015, I'd probably be convinced to spin that into a positive.
But after watching Richard Seymour in his Oakland Raiders debut two weeks ago, I am wondering why so few people bother to raise so much as an eyebrow at many of Bill Belichick's moves. In New England's first two games, the Pats' defensive line was kept in check until the last drive by a Bills offensive line that featured three rookie starters, and New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez had so much time he could've been a black-market Rolex dealer.
Seymour, however, had two sacks in his debut. He has transformed an Oakland defense that was so porous in the preseason that it should've worn square pants and lived in a pineapple under the sea.
Now, I know why the Patriots traded Seymour. How often do you get a chance to grab a first-round draft pick for a guy who is likely on the downside of his career? Plus, that pick comes from the Raiders, who have a standing reservation in the NFL Draft's top 10. Still, Seymour was coming off a resurgent season in which he had eight sacks, and the Patriots' Achilles' heel in recent years has been their abysmal pass rush, even more so than their inexperienced secondary.
I know that Seymour probably was not going to be re-signed at the end of the season, but after watching the first two games, I wish Belichick had held onto him. Bills quarterback Trent Edwards had all the time in the world when he went back to pass and nearly led his team to a shocking upset. And Sanchez looked like a savvy veteran on Sunday instead of a player in his second career game.
In comparison, Brady has spent most of the first two games dodging rushers like they were Suzy Kolber, and the Patriots weren't able to make the adjustments against the Jets that they did versus the Bills. That is a problem for the Patriots offense. It's not like Brady ever had the mobility of Michael Vick, and that was before his knee injury.
I'm not saying that Seymour was going to singlehandedly fix the Patriots pass rush. I'm not even going to say that this trade was Belichick's worst personnel move ever — cough, Asante Samuel, cough — or even of the last year (just a second-round pick for Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel?).
What I will say, however, is that I worry that Belichick now has no leash. He is arguably the best football coach of all-time, but he has always had Scott Pioli behind him to help put a team together. Now, Pioli is gone and Belichick is free to act like a mad scientist.
Outgrow backup quarterbacks faster than a 12-year-old in hand-me-downs? Sure. Stockpile tight ends like canned goods? Why not? And if you thought that there are no trades in football, Bill Belichick has a surprise for you!
I wonder if he has taken things too far. And we will all know if, God forbid, rookie quarterback Brian Hoyer is forced to take any snaps. Because even though the return of Tom Brady made the Patriots a trendy preseason Super Bowl pick, the team I saw the last two weeks has a ways to go to earn that status. The defense lacks depth and is susceptible to big plays, the offensive line might not be able to keep Brady clean all year, and the play-calling has been suspect to say the least.
The secret is that these problems date back to the undefeated regular season run in 2007. None of them are really all that new. And unless Belichick finds a way to address them, I might not be the only one who starts asking some questions.
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Ethan Landy is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Ethan.Landy@tufts.edu.
