New England Patriots: Around the Web

July 6, 1:17 AMNew England Patriots ExaminerSean Crowe

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Every now and then, we'll take a look at what the rest of the InterWeb is saying about the New England Patriots. We'll call this series New England Patriots: Around the Web. Creative, eh?

By the way, the "eh" part of that last paragraph is in honor of former Canadian and current Boston Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay, who officially turned his back on our neighbors to the north and became an American citizen last week. Congratulations Jason Bay!

And congratulations to Red Sox Nation, who no longer have to pretend to like Canada!

Pats Pulpit is doing a series called Ten Patriots for 2009 in which they look at the ten Patriots player who they think will have the greatest impact on the 2009 season. Their most recent entry, number 6 (though the list is in no particular order), is rookie cornerback Darius Butler.

We tend to agree on Butler. His assessment of the Patriots' secondary the last few years is spot-on as well:

The Patriots have been accused of having a weak defensive backfield for a few years. Injuries to key players like Rodney Harrison and Tank Williams are, I believe, part of the problem. Another issue? Average corners.

Amen to that.

Our go-to source for draft information, NE Patriots Draft, has put together their pre-training camp divisional predictions. The only division they haven't done yet is the AFC East, but since we believe the AFC East is a foregone conclusion, we're more interested in what they think about the other divisions anyway.

While they have the Colts winning the AFC South in their most recent preview, they aren't as high on them as we are (barring injury, we think they'll romp through the AFC South and win 12 to 13 games).

This is the year that the Colts jump the shark. They still have Peyton Manning, which gives you 7-8 games by itself, but lines are beginning to show some wear and tear.

We like the idea of the Colts crashing down to Earth this season, but we fear they still have a few more dominant years left in them.

Patriots Insider listed the top 10 "prospects" on the Patriots' roster. Their definition of "prospect" is anyone on the roster who is currently under 25 years of age.

Number 1 is a no-brainer, Jerod Mayo. We think Kevin O'Connell is listed too high at #3, Pat Chung should be ranked higher than Jonathan Wilhite, and we're not sure Gary Guyton should be ahead of Terrence Wheatley, who may have the second most "pure talent" in the group behind Darius Butler.

Cappers Picks Blog is another in a long line of bloggers who think the Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl.

A lot of people are expecting the Patriots to be the 2009 Super Bowl champs and at this point, there isn’t much reason to doubt them. With an explosive offense, a capable defense and the best head coach of this generation, it might be foolish to doubt them.

Hard to argue with that logic, unless you're a fan of the Steelers.

Speaking of the Steelers, my favorite link this week comes from Behind the Steel Curtain. They're in the middle of a 12 Most Heartbreaking Playoff Losses In Pittsburgh Steelers History series. #5 in their list, but #1 in our hearts is the 2001 AFC Championship game loss to your New England Patriots.

This is a seriously tremendous article, and an even better trip down memory lane (from a Steelers perspective, of course). Just check out how the article begins:

Very rarely does the Good Lord intervene in sporting events. He has more important things to do. He made exceptions in 2000 and 2001. Infuriated with the City of Cleveland for not building Art Modell's Browns a new stadium (though curiously they built a new stadium as soon as he left), and the way the fans and media vilified a future Hall of Fame coach, Bill Belichick, God decided to reward them both with championships in consecutive years. Modell's title came in 2000 with the Baltimore Ravens. Belichick's would come in 2001 with the New England Patriots. Belichick's would not come easy, however, needing divine intervention from time to time.

...and it only gets better from there.
 

If you find anything New England Patriots related around the web that you think deserves to be mentioned, email it to scrowe@gmail.com and if we like it, we'll include it here next time. During the season we'll try to do this once a week. In the offseason we'll do this a couple times a month, depending on what we find around the web.

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Questions? Comments? Insults? You can email them to Sean Crowe at scrowe@gmail.com.

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