Now Belichick has decided to go with a committee approach, designating none of his assistants as the new offensive coordinator, although line coach Dante Scarnecchia has long been listed as his assistant head coach and is expected to have a lot of input on how things run.

Together the offensive staff and Belichick will draw up the game plan, and Belichick is expected to call much of the game himself.

He did the same in Cleveland when he was the head coach there and he failed miserably, but he didn't have Brady executing those plays. Now he does and Brady's calmness under pressure and his ability to make plays at the most crucial moments were a major part of what made Weis' plans works.

So why shouldn't the same be true with Belichick's?

The X factor is what kind of game Belichick, a conservative, defensive-minded man by nature and inclination, will call. Will he be as innovative and attacking as Weis? Although Belichick certainly signed off on whatever approach Weis took the past five years, he ultimately wasn't making the calls. That is a significant change and one that will have to be dealt with during the season.

In terms of personnel, there are no real weaknesses. New England has a strong running game with Corey Dillon as the lead back, a sound passing attack that had success going deep more often a year ago and a leader in Brady who is 7-0 in overtime, 9-0 in the playoffs and 57-14 as a starter, the best record of any quarterback with 40 or more starts since the dawning of the Super Bowl age in 1966.

Defensively they have a line anchored by three ex-No. 1 draft choices and a secondary with a host of options, although they don't have a player as dominating as Law was at his best unless free agent Duane Starks can return to his form of 2000 when he was starring for the then-Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. Starks is coming off three down and injury-plagued seasons with the Cardinals, but he and Belichick believe the change of scenery and the opportunity to play in meaningful games will rejuvenate him.

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The one on-field area with some questions is at linebacker, where Bruschi will not be back this season as he recuperates from his stroke. Young Monty Beisel, a converted defensive end who was signed as a free agent after one year starting for the Chiefs, and old Chad Brown, a 13-year veteran well past his Pro Bowl prime, are being counted on to combine their skills to replace some of the playmaking that was so much a part of Bruschi's game. If they don't, there could be some problems, but the foundation of their linebacking corps remains intact with Mike Vrabel, Willie McGinest, Ted Johnson and Rosevelt Colvin back. Colvin, once a big-time playmaker himself, is two years removed from a dreadful hip injury and might be ready for a breakout season. If that happens, he could easily cushion the impact of Bruschi's absence.

On the field, the defending champions seem well capable of matching up with any team in football again, including the Steelers, who they undressed in the AFC championship game on the road after Pittsburgh went 15-1 in the regular season, and the Colts, who haven't been able to beat them, it seems, since Johnny Unitas was the quarterback.

The only major question then are ones that cannot be answered until the season unfolds and decisions have to be made: Can the Patriots system survive the loss of two of the men who designed it?

Not even Belichick truly knows the answer to that.