Break it down -- offensive line

The offensive line took a hit this offseason when Matt Light decided to retire after 11 years with the Patriots. He did a great job doing the most important job on the field ... protecting the quarterback's blind side. And when that quarterback is Tom Brady, well you can't have a more important job.

The line has been a strength of the Pats for years. A lot of the credit for that goes to coach Dante Scarnecchia. He's been on the coaching staff since what seems like the first day the franchise was created. He's done just about every job except for head coach. As long as he is in charge of the line you get the feeling that things will be just fine.

STARTERS
As we say in the caption business... from left to right: Nate Solder (tackle), Logan Mankins (guard), Dan Koppen (center), Brian Waters (guard), and Sebastian Vollmer (tackle). The key guy here is Waters. As of the moment he has not re-signed but I think he will skip the first few weeks of training camp and then join the team when the games begin. A 13-year All Pro veteran can do that. He was a rock last year and looked like a guy who wanted to keep playing for a contender. If he doesn't come back then jack-of-all-trades Dan Connolly will step in. Youngsters Solder and Vollmer (two of the best Belichick picks of the last few years) will anchor the ends of the line. Koppen, a former Pro Bowler, broke his leg in Week 1 last year and never came back. He and Brady have a great rapport and I'm sure #12 is glad to have him back in the middle. Then there is Mankins. The Paul Bunyan of the offensive line. He has not quite played at the level that was expected of him after signing his big contract, but turns out he had a torn ACL so that probably had something to do with it. The Pats need him to get mean and nasty again and set the tone.

BACK-UPS
Connolly is that offensive lineman that every team needs. A veteran who can slide from center to guard and back again and never miss a beat. Second-year player Marcus Cannon has a lot of potential and looked good in a limited role last year after recovering from cancer treatments. Robert Gallery, a former high draft pick of the Raiders, comes to New England with a chance of rejuvenating his career. Ryan Wendell, Donald Thomas, and Nick McDonald all made contributions last year and provide solid depth ... something that is key to any offensive line.

IN THE MIX
Young guys who are taking Offensive Line 101 from professor Scarnecchia include second-year guys Matt Kopa and Kyle Hix and rookies Markus Zusevics and Jeremiah Warren. We'll see if any of them are A students.

The offensive line won't be nearly as entertaining without Matt Light. But it should be just as good. That's what counts.

Break it down -- tight end

My love-hate relationship with the tight end position is all love these days. After years of trying to find the right tight end to be a big part of the offense, Belichick went out and found two.

His obsession with the position goes back to his days with the Giants and Mark Bavaro. And then Ben Coates in the '90s with the Pats. Those guys can spoil a coach. Belichick is so obsessed with the position that he just snagged tight end Jake Ballard off the waiver wire the other day. Ballard had ACL surgery and won't be putting on shoulder pads until next season. But he's a good one with Super Bowl experience. And it pisses off the Giants. Good move all around.

STARTERS
Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. There's not much to break down at the tight end position with the New England Patriots. Gronk and Hernandez are as dynamic a duo as you can find. Batman and Robin? More like the Hulk and Robin. Gronk set a record for most touchdowns (17) by a tight end last season and was rewarded with the biggest contract ever for a tight end. The Pats don't pay their players. Ya, right. It's unreasonable to expect Gronk to match his numbers from last year, but that won't make him any less a game changer. Hernandez is the anti-Gronk. He is shifty. Pretty much a slot receiver. He's almost impossible to cover sometimes and, unlike Gronk, still hasn't reached his peak. His use out of the backfield near the end of last season was something we should see more of in 2012.

BACK-UPS
When Gronk and Hernandez were rookies the Pats had veteran Alge Crumpler on the roster as mentor and motivator. It sure worked. I was disappointed when Coach Crump wasn't brought back last year but Belichick figured the two young players didn't need any more mentoring. Once again he was right. Daniel Fells and rookie Tyler Urban are currently the other tight ends on the roster. Belichick uses tight ends so much in the offense that a third one is actually needed. Right now that guy is Fells.

I love the tight end position.

Break it down -- wide receiver

The chances for a Bruins or Celtics duck-boat parade have come and gone. The Sox are working their way toward the All-Star break. There may or may not be a playoff run later. There's Wimbledon. The Euro Cup (soccer). The British Open. And this year there's the Summer Olympics. It's the summer sports season.

But make no mistake about it. It's football season too. The Pats have finished with their "offseason" activities (like cutting Ocho) and will resurface at Gillette in about a month for the start of training camp. I look forward to going to the evening practice that the team holds each year for season ticket holders. Nothing like enjoying a beautiful summer night down in Foxborough drinking $10 beers and watching hall of fame quarterback Tom Brady throwing the ball around.

The first preseason game is August 8th at Gillette. As of now it's scheduled to be against the Saints -- if the Saints are still a franchise come August. Not to wish the summer away, but the Pats will be opening another NFL season and making another run at that elusive fourth Lombardi before you know it.

To get ready for camp, Patriots.com has started it's position-by-position breakdown. It's good stuff. They started with the running backs. I just can't get too excited about the running backs ... yet. But the wide receivers I can get excited about. When you have Brady throwing the ball, it's rather important who the guys are you have catching those passes. The team has already shed Ocho and former Colt Anthony Gonzalez, a guy I thought was going to have a big comeback year with the Pats. I guess not. With those two gone, who does that leave to take the six (or seven) spots when the season starts?

STARTERS
Brandon Lloyd, Wes Welker, Deion Branch, and Jabbar Gaffney. Not the youngest group of wideouts in the league. Not the tallest either. But they don't have to be. The key is clicking with Brady. Three of them (Welker, Deion, and Gaffney) have proven they are on the quarterback's frequency almost all the time. Word is that Lloyd and Brady have a chemistry already. Last time that happened was with a guy named Moss and that turned out so well I renamed my fantasy team after him. Lloyd could be the next Moss. And Welker will be Welker. Long-term contract or not, he will come close to catching 100 balls again. Hopefully he'll get another shot at catching the big one in the Super Bowl. Branch and Gaffney are two guys Brady loves. That's good enough for me ... and Belichick. If they stay healthy -- kind of a big if at their age -- this foursome should produce some huge numbers.

BACK-UPS
Julian Edelman, Matthew Slater, and Donte Stallworth. Special teams and depth. That's what these three guys give you. Edelman and Slater are Pro Bowl level special teams players. Will they step up and play a bigger role in the offense? Unlikely. Stallworth was a big part of the epic '07 offense but has a few more years on him and one more prison sentence for a fatal DUI crash. If he shows he can still break big plays then there should be a roster spot for him.

IN THE MIX
If Stallworth doesn't have anything left (or Branch or Gaffney retire), then these are the players who could step up and fill a spot. Rookies Jeremy Ebbert and Matt Rourke and free agents Britt Davis and Jesse Holley. It would be quite a surprise to see any of these guys anywhere other than the practice squad or another team.

Receiver was a strength at the end of last season. With the addition of Lloyd, the position could be stronger than ever. Record-breaking strong.

When the rain comes

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Jets 6, Pats 0 (11/28/'93): I keep leaving my sneakers out on the back porch the last few days. And it's poured every evening. My sneakers get soaked to the foam. They dry in the sun. Then they get soaked again. I picked up my dripping sneakers for the third time in a week and a memory of one of my favorite tailgates came flooding back. (Bad pun intended). Yes. It all comes back to football. Sorry, Dev.

It was 1993. It was an ugly winter and the Patriots played some ugly games to match. The team was 1-9 through ten games, losing by scores of 38-14, 45-7, and 28-14 to name a few. I had given up my season tickets a few years earlier and had not regretted that decision one bit as I sat on my couch week after week watching the team get stomped. But there was a reason for hope.

The Patriots had hired Bill Parcells. The Tuna. A two-time Super Bowl champ with the Giants and one of the most entertaining SOBs to ever coach the game. As I used to say "Love him or hate him, you have to love him." The day Parcells was hired the Patriots went from bumbling franchise to a real NFL team. You could see the change almost immediately. Not in wins or loses. That would come later. But in the no-nonsense, my-way-or-the-highway approach. Players who had become used to losing were cut. Quickly. Veterans who had won with Parcells before were suddenly lining up to join the team. The Pats were still getting creamed week after week but there was someone in charge of my football team who knew what he was doing. Finally.

Me, Mark, Shep, Bergs, and a few of our friends decided to buy some tickets to see our saviour in person. The Pats were 1-9 but we were as psyched for the game as if it was the playoffs. It was Week 11 on the schedule and it was against the hated Jets. And Parcells was coaching. This was before Jets-Patriots became a holy war, but they were a division rival, they were a NY team, they wore green, they often sucked as much as or more than the Pats but received way more media attention. You know, New York and all. Beating them would brighten a dismal season.

As with most tailgating stories in New England, the weather would play a huge part in the fun. The guys met up in the newspaper's parking lot on a day that heavy, wind-driven rain was forecast. A forecast I had not heard. I didn't always watch the Sunday morning news in those days to see what the weather would be like. I haven't made that mistake again. I drove into the lot under a gray sky and walked over to Mark, Topher, Bergs, Brendan, Paul, and Tom Brady. Yes, Tom Brady. Not that one. This one worked at the newspaper and was the first Tom Brady I ever heard of. Of the two, he's had the second biggest impact on my life. Paul was wearing his EMT brother's rain gear. Mark had a heavy rain jacket. Shep was covered toe-to-toe in plastic. Tom Brady wore a hat and coat as if he was one of the James brothers in "The Long Riders." Everyone had boots on. I strolled up in jeans, a T-shirt and light jacket, sneakers, and a Patriots painter's cap. "Where's you rain gear?" Paul asked. "Is it going to rain?" I said. "A monsoon," Mark said. A half-hour later the monsoon had begun.

It was the first time I had been to Foxboro Stadium since I gave up my season tickets. As I stood there in the rain feeling the cardboard in the brim of my painter's cap turn to pulp, all the frustrating memories of the 1-15 season came flashing back. But so did all the fun memories. Foxboro Stadium was quite a different experience than what you have today. The stadium was located practically on Route 1 and the dirt lots spread out below it towards the woods. In the shadow of the stadium stood the old harness track Foxboro Raceway, a dirt track that opened in the '40s and was still populated by many of the people who were there for the opening.

We tailgated behind the track towards the woods, a place far from the stadium where security rarely roamed. We stood in the rain eating our wet steak sandwiches and burgers, some of us wetter than others. Tom Brady was from Jersey and this was his first Pats game. We tried to tell him what the concrete toilet bowl was like but we knew he really had to see it to believe it. As we were getting ready to go into the game, Tom took off his jacket and handed it to me. "This might help a little. I've got another coat," he said. Tom's about 6'4'', I'm 5'11''. It was a little big. But drier than what I had on. "But you can't have my hat," he laughed as he looked at my shrinking cap.

The Jets were 6-4 coming into the game so a Pats upset would be sweet. We figured a monsoon might give us a chance. We made our way through the rain and squeezed most of our group onto the bench in Section 309. We had the four seats on the aisle of Row 26. But we often fit five, six, seven guys into those four spots. That's one of the many differences between Gillette and the old stadium. Seats. That's right. Seats. My ticket now entitles me to an actual seat with arms on each side and a back. Made of plastic. Foxboro Stadium had benches. Long, cold aluminum benches with 38 numbers on them to mark your spot. There were about six inches on each side of the number. That was enough room for me but not for some of the larger Pats fans. Since there were no arms dividing the spaces people would crowd in with their buddies even if they didn't have a number on that row. We did it too. It could get pretty jammed. But not as jammed as the concourse below heading for the beers or the bathrooms.

The rain didn't let up as the game started. And the wind began to pick up. It rained in such thick sheets that some times it was hard to see the action on the field. The Patriots would make a play and the crowd would cheer. The rain would get heavier and the crowd would cheer more. Both teams struggled to pass, run, catch, block, and tackle on the wet carpet. The Jets hit a field goal in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead. The rain got heavier. "It can't rain any harder,'' I said to Brendan. "It just can't." It did. I looked down at my beer and it was almost full. I was certain that five minutes before it was half empty. Brendan looked at his cup. It was overflowing. "Time for new beers," he said as we dumped out our cups of rainwater. Brendan headed down to battle the beer lines.

A long time later I saw him making his way back up the stairs as the wind whipped the rain horizontally. Brendan was wearing a plastic bag to stay dry. He put his head down, struggling against the wind and rain, gently balancing the two beers so as not to spill a drop. He got about five rows from the seats when the wind lifted the plastic bag up and over his head, covering his face. Brendan wrestled with the plastic -- while not spilling a drop -- and pushed it up and off his head. The bag flew in the wind till it hit another guy carrying up some beers about 10 steps below Brendan. The wind pulled the bag tight against the guy's face, so tight you could see the terror in his expression as he lost his balance and dropped his beers. Brendan got back to the seats, partly out of breath. "Didn't spill a drop,'' he said as he handed me my cup.

The Jets clung to their 6-0 lead late as Drew Bledsoe lead the Pats on one last drive to win the game. Of the fans who came to the game -- and there were a lot for a 1-9 team playing in a monsoon -- many of them were still there. Soaked, but there. Bledsoe move the offense down to the Jets' 30. He then hit receiver Michael Timpson cutting across the middle for a first down inside the Jets' 10 as the clock neared a minute left to play. Timpson tried to get a few more yards in the mud and got hit, losing the ball for a game-ending fumble. Parcells was 1-10. We were soaked to the bone.

We made our way down the stairs as the rain continued and began walking along the main aisle to get out of the stadium. As we walked along the aisle rained poured out of holes that were cut in the concrete. I never knew the real reason why there were holes in the concrete, but my guess was and still is that after the stadium was built someone realized that they had not designed a way for the water to drain out of the upper sections. So someone -- Chuck Sullivan maybe? -- decided they should cut holes in the concrete to let the water drain out. Right about head level for those walking in the aisle. As Tom Brady made his way through each fountain that hit him right in the face, he would turn and look at me. Finally, at the last gushing hole of water, he stopped and said "Nice stadium you got here, Tim. If I knew they had built-in showers I would have brought a bar of soap."

The Patriots went on to win their last four games that season. The foundation was being built for a new approach to football in New England. One where the team stopped beating itself. One where players stepped up and made big plays. And most importantly one where the head coach was really in charge. Just three years later we would be getting ready to go to Foxboro for the AFC championship game.

A few nights later me, Mark, and Shep sat in a bar talking about the game and our new coach. Parcells came on TV talking about the game too. He was saying things like he saw progress being made and that the young players were starting to "get it." And then he added: "One thing I want to say, to those fans who stayed for that whole game in the rain, they are my kind of football fans. We're gonna continue to get better for them."

Mark got a look in his eye. "If I go to the stadium tomorrow to buy four season tickets will you each buy one?" Shep and I said sure, but I don't think either of us thought he was serious. Several glasses of Dewar's can blur one's judgment. The next morning I woke up, still blurred, and another storm was raging, this one with a few inches of wet snow. I looked out the window and the ground was white. No way Mark waited outside to get tickets in weather like this, I thought. No way.

That afternoon I was at my desk in the newsroom. I saw Mark walk in the door, looking kind of wet again. He came over and put a stack of Patriots tickets down in front of me. "You owe me $350 for a season ticket," he said. I sure have gotten my money's worth. And then some.

Adios Ocho

The Pats released Chad Ochocinco. Finally. It's fitting that on the same week Troy Brown -- the ultimate team player -- was named to the Pats' Hall of Fame, Ocho -- the ultimate self-promoter -- would be sent packing.

Not all free agent signings and veteran trades work out. Corey Dillon was a huge success. Albert Haynesworth wasn't. Rodney Harrison showed he had a lot left in his tank. Ocho showed he didn't.

Belichick and Ocho always wanted to work together. They had been talking about it for years. At least Ocho had been. It seemed like a good match when the Pats signed him before last season. But Ocho and Brady never clicked. Turns out Ocho just wasn't that smart of a football player. Belichick isn't always right and it probably didn't take him too long to realize that he was wrong about #85. But you can't blame the guy for trying to give Ocho a chance. He's a likable guy ... for a prima dona wide receiver. But with a roster packed with very good receivers, there wasn't much room on it for Ocho.

Maybe after a few days of watching Troy Brown highlights, Belichick finally realized that.

Man up

It's like the effin Zapruder film. You watch it only with morbid curiosity. Over and over again. No matter what angle I watch it from or how slow the films rolls... I still say the fault lies with Brady missing a wide open receiver.

But Brady still can't say it and take the heat off his little buddy. Maybe Giselle has threatened him to keep his mouth shut. Or maybe he really thinks it was a decent pass ... nah.

Brady looked sharp at the first round of OTAs this week. He's ready for another shot at the fourth Lombardi. I like his team's chances. How could you not? But I guess he's still not ready to man up. The well-groomed quarterback was asked about the heart-breaking Super Bowl loss and its effects. He could have said "It still stings. I wish I had made a better throw to Wes on that play. I hope I get another chance shot at it."

Instead the new comic star said, "At this point you try to move on."

Not "I'm the quarterback and I take responsibility for the loss. I will use the fact that we didn't win that game for Mr. Kraft to motivate me to win the next three." He hasn't taken any of the blame. Maybe it wasn't his fault. Maybe I've been wrong all this time. Maybe there was someone behind the grassy knoll that forced Brady to throw the ball high and on the wrong shoulder instead of into Welker's lap for a clinching score.

Maybe he ... nah.