Let the real games begin

Page 8 of 19 -- A: I never understood the complete lack of interest in re-signing Colvin. I don't see where they have any better replacement for an excellent player who is only 25 years old. I understand Washington more because of his age and his injury problems last year. Getting a fourth rounder is a good deal for both teams.

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Is Brady going to be as good as he was in 2001 and is he still living off of a Super bowl year?
-- Chris Devereaux, Bangor, ME

A: I thought he was better last year - 28 TD passes. I think we need to stop swelling on Brady. He's one of the best QBs in the league. He's not a guy you even think twice about because he'll always do a solid, efficient job unless he's not being protected.

Hey, Nick, love the mailbag! My question is, (if) Ted Washington should get injured do you think the pats would substitute another guy or go to a different scheme? Also, last year the pats used a weird defense against the Bills. Why didn't they use that against other teams?
-- Darwin Seaman, Spring Hill, Florida

A: They have the option to return to the 4-3, if that's what you mean. If Washington goes down they would go back to the quicker, smaller, faster approach at nose tackle they were trying to achieve with Jarvis Green. The defense they used against the Bills was used twice against the Bears. It worked one time, but the second time the Bears made a 16-yard run. Basically what happens is Bruschi acts as the lone down lineman and the rest of the guys are linebackers, safeties and corners.

I know it's not fair to Chalie and Romeo that they aren't allowed to speak to the media but don't you think that might be better for the future of the team? We know that Romeo Crennel may be the best defensive coordinator in the NFL but do we really want other NFL owners and fans to know that as well? I don't want to see if Mangini will do as good a job. If the Pats have the top ranked defense in the league this year and ESPN talks about the great Belichick defense, I'll have a little smerk on my face because I know that Daniel Snyder won't be calling Romeo up right after the Super Bowl. You may want to interview him and many fans would love to hear what he thinks but I rather the Pats continue to be a great team for years to come. One day Crennel will be a head coach. Hopefully that day will be many years from now when he takes over for Belichick in New England.
-- Shawn Bordoff, Vancouver B.C.   Continued...