Felger & Mazz: Early Concerns For Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- The time has come to talk football.
We're just a day away from the Patriots kicking off the 2015 NFL season, playing host to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.
Felger & Mazz have moved on from DeflateGate, Spygate and any other "Gate" people want to throw New England's way, so they're ready to talk about the 2015 Patriots.
But of course, they had to start with their concerns with the team. They both feel that in the end, the Patriots will be among the best teams in the league and likely fighting for another Super Bowl. But there are some concerns that will likely plague them for the first month of the season, and it all starts in the secondary.
"That secondary, it's fascinating. It's the ultimate case of 'In Bill We Trust,'" said Felger. "They splurge at corner last year with [Darrelle] Revis and [Brandon] Browner, change who they are and become a man-team. They paid for it, it worked and they won a Super Bowl because of it. And then they let it go, going back to 'this guy, that guy, mix-and-match.' Whatever it was in that gap between Asante Samuel and Aqib Talib, which I hate."
"The secondary absolutely scares the crap out of me," said Mazz. "If I'm playing the Patriots, I whip it at them all day long. That's the way to beat them."
If Malcolm Butler can emerge as a No. 1 corner, that would go a long way in solidifying the defense. But Felger & Mazz are concerned about either Bradley Fletcher or Tarell Brown, both recent outcasts from bad defenses, on the right side.
"If Butler is legit, and he looks the way he did in the Super Bowl and through the summer, maybe they cna get away with Tarell Brown, Bradley Fletcher, Logan Ryan and all the other crap they have in the secondary," said Felger.
On offense, there are two major areas of concern. First up is the offensive line, which won't have Bryan Stork for the first eight weeks as he recovers from a concussion.
"The Patriots have shown some ability over the years to mix and match on the offensive line and figure it out. That one, to me, I feel they can scheme it even if they don't have the raw talent. You can coach and scheme it and figure it out, whether it means shorter throws, quicker routes," said Mazz.
"But the whole interior is new, especially [with Stork out]," he continued. "Let's remember, in the first four games last year they had a lot of problems. If we're equating it to last year at all, long-term they figured it out, but short-term they suffered... Early in the year, they could have some trouble there."
And if Brady does have time to throw the ball, who will he be throwing it to? Mazz is in love with the addition of Scott Chandler along Rob Gronkowski at tight end, but both are worried about the thin depth at wide receiver.
"What are they going to look like this month? We all know what they'll look like at the end of the year, but what will they look like this month?" asked Felger. "The offensive line is what it is, but how is Brady doing on the outside? They have four receivers, and two of them are Aaron Dobson and Chris Harper -- can't play and don't know. It doesn't look very formidable on the outside.
"But then again, you have Scott Chandler, who is every bit of 6-foot-7. Gronkowski-Chandler, that looks pretty formidable," said Felger. "Talk about just chucking it up there."
