On paper, the 2009 Patriots are looking pretty good

March 22, 3:10 AMNew England Patriots ExaminerSean Crowe

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With the moves he's made so far, Belichick has plenty
of reasons to smile this offseason. (AP Photo)

Sorry about the lack of updates recently. I was forced to spend most of the past week at a business meeting in New Jersey. Lucky me.

I’m not a big fan of Jets’ country, and I’m not especially fond of 2-day long business meetings either.

So it was a rough week.

During the long drive back from New Jersey, I started thinking about the 2009 New England Patriots.

Coming from New York Jets’ country makes you appreciate a well run football team. In Jersey, they’re still apparently planning to field a team without a single viable NFL quarterback.

Good luck with that.

In New England, the Patriots are planning to field a team that looks a lot like the one they fielded in 2007.

The 2007 Patriots featured an offense that was the most prolific I’ve ever witnessed. Perhaps the most prolific in NFL history.

We all know what Tom Brady and company did. They broke records, scored a ton of points, and humiliated defenses week in and week out.

Sure, they ran out of gas in the Super Bowl, but they were damn good. The best team in the NFL that season, and maybe the best team the Patriots have had during their recent stretch of dominance.

As crazy as it sounds, on paper, the 2009 offense looks to be as good or better.

Tom Brady is back after missing basically the entire 2008 season. Gone are Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney. In their place will be Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis.

On paper, at worst a lateral move. At best a slight upgrade.

The running back group is basically the same, except they’ve added future hall of famer Fred Taylor to the mix. Definitely an upgrade.

I’m not expecting the Patriots to put up 2007-like numbers or go undefeated in the regular season. Neither is going to happen. There’s too much working against them.

Tom Brady will likely take a while to get back to 100 percent (think Peyton Manning in 2008). Galloway, Taylor, and Lewis may take a while to adjust to the Patriots’ system.

Lawrence Maroney will probably get hurt and miss a few games (after all, the sun always rises, politicians always raise taxes, and Lawrence Maroney always gets hurt).

But once everyone’s healthy and adjusted, look out.

I don’t make predictions in March. Anyone who does is a fool. But if the 2009 NFL season were played on paper and started tomorrow, I’d be hard-pressed to pick anyone over the Patriots.

It doesn’t mean anything. Plenty can happen between now and September. But trust me, it’s a much better position than Jets’ fans are in right now.

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Sean Crowe is the New England Patriots Examiner and a Senior Writer / NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at scrowe@gmail.com.You can check out his Bleacher Report archives here.