General concerns

It hasn't been a good year for the Pats' general manager.

Yesterday the team dumped Albert Haynesworth. This on the heels of the waiving of veteran DB Leigh Bodden two weeks ago. Which came on the heels of the surrender on younger guys like Meriweather, McGowan, and Tate. Can the end of the Ocho be far behind? (Since he only has nine catches, who cares?)

The Pats are still in position to have a very good season. And as everyone was reminded the last two years, it doesn't always matter how great a regular season you have as long as you make the playoffs. That's when the wins really matter. Last year's team had an outstanding regular season. Winning big game after big game. It was a lot of fun. But a quick playoff exit took the lustre off all those wins. Still, it was a great year. A big step back in the right direction. But the '11 Patriots are not building on what the '10 Patriots started. Especially on D.

As many have written and said, GM Belichick has not done coach Belichick too many favors lately. The team made two very good off-season acquisitions. Offensive lineman Brian Waters has been a rock. Even though the line has had its hands full the last few weeks -- as they will Sunday night against the Jets -- they still have been one of the strengths. On the other side of the ball, free agent defensive end Andre Carter has been one of the few bright spots. He leads the team in sacks.

Two very good pick-ups. First-round pick Nate Solder looks to be a solid member of the O line for years to come. A 14-2 team that adds three more good starters should only be better. But when you subtract as many guys (Ty Warren, Meriweather, McGowan, Banta-Cain, coach Crump, Sanders, to name a few) as the Pats did then you have to add more than just three to replace them.  Not that the names on that list were star players. They weren't. But they were experienced guys that are missed. Especially on D. Someone had to replace them.

Haynesworth. Ellis. Ocho. Ras-I. Vereen. Price. Ihedigbo. A group of players that have added almost nothing in their first -- and in Haynesworth's case last -- season with the team. Nothing. Throw in second-year player -- and now, incredibly, almost starting safety -- Sergio Brown and you have less than nothing. Suddenly a deep 14-2 team doesn't look so deep.

The GM has done an impressive job moving the team from its dynasty years into its next incarnation. Ten years after the first Lombardi the Pats are still battling at the top of the league. Welker. Mayo. Vollmer. Chung. McCourty (maybe). Spikes. BenJarvis. Woody. Hernandez. Branch. Gronk. Ninko. Gostkowski. That's a lot of strong talent added over the past four or five seasons. The Sports Blabosphere seems to take for granted that the Pats are still one of the best teams in the NFL. They shouldn't.

Look at the Manning-less Colts right now. 0-9. When Brady went down in '08 the Pats went 11-5. That's because of depth. Belichick's Pats -- more often than not -- have had someone ready to step in when someone else goes down. Dan Connolly filling in for center Dan Koppen this season is just the latest example. The Pats rarely miss a beat.

This year that hasn't applied to the secondary. When the GM dumped Meriweather, Sanders, McGowan, Wilhite, and Butler before the season started it left a very shallow talent pool. Other than Pat Chung, McCourty, and Bodden there wasn't much to choose from. Ras-I Dowling? Josh Barrett? Sergio Brown? James Ihedigbo?The defensive backfield was Concern #1 coming out of camp. Eight games later the situation is beyond concern. Veteran Bodden has been cut. Barrett and Dowling are out for the year. James Ihedigbo is now your starting strong safety. That's bad planning by the GM. If Chung -- who throws his body around so much that he seems to drag himself back to the huddle at least once a game -- ever goes down you'll have Brown and Ihedigbo covering the middle of the field. You think the pass defense is bad now?

The Pats made eleven roster moves since Sunday's last-second loss to the Giants. Eleven. Belichick is starting to run the Pats like I run my fantasy team. "Let's try this guy. No. How about this guy. OK, let's bring back Ross Ventrone." It's a bad way to run a fantasy team. It's a really bad way to run an NFL team.

Not a good year for the GM. So far.