Despite losing Tom Brady in free agency, Boston Sports Journal's Greg Bedard claims the New England Patriots feel better about their offense entering the 2020 season.
During an appearance on Wednesday's “Felger & Mazz” episode on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Bedard was asked whether the Patriots' offense could function better this season without Brady at quarterback.
“It’s possible,” Bedard said. “I don’t know if I would draw a direct line to Brady’s attitude, even though that was a factor. And I know some people around the team thought that was somewhat of a detriment to the team down the stretch — not a huge factor, but was it a factor? Yeah, but I think that the team feels better about themselves offensively going into this year — slightly.
“Maybe they don’t have the ceiling they had with Brady, but as far as consistent play. Just from the fact that, let’s say David Andrews plays a full season and Joe Thuney’s here, that’s a much better offensive line. There’s a feeling that Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon are kind of ticked off about what they put on film last year and want to be a lot better. That line has a chance to be the best in the league if it’s intact and healthy. You get (Julian) Edelman healthy, you get (Mohamed) Sanu healthy — he wasn’t toward the end of the season. You get better play at tight end in (third-round pick Devin) Asiasi, and maybe Dalton Keene can do some things
After losing Brady in free agency, the Patriots will be forced to start Jared Stidham. Stidham, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, barely has any NFL experience. So if the Patriots really feel better with their offense, that just shows how much confidence Bellicheck and the rest of coaching have in Stidham. The entire offense relies on the quarterback, and if the quarterback doesn't perform well, the entire offensive unit doesn't either.
Nevertheless, the Patriots record this upcoming season will speak for itself.
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