Written by Dan Graziano at ESPN.com
Best-case, worst-case for Patriots while Brady sits
The New England Patriots have spent months — a couple of years, actually — adjusting to the concept of four games without starting quarterback Tom Brady. They’re set to go. They have a plan.
But the thing about a plan is that the world doesn’t care. At some point in the next couple of weeks, something about the Patriots’ circumstances will change again — for good, for bad or (likely) for both. With that in mind, here’s a look at the worst-case and the best-case scenarios for the Patriots’ Brady-less first month of the season:
Worst
The Pats open with a loss in Arizona, which isn’t a big deal unto itself. They might have been underdogs there even with Brady. But disaster strikes in the form of another injury on defense, where Rob Ninkovich is already out and nobody’s sure about the pass rush. Chris Long and Barkevious Mingo, two players New England is high on after their preseason performances, turn back into the pumpkins they were the last couple of years in St. Louis and Cleveland. One or a couple of the team’s defensive A-listers — Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, Malcolm Butler and Devin McCourty — struggles or (much worse) misses a game or two. And don’t even mention the quarterback situation, where Jimmy Garoppolo’s mission is to steer clear of turnovers and not get himself hurt. A surprise Jacoby Brissett cameo ranks among the very worst of the worst-case scenarios.
Best
Jimmy G pulls the Week 1 upset in Arizona, lighting up the Monday morning radio airwaves in Boston with talk of going 4-0 in Brady’s absence. The following three games are at home, where the two-tight end sets the Patriots want to run with Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett have the league buzzing about Bill Belichick’s latest brilliant adjustment to his offensive personnel. They sandwich division victories over Buffalo and Miami around an impressive defeat of Houston’s stout defense, hassling Brock Osweiler all day in a way that inspires columns about whether the Patriots can lead the league in sacks. And in their Game 4 victory, they survive a Garoppolo performance just shaky enough to ward off the ridiculous idea that he should keep the job even once Brady returns.
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