By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com Patriots InsiderFollow @tomecurran
FOXBORO, MA - Albert Haynesworth could make a huge difference for the Patriots in 2011. But the guy who called him out last year in Washington, Andre Carter, could make a similar impact.
Chad Ochocinco might give Tom Brady the outside option he seemed to miss in the Patriots playoff loss to the Jets in 2010. But the guy who chased Brady all over the playground that eveningShaun Ellishas been taken away from the Jets and brought to New England. And that may matter even more.
When it comes to the Patriots' 2011 fortunes, Albert and Ocho have been easy conversation starters, but the talk shouldnt end there.
New England worked at adding veteran players to areas of apparent need this offseason and a team that went 14-2 but suffered a soul-sucking playoff loss to the Jets shouldSHOULDbe even better.
The way the Patriots were ushered from the postseason last seasonbeaten and beaten up at Gillette Stadium by a Jets team that it had defeated 45-3 just a few weeks earliercast a pall over what was a remarkable 2010.
Think about it. The Patriots beat the Ravens, Chargers, Steelers, Colts, Packers, Bears and Jets last season.
New England Patriots
They scored 518 points205 more than they allowed.
Tom Brady threw 36 touchdown passes and 4 interceptionsRuthian numbers in a season where Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees combined for 83 picks.
They picked off 25 passes and were a ridiculous plus-28 in turnover ratio.
But Bradys incredible efficiency and the opportunism of the defense masked some issues.
The youth of the offensive skill position playerstwo rookie tight ends and running backs in their first seasons as feature playersmade the Patriots' offensive performance that much more remarkable. Never mind the fact the team jettisoned Randy Moss and enmeshed Deion Branch into the offense on the fly. This was a Brady-Belichick-Bill OBrien production and a remarkable one at that.
The Patriots third down defense was abhorrent. They allowed conversions 47 percent of the time on third down. The pass rush was unremarkable. New England had 36 sacks but the guy who led the teamdefensive lineman Mike Wrighthad only 5.5 and missed half the season. The best pass rushers were Wright, 375-pound Vince Wilfork, late-season acquisition Eric Moore and outside linebacker Rob Ninkovich.
Game situation was a leading factor in the Patriots putting up those numbers and the situation frequently was that they were up big. And with that, we come back to Brady.
And when Brady was unable to put the team on his back, they lost. Week 2 to the Jets. Week 9 to the Browns. The playoffs to the Jets again. It all hearkened back to the playoff losses in 2009 and 2007, where Brady was under siege and nobody else could make a game-changing play.
Belichick is smart enough to realize that having the best quarterback of this generation is nice but if the Patriots dont get him some help elsewhere on the roster, his Super Bowl count will never get past three.
And thats what the Patriots spent the offseason doing.
First, the defensive side. The tepid pass rush and reactive 3-4 defense designed to build a wall and force offenses to proceed down the offense piece-by-piece has been scrapped. In its place, the 4-3. And one of the best practitioners of the 4-3 defense is Haynesworth. All he wants to do is get after the passer in a straight line upfield. Asked to do differently with Washington, he balked. And thats what the Patriots concern has to be now. Will Haynesworth play for them? He indicates he will, but hes talked it and failed to walk it in the past.
Andre Carter hasnt had those issues. Hes been a steady, respected player since coming into the league in 2001.
And thats part of the reason he wasnt having any of Haynesworths BS when the two were teammates in Washington and Haynesworth was refusing to the play the 3-4.
I havent experienced a player prioritizing his position on the field over working with the game, Carter said last July. Its disappointing because Albert could fit in this scheme. All we can say is we wish him the best and we will see what happens in a month. He made his statement that he didnt want to play in this scheme and we are not going to force him to play. Hes a grown man. We have moved forward.
And now the two have moved back in together on the same defense. Carters been outstanding in preseason, the kind of edge rusher the Patriots havent employed in some time.
With Haynesworth and Wilfork crushing the middle and Carter coming off the edge, there arent many options for opposing quarterbacks. Especially with Ellis coming off the other edge.
He earned the nickname Patriot Killer while in New York for 11 seasons. He is one of the versatile players who can play inside or outside, 3-4 or 4-3, pass rush or stop the run.
He was important to the Patriots because of what he could bring. Also, no doubt, because his loss to the Jets would be significant. But New York could only offer him 910,000 due to salary cap concerns. The Patriots signed him to a deal that will pay him more than 4 million.
Thats a win-win.
Which brings us to Ocho. So far, hes had a rocky adjustment to the Patriots offense. Every offense is precise. Every offense requires its receivers to make post-snap reads. The Patriots are a little bit on the next level with those two items. As a result, Ochos been lamenting the fact he hasnt yet been able to play without thinking.
He said hes closea seven out of 10 when asked recentlyand he certainly still has the skills to be a factor. When you see the speed with which he comes out of breaks and the quiet speed he runs his routes with, theres no question hell get separation. But he needs to be in the right spots exactly.
Brady doesnt care how many Twitter followers his receivers have. Only that they are in the appointed spot at the appointed time.
No one addition is going to put the Patriots over the top. They are a talented team but the reason they succeed is precision, preparedness, intelligence, Brady and Belichick.
All this talk about change, thats what remains constant.
Tom E. Curran can be reached at tcurran@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Tom on Twitter at http:twitter.comtomecurran.