FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As the New England Patriots open training camp Thursday, they are looking to make yet a further push into unprecedented achievement. To win a (record-tying) sixth Super Bowl, they will have to become the first team in the salary-cap era to reach the big game three years in a row.
Only two other teams have ever been to three straight Super Bowls – the 1971-73 Dolphins and the 1990-93 Bills. Miami won two out of three and Buffalo went 0-4, but neither of those teams played under a collective bargaining agreement designed to limit the kind of prolonged success the Patriots have enjoyed under Bill Belichick.
That no team has been to three straight Super Bowls since the cap came into play in 1994 (a year after Buffalo’s last Super Bowl appearance), is testament to the quirkiness of a one-and-done playoff system and the difficulty of frequent turnover that results from free agency.
That said, a key element of Belichick’s success in Foxborough has been ignoring the past to keep focus on the present. So, perhaps the key to reaching a third straight Super Bowl is to forget that the other two happened.
“I’m focused on doing the best that I can for the 2018 New England Patriots,” Belichick said Wednesday. “That’s my job. That’s what I’m going to do. That’s what I’ve always done in the past. Every day that I’ve coached here, I’ve done the best that I could for this football team and I’ll continue to do that. Right now, my focus is on the 2018 season – not 2017, not 2014, not 2007, not 2004, not 2001, not 2000. I’m not focused on any of those seasons. They’re done.”
Among the most notable changes from last year’s Super Bowl team is the personnel turnover that can make it so difficult to maintain a dynasty. The Pats lost their starting left tackle, a starting cornerback and their best running back to free agency. There was a time when teams could keep such core contributors on the field, but the Patriots enter camp looking to replace Nate Solder, Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis among others.
As a result, we should see some interesting position battles play out in camp and perhaps throughout the season as New England looks to replace those players.
The offensive line is bound for a shakeup. Not only did the Patriots draft a potential left tackle in the first round, Georgia lineman Isaiah Wynn, they also added gigantic veteran tackle Trent Brown (listed at 6-8, 380) in a trade with San Francisco. At this juncture, it seems plausible that either could win the starting job.
If Brown replaces Solder at left tackle, that could lead to some displacement on the interior of the line, with Wynn potentially taking over at left guard. Either way, the Patriots project to have a good deal of depth in that group, as guard Joe Thuney or center David Andrews, starters for the last two seasons, could wind up playing in relief.
For the second year in a row, the Patriots find themselves with an abundance of running backs and no certainty on how those backs will be deployed. It took a few weeks for Lewis to emerge as the top rusher last season, but he turned in a huge year and was rewarded with a sizable payday in Tennessee. Rookie Sony Michel, another first-round pick out of Georgia, has the makeup to contribute in the running and the passing games as Lewis did, but the Patriots also have Rex Burkhead, James White, Mike Gillislee and free-agent newcomer Jeremy Hill all competing for snaps.
No one will soon forget that Butler sat out New England’s 41-33 loss in Super Bowl LII, but the hero of Super Bowl XLIX is now with the Titans. Veteran newcomer Jason McCourty (twin brother of Pats’ safety Devin McCourty), and Eric Rowe, who started in place of Butler in Minneapolis, figure as two potential candidates to replace Butler.
Undrafted free agent J.C. Jackson out of Maryland also looms as a sleeper candidate after a strong minicamp. Jackson lost his scholarship at Florida after he was charged with (and later acquitted of) armed robbery. Most experts agree that if not for his legal troubles, Jackson would likely have been drafted. Second-round pick Duke Dawson out of Florida doesn’t figure to fit into this position battle as he’ll likely see more time as a slot corner.
Regardless of how it sorts out, change is inevitable, but the Patriots are hoping that prosperity remains consistent.
“Everything is different,” Belichick said of this new season. “2018 is 2018. There’s never been another year like it.”
(Dave Brown is a freelance correspondent for the Monitor. Follow him on Twitter @ThatDaveBrown.)