A legitimate threat

Boston Globe football writer Nick Cafardo answers your questions about the Patriots every Thursday. Click here to submit a question for next week ...

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Thanks for this great service. For Pats fans placed around the country, your mailbox is a great place to bounce off the various queries on the team and keep up-to-date. Until last weekend, I was among the fans who wanted the Pats to go back to the Heinz field and beat the Steelers on their home turf. But the following issues raise concerns whether the Pats defense can pull it off:

(1) the Bengals torching our defense in our home turf (Granted, the defense also had two interceptions but the easy way the Bengals marched down the field leaves one wondering whether our defense is really that good. Had it not been for their turnovers, wouldn't the game gone the other way? Invariably, I shudder at the thought of the Colts doing the same thing with better WRs and RBs trying to prove that they can beat us.)

(2) the Steelers running backs plowing through the Jets defense (not to mention how well the Steelers defense played),

(3) the possibility of the Steelers star WR, Plaxico Burress, playing later on.

I know that both Law and Poole might return in a few weeks. But would that be enough? After so many weeks out of action, can they come back quickly to their top level? More importantly, can the Pats run-defense limit the damage caused by four quarters of incessant pounding by the two Steelers RBs?
K.P., New York, NY

A: Legitimate concerns. It isn't so much the pounding by the Steeler running backs, it's their toughness in the trenches. That's where they won the game on Halloween. New England is rarely outmuscled, but they were beat up fair and square in that game. You have to be concerned about the secondary, even with both Tys back because the Steelers have big-play receivers. Ward is as tough as they come. Burress can leap for the ball and he has great speed for a big receiver. There's nothing not to worry about with Pittsburgh. They are as legitimate a threat to knock off the Patriots as anyone in a while.

Nick, vs. Cincy, the Bungles threw a ton of short to medium passes where the LBs usually roam. Cincy seemed to have a lot of yards after the catch too. They also had several effective runs where the LBs just did not seem to fill. The LBs did not have a good day at all. Are we starting to see the same issue the Jets had last year with Mo Lewis and Marvin Jones? Age and speed.
Jim, Northford, Conn.

A: Excellent game plan by the Bengals. If they didn't have the turnovers, they would have won. Carson Palmer did a great job exploiting some of the one-on-one matchups he had on linebackers out there. He definitely spread everyone out and picked his spots. The linebackers probably had their worst day of the season (other than Pittsburgh), I agree. Is it age? I doubt it. Until this game the linebackers had been the strength and play-makers of this defense.

Everyone seems to want to blame the depleted secondary for allowing the Bengals to throw the ball so easily on Sunday, but I would put just as much blame on the defensive line for not putting ANY pressure on the QB. I don't care who is back in the secondary if you allow a QB that much time he is going to have success. With Seymour getting double teamed on almost every play, why are they not able to apply more pressure?
KC, New Jersey

A: I agree to some degree, but you have to give Carson Palmer a lot of credit for getting rid of the ball quickly and stepping out of harm's way to complete a few of his passes. He's the real deal. He has excellent mobility. It's hard for those big linemen to get an arm or a hand on him. I thought the defensive line could have been better with their penetration, but Palmer can really move around the pocket.

What's the early line on who the Patriots might get to replace Charlie Weis? Do you think they'll hire internally or will they go outside the team to fill the job?
Don, Somerville

A: They like Jeff Davidson, the assistant offensive line coach. Jeff seems to have a real ability to call a game. He might get it. If you're looking for other names to consider, John Hufnagel was a QB coach for Brady last year. He's the O-coordinator under Tom Coughlin in New York. Don't know if they could get him back. There's a guy like Gary Crowton, the former Bears' offensive coordinator recently fired as the BYU head coach. A guy like Marty Mornhinweg, who is the assistant head coach under Andy Reid and former Lions coach. We don't know who might get fired with links to Belichick and will become available.

Do you think the offense will suffer now that Charlie Weis will be working two jobs in a sense?
Mike, Hingham

A: I think Charlie will suffer because he'll be exhausted. At this point, I'm guessing the offense runs pretty smoothly. Charlie can game plan in his sleep. Listen, he wants this to work out. He doesn't want people pointing the finger at him if the Patriots should struggle offensively. even though he's hired some of the best recruiters in the country (Al Golden from Virginia via BC is one of the best), his best recruiting tool might be student-athletes watching him perform as the offensive coordinator the next month and a half.

Nick, what can we expect from Law and Poole provided they play at least one full game prior to the playoffs. Can they be close to 100 percent?
Jim, Northford, Conn.

A: I think we can expect them to be 100 percent or close to it. They'll have enough time to get ready. Poole will play more this week against Miami, and because Ty Law was upgraded from "out" to "doubtful," it appears he's running around and could get into the Jets game after Christmas.

Hi Nick! Great column last week. Given that we have two relatively easy games in the last three how much time do you think BB should give Brady off in order to rest up for the Big Push in the playoffs? Do you think Jim Miller should get some meaningful playing time along with Rohan?
Bradley, Birdsboro, Pa.

A: I don't think Tom will get any time off with the possible exception of a quarter if the Pats get way up on Miami or SF. Belichick isn't the type of coach who believes in resting his starters. He got Brady out of the game late in the third quarter against Cleveland or the Patriots would have scored 60 points. But I get the feeling the Patriots will allow their opponents to stay in the next couple of games long enough where he has to play.

David Givens did not play Sunday because earlier in the week he broke Belichick's code of silence related to ND and Weis. ND reached out to several former players, including Givens, who more or less "recommended" Weis for the job. If you believe Belichick, Givens "tightened up" Sunday morning and was "not able to go." He was not listed on Friday's injury report and has not missed a game all year. I say BS. Players, especially starters, do not get injured between Friday and game day. Just doesn't happen. Same scenario played out earlier in the year when Dillon did not play against Pittsburgh. I also suspect that this was disciplinary and not physical. Frankly, I can't believe Belichick can keep these things under the radar. Why doesn't the media pick up on these things? Wouldn't Givens let it leak? Am I nuts?
Bob, Abington

A: I can certainly understand questioning some of the explanations that are given. I will say in the case of Givens, the explanation was legitimate. I've explored that one from every angle, and he did indeed come up lame at the morning walk-through on Saturday before the game. He woke up the next day with a sore ankle, tried to run on it and couldn't. He had injured the ankle two weeks prior, but it had improved until the setback. But the first thing you think is he's being disciplined for something. Some media people actually thought he was being disciplined for revealing that Notre Dame had contacted him to discuss Charlie Weis. That would have been really lame, but unfortunately you always wonder if you're getting the full story.

Nick, I've noticed that passes to Patrick Pass out of the backfield are playing a bigger role in the Pats' offense this year. Do you attribute this to all the injured Tight Ends, or is there some other reason?
Joseph, Lowell

A: I attribute it to complete shock that Brady would throw it to him. It's the element of surprise, I think. There are so many players the defense has to cover they tend to leave Patrick Pass out there by himself.

Nick, hard to "nit-pick" at 12-1 but here it goes. Last year in Dec., we picked up the level of play a bit in gearing up for the playoff games. The Pats were a machine against Buffalo the last game of the year (31-0). We've cruised much this year in 2004. The opponents of late have not generated that high intensity level in our beloved Pats team. It's mid-December... Is there concern here? Hopefully a tough Jets team will get them going. Thanks!
Jim, Northford, Conn.

A: I think they play to the level of their opponent. I think they're good enough to do that. I wonder sometimes if they believe too much of the hype that Belichick gives them during the week where they almost respect them too much. Look, they had an easy time with the Browns last week, and this past week the Bengals were as advertised, a very good offensive team. There were no surprises in that game. I thought it would be high scoring, and it was.

Great mailbag! My question regards the Bengals game: I know the defense gave up a lot of yards, but it seemed like the offense could have helped them out in the 4th quarter. Why didn't they run the ball with Dillon more? There were a few questionable series where they threw the ball, stopping the clock, and were 3 and out. It seemed like they got away from what they do best, grind it out and run out the clock. What happened? Was Charlie thinking about South Bend? I kept yelling at them to run the ball. If they do that against a good team in the playoffs they could lose. Anyway, maybe you have more insight. Thanks.
Chuck, Tiverton, RI

A: There's no doubt that Charlie can get a little too pass-happy at times. He likes to go against what he thinks the defense is looking for. Obviously, the Bengals were looking for the Patriots to run. But they did a great job on their final possession. I think they got the ball back with a little more than 3 minutes to go and they never gave the ball back.

Just wondering Nick if I am the only one not feeling badly for Eli Manning with the rough time the rookie is having getting acclimated to that great Giants offense. Lucky for him his dad deemed him too good to have to suffer within the lousy organization, and behind that pathetic offensive line, belonging to the San Diego Chargers. To think he could be flourishing in the sun of Southern California, preparing for the playoffs, instead of getting mauled by all those defensive linemen overrunning that Great Giants' offensive line ... it's enough to restore my faith in poetic justice. I'd be interested in your perspective Nick.
David, Burlington, Vt.

A: I was just talking to (former Patriots defensive back) Tim Fox about this. The Mannings must feel a little bit embarrassed about doing all they could to get out of San Diego. This could have been a carbon-copy of the Jon Kitna-Carson Palmer situation where Manning could have sat behind Drew Brees for a year much like Philip Rivers is now, gain valuable experience by watching, and then perhaps take the reigns the following year. San Diego is a very good, young team. Having a guy like Antonio Gates for a tight end is like a Godsend to a young quarterback. Remember back when Drew Bledsoe had Ben Coates to throw it to in the tightest situations. I feel bad for Tom Coughlin, a guy I've always respected as a football coach. I guess he made the wrong decision pulling Kurt Warner because Manning looks far from a confident NFL quarterback. Of course, he is very talented and one of these games the light will go on.

Nick, the Pats must be getting a decent look at Cedric Cobb in practices. Does he look like a prospective starting NFL tailback to you. What's the skinny on Cobb.
Jim, Northford, Conn.

A: They think he can be a good pro back at some point, but he's quite raw. It was great to get him 16 carries in the Cleveland game to introduce him to the speed of a real game. I think he was a little bit surprised how fast the game was when he was out there. He's a strong runner, though. He runs with his pads a little too high, but that's fundamental stuff that can be corrected. I like his speed and his toughness. He's going to learn a lot watching Dillon.