The New England Patriots are just days away from their first real challenge of the season. Taking down the defending Super Bowl champions on the road will be a tough ask, even with that much time to prepare for the game.
The Patriots played it safe with their main guys. Mike Vrabel had their starters, and most of their primary backups sat through the three preseason contests, a gamble that could turn out to be costly against the best team in football.
When asked about that decision, the Patriots' head coach didn't seem too worried. While he acknowledged there could be some rust here and there, he didn't think playing a couple of drives against backups would move the needle.
The Patriots must hit the ground running in Week 1
“There could be rust, there could be rain or shine, I’m not really sure,” Vrabel said (h/t Boston.com) “Let’s be real: Nothing that we do in the preseason’s going to prepare us for the first game in Seattle. Whether it’s the crowd noise in Cleveland or you know… we’ll have to be really ready to go out there in that environment.”
He's got a valid point. Teams rarely want to put much on tape during the preseason, and he's already expressed concerns about the team's depth—or lack thereof — so there was probably more to lose than to gain from suiting up the starters for these dress rehearsals.
Also, the Patriots got plenty of work done in joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles. That was probably a better way to measure where they were at before their first real game of the season.
Then again, the Patriots can't afford to get off to a slow start. They didn't look good the last time they met Mike Macdonald's team, and with all the outside noise surrounding this team, the last thing they want is to be non-competitive again in the season opener.
A lot transpired this offseason, with Coach Vrabel making the rounds for well-documented reasons that didn't have anything to do with football — which we won't discuss. That's all water under the bridge now, but the memes, jokes, and off-color comments will be right back there if they don't look good come Sept. 9.
There should be no shame in losing to the defending champions on the road, but they won't have much time to shake off the rust and the early-season jitters. That's a luxury they definitely cannot afford against a team like the Seahawks.
Also, with everyone waiting for their downfall and talking about how they'll regress with a tougher schedule, this could be terrible for team morale. Maybe — hopefully — this is just an overreaction, and they'll be as sharp as ever.
But if that's not the case, this will be the first big swing and miss from Coach Vrabel this season.
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