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Patriots show theiy’re bringing back the spirit of 2007

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Oct 23, 2019

AP photo The Patriots have traded for Falcons receiver Mohamed Sanu, proving they are going for it once again in 2019.

Who were the ghosts New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold was seeing in Monday night’s 33-0 New England Patriots domination of his team in the Meadowlands?

That’s easy.

The ghosts of Patriots 2007.

Certainly, there are differences between those Patriots who finished the regular season at 16-0 and the current crew that is now 7-0. That team was all about putting up a plethora of points with numerous targets for Tom Brady to throw to. That gap, though, may have been made closer with the Patriots’ apparent acquisition early Tuesday of Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu for a reported second round pick.

Sanu is a mix of speed and reliability, as he has 33 catches for 313 yards and one TD this season for a bad 1-6 Atlatna team. His best two seasons were 2017-18, when he had a combined 133 catches for 1,541 yards and nine TDs. He’s not explosive, but again, reliable.

And, of course, a former Rutgers University player.

The Patriots were obviously seeing what everyone else was, that the receiving corps was becoming depleted and fragile, especially after Antonio’s Brown release and the injuries to Josh Gordon. Sanu will definitely help. They went for the foolish home run with Brown, and smacked a nice double with Sanu.

It certainly isn’t 2007, but the feeling has got to be now that this Patriots team, playing the way they are now, could run the table. Bill Belichick will obviously be able to confuse outspoken Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield – the NFL certainly won’t mike him up – perhaps to a lesser extent than he did Darnold, but effectively nonetheless.

Then it’s Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. And the list will go on. The Patriots’ win Monday night was no big surprise, but many expected the Jets with Darnold to at least be more competiive than they were at Gillette a few weeks ago without him.

They weren’t. They were, in fact, much worse. So now these Patriots, who have an almost unheard of 175 point differential after seven games, have to be thought as perhaps the best New England team of this decade. Just like the 2007 team was the best overall team of that decade, at least for the regular season.

Just switch it up. This Patriot team is built on complementary football, which is a way to say its defense is its best offense.

What’s this unit’s best attribute? It’s smart – and thus can outsmart the opposing quarterbacks and coaches.

Exhibit A: Monday night.

“They disguised the different looks we were in, and they controlled some of the things we did out there and made a lot of good decisions,” Belichick said in his Tuesday media conference call. “That’s a smart group of players that communicates well and can do things to take advantage of offensive formations and alignments and so forth.”

The Patriots are masters at turning their defense into a good offense,and vice-versa. Their marathon drive to start Monday night’s win set the tone, put the Jets and Darnold in panic mode, and allowed the Patriot defense to take a deep breath and go to the work of forcing five turnovers and turning Darnold into a 22-year-old basket case. As Belichick said afterward, “Good complementary football across the board. Offense, defense, special teams, lot of guys contributied, which is what you need for a good division win on the road.”

In 2007, that Patriots team was on the attack offensively. They never let up on an opposing defense.

In 2019, the Patriot defense is always on the attack, seemingly never letting up on an opposing offense. It will see much better offenses in the coming weeks compared to the slop it has encountered over the first seven games.

But the attitude will remain the same.

“We talk about trying to make our own plays defensively,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said, “and not just sit back and wait…

“Seven games in, teams are going to have more film on us, they’re going to design things a little bit different. So we’ve got to be ready to adjust, continue to be versatile with our personnel and still try to make plays.”

Belichick was still coaching his defense hard, as the cameras showed, even with the game Monday night well in hand in the second half.

Put all that together with the trade for Sanu. The Patriots are certainly going for it, aiming to dominate, reminiscent of a team 12 years ago.

The ghosts Sam Darnold saw were real.

RANKINGS AFTER WEEK SIX

AFC

1.New England (7-0). 2. Kansas City (5-2). 3. Baltimore (5-2). 4. Indianapolis (4-2). 5.Buffalo (5-1).

NFC

1.Green Bay (6-1). 2. New Orleans (6-1). 3.San Francisco (6-0). 4. Minnesota (5-2). 5. Seattle (5-2).

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