Nothing to be afraid of

Trade or not, Pats look like the favorite

With Raiders and Giants fire sales underway, teams are already making moves prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline in hopes of adding a missing piece or two that might make a difference in the march to the playoffs. The Patriots? Who knows what Bill Belichick has up his sleeve? Maybe he adds on, as usual. Or, maybe, he’s forced to stand pat, given salary cap considerations. However it plays out, it was interesting to get a few perspectives on the Patriots as the deadline drew closer. For instance, both NBC’s Rodney Harrison and ESPN’s Damien Woody were in the camp of those who believe the Patriots are good enough to make it back to the Super Bowl if their roster remained pretty much as is. In other words, if they wound up doing nothing, both commentators felt they’d still get back to the dance and be the first Super Bowl loser to return to the big game since the 1993 Bills accomplished the feat. Harrison was hoping the Patriots would snag Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson. He said adding the seven-time Pro Bowler would guarantee them a Super Bowl spot. But even if that didn’t happen, which is the likely scenario since Peterson made it clear he wanted to remain in Arizona, Harrison was still convinced his former team would be in Atlanta in February - defensive warts and all. Why? The competition in the AFC doesn’t impress him. Plus, he believes the weather will be the ultimate neutralizer for Patrick Mahomes. “Look in the AFC, who are you afraid of? You beat Kansas City. You know they’re going to be there. But what teams are you really afraid of in the AFC?,” Harrison said when reached last week. “To me, it’s the Patriots, and maybe the Chiefs, and maybe the Chargers at this point. But the Patriots are still the favorites. I don’t care about this young quarterback. Once the weather starts changing in Kansas City, and once it starts changing in New England, he’s going to be less of a factor.” The young quarterback in question is Mahomes. He merely leads the league with 22 touchdown passes. Harrison’s point is that the approaching winter weather will likely negate some of the speed of Mahomes weapons, namely Tyreek Hill, and also make it less likely he’ll throw 30-40 times a game. “He’s doing great right now. But he’s still young,” Harrison said of Mahomes. “To me, Tyreek Hill and those guys will become less effective. You won’t have to worry about the big plays with those guys because the weather becomes a factor.” Woody’s rationale for why the Patriots will still come out of the AFC, even if they don’t land a slew of reinforcements or pull off a “game-changing” deal like Peterson? “I just think the defense is going to improve down the stretch. That’s been their Achilles heel,” he said. “I think the defense is going to get better and better as they move on. And offensively, you’re seeing Josh Gordon picking up his production. “You have Gronk, and James White, they have a bunch of offensive weapons. I’ve always told people, when it comes to the Patriots, look out for them at the end of October and November. That’s when they start playing their best football. In a weak AFC, compared to the NFC, (they’ll) absolutely get there.” Woody, however, didn’t see as much relevance to the weather connection. He didn’t use it as a Mahomes tamer as much as Harrison, who thought the elements would hinder their big play capabilities. “I’m not as worried about the winter months. He’s a strongarmed quarterback. He’s along the lines of the Brett Favre type guys with that type of arm strength,” said Woody. “If he didn’t have the type of arm to get through weather conditions, I might be a little worried. But I don’t see that with him being a factor. And it’s not like they don’t have a good running game. Kareem Hunt is one of the best running backs in the National Football League. And their defense is getting better.” The one issue Woody raised more than any deadline deals, was which team wound up with home field advantage for the playoffs. He felt that, more than anything, would determine the AFC’s representative in the Super Bowl. “The big key for the Patriots, and everyone else, whether it’s the Chiefs or the Chargers, the key will be getting home field,” said Woody. “When the Patriots and Chiefs played in Foxboro, I came out of that game more impressed with the Chiefs. The Patriots didn’t punt in that game and still needed a field goal to beat them. So if the Chiefs get home field advantage, they’re going to be hard to beat.” On Friday, the Patriots hosted former Raiders safety Obi Melifonwu for a visit. He was Oakland’s second round draft choice in 2017. The former UConn star has great size (6-foot-4, 207 pounds) and athleticism. He fits the profile of a player the Pats might take a flier on before the deadline, perhaps adding him to the practice squad. The Grafton native didn’t work in the Raiders system, maybe they’ll find a fit in theirs.

Wheeling and dealing

Last week, Jon Gruden unloaded another top player from the 1-5 Raiders, sending Amari Cooper to the Cowboys for a first round pick. The Giants, meanwhile, shipped out starting corner Eli Apple to the Saints, and tackle Damon Harrison to the Lions. The Cardinals, sitting at 1-6, are also expected to purge some of their front-end players as part of their rebuilding process. It’s added a bit of spice to a trade deadline that usually didn’t see much action in the past or warranted much attention. “This is a fun time. This is kind of new for the league. It wasn’t that long ago, you never saw trades in the NFL,” said Woody. “Now, it’s almost like, the NFL is turning into the NBA and Major League Baseball. If you’re not doing well, teams are like, we’re going to scrap it, tear it down, and start over. We’re going to trade off our assets. I think it’s great for the NFL.”

Phins frustrated

After the loss to the Texans Thursday night, the Dolphins have gone from their 3-0 start, to 4-4. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson absolutely torched their secondary, passing for 239 yards with five touchdowns. Cornerback Xavien Howard voiced his displeasure with the situation after the game. “I’m tired of losing,” Howard said via the Palm Beach Post. “That (stuff) is not good. We want to win. We have to make stuff happen. We have to make plays. We have to get back to what we were doing.” By the way, Brock Osweiler didn’t throw a touchdown pass in that game for the Dolphins, but Danny Amendola did. Adam Gase had to resort to trickery to score, as the former Patriot wideout threw a 28-yard TD pass to Kenyan Drake on a gadget play. It was the second career pass attempt for Amendola, who completed a 36-yarder for the Patriots in 2015.

Remembering Rust

Former Pats head coach Rod Rust passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 90. He had been the Pats defensive coordinator from 1983-87 under Raymond Berry. The ‘85 unit, ranked third best in the AFC, helped the Patriots win the AFC Championship and advance to Super Bowl XX. Pete Brock didn’t play defense, but has fond memories of Rust. “I liked him a lot. I thought he was a gentleman,” said Brock. “He could be tough when he needed to be tough. He was very involved and focused on things . . . he was a good defensive coordinator. He had those guys playing hot, that’s for sure, preaching turnovers, how to recover turnovers. We worked on all that stuff. We worked on that as a team. Before even warmups, we were jumping on fumbles, and batting balls, and doing everything we could as offensive linemen . . . I had to know how to do it. Part of that was his making.” While Rust may have been a decent defensive coordinator, he didn’t have success as a head coach. He only lasted one season, going 1-15 in 1990, the worst showing in team history. Said Brock: “You see often times, some guys who were terrific coordinators, which I believe he was, maybe they just weren’t meant to be head coaches.”