Recent Twitter posts by Bill Simmons of ESPN.com:

sportsguy33     Haynesworth possibly being available has me frothing at the mouth. He'd immediately become the 2nd best Pat. Plus him + Wilfork in a 4-3???

sportsguy33     According to J. Clayton, Haynesworth is owed 16.2 mill total over next 3 yrs. Wash has to eat the signing bonus if they deal him. A steal!!!

sportsguy33     Good point. And yet... Wilfork AND Haynesworth? RT @JoeGrady78: Belichick going 4-3 would be like Andy Reid deciding to run 50% of the time.

I know.  It's Simmons.  But still, the idea is kind of intriguing, since the Pats really haven't opened up the big wallet and spent much in an uncapped year.  Why not bring in a dominating D-Tackle to play next to Wilfork.  This would make Minnesota's D-Line look like a JV squad.  

Thoughts?

Does anyone miss the New England Patriots of the start of the decade?  I do.

The ones who were perennial underdogs, had no individuals coveted by fantasy owners, and had some young, scrawny, late-round quarterback leading them?  (Rather than the 14-point favorites, fantasy superstars, and the golden-boy QB married to Gisele)

The ones who had a defense of unheralded no-names, who somehow, despite being slower, older and underpaid, found a way to make that huge stop, after spending the entire game bending-but-not-breaking?  (Rather than a young, exuberant, hard-hitting defense led by the exciting-but-inexperienced Meriweather-Mayo-Wilfork)

The ones who just managed to stay in the game, mount a couple fourth-quarter drives, then hit a field goal as the clock expired to win the game? (Rather than forty-five point leads before halftime and "F-U" touchdowns)

Don't take me wrong, I enjoy seeing the offense firing on all cylinders.  But throughout 2007, I felt like I was watching a team that was somehow different from the one I had fallen in love with, the one that had won three Super Bowls by the slightest of margins. 

It was like witnessing a teenage guy who had just lost his V-card, and had a whole new perspective on the world and how to live in it.  While he may have enjoyed the next few months prancing around with every girl he met, scoring at will, eventually he just run out of steam.  Stamina finally failed him.  That was our 2007 Patriots, a team that discovered how much fun scoring was, and how sometimes you can lose yourself, and the Super Bowl, within it. 

So when the Patriots started this year winning less-often, and in a far-uglier fashion, I got excited.  I thought we might be back to early-decade form, with a team that knew how to get the job done in whatever fashion was necessary.

I was ready for another Super Bowl. 

Then last week, 59-0, happened.  Brady came back in the second half for the "F-U" score.  And my worst nightmare is now back.

Do I have any reason to be worried?