---

FOXBORO - The Shortest Offseason that Would Never End is finally giving way to the hope and promise of a new football season, and that can't come soon enough for the New England Patriots.

Their 2007 campaign, alternately a season to remember (because of the unbeaten regular season) and a season from hell (the Spygate controversy, followed by the Giants' 17-14 victory in Super Bowl XLII), is best relegated to the deepest recesses of memory despite the 18-1 record and the many team and individual records that were set during it. A season that was so close to perfection crumbled into dust in the last 2:42 of the final game, leaving the Patriots to ponder what could have been - and how to move on from it - for the past five months.

A team that finished 18-1 and became the first in NFL history to complete a 16-0 regular-season slate shouldn't have many holes in it. But as the Patriots prepare to open the 49th training camp in their history, that's not the case. As head coach Bill Belichick is fond of saying, every year is a new year and every team is a different team, with its own set of strengths and weaknesses that will determined over the six-week course of the preseason.

Offensively, the 2007 Patriots put numbers of the board that are unlikely to be duplicated any time soon - 50 touchdown passes for Tom Brady, 23 touchdown catches by Randy Moss, 589 points as a team, just three of the 40-plus league records set by the Patriots in offensive categories.

But nothing is ever perfect - the "1" at the end of "18-1" is evidence of that - and it will be Belichick's responsibility to make certain that the most feared offense in the league in 2007 doesn't become a mere shadow of itself in 2008. Here are four hot-button concerns that should be at the top of Belichick's list to be addressed on the offensive side of the ball once the pads go on Thursday morning on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium:

1. RIGHT OFFENSIVE TACKLE: This was likely to be a concern even before Super Bowl starter Nick Kaczur was stopped for a traffic violation in upstate New York a few months ago, and was found to be in possession of illegal pain-killing drugs.

Kaczur caught a big break Tuesday, in that negotiations led to a plea-bargaining agreement in which the Ontario native pled guilty to speeding and paid a fine of $355. The drug possession charge will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the next six months. Although reports could not confirm it, Kaczur's cooperation in a "sting" operation leading to the arrest of his alleged supplier may have figured into the court's leniency.

Still unaddressed was Kaczur's turnstile-like play in Super Bowl XLII, but he wasn't alone in stinking out the house in the biggest game of the year.

Most tend to believe that the poor performance of the Patriots' offensive line against the Giants was an anomaly, and not representative of its play over the course of the entire season. Still, with Kaczur clearly a weak link, Matt Light still in need of help on the left side with speed rushers (thank you, Miami, for trading Jason Taylor out of the AFC) and right guard Stephen Neal coming off knee surgery, there are concerns to be addressed.

Ryan O'Callaghan should be ready to give Kaczur a run for his money on the right side. Seasoned veterans Oliver Ross and Anthony Clement have been brought in as preseason safety nets at tackle, and third-year guard Dan Connolly could be a consideration if Neal is not ready to go.

2. IS MARONEY READY? When your passing game is putting more than 4,800 yards on the board by itself, the running game can be considered a luxury of sorts - until people wise up to what Tom Brady and his receivers are doing, and you need yards on the ground to keep your head above water.

To date, Laurence Maroney has been a contributing factor to the Patriots' success, but not a dominant factor - and the efforts of the Giants' pass-rushers in Super Bowl XLII proved that the Patriots need more out of the tailback position. Maybe they don't need a Corey Dillon-like 1,600-yard season, but definitely more than the 1,580 career yards Maroney has produced in two pro years.

The Patriots still got 1,608 rushing yards out of Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and Heath Evans. A healthy season from Morris (whose six-game total of 384 yards would have projected to 1,024 over 16) might help lessen the pain if Maroney doesn't have a 1,000-yard season in him. Given his draft position, however, the third year is a good time for him to prove that he does.

3. KEEPING POP IN THE PASSING GAME: It's almost folly to expect the Patriots' receivers to keep putting up the numbers they did last year, especially since the talent level took a slight hit in the offseason. With the departure of Donte Stallworth via free agency, opposing defensive coordinators will see an opportunity to devise more creative ways to stop Moss (98 catches, 1,493 yards) and Wes Welker (112 catches, 1,175 yards) because they just won't feel as if the Patriots have another potential killer in their midst, as the comparatively underproductive Stallworth (46-697) was perceived to be. That makes it even more important that Jabar (Mr. January) Gaffney and 2006's second-round draft pick, Chad Jackson, step forward to be productive from the beginning of the season to the end. Rookie Matt Slater signed his contract early and is doing everything the coaches tell him to do, which may prove significant.

The passing offense includes the backfield, from which the aging Faulk was next to brilliant last year, and the tight end position, which is a question mark as two highly-breakable individuals, Ben Watson and Dave Thomas, are at the top of the depth chart.

4. HOW MANY QUARTERBACKS? Brady, entering his ninth NFL season, actually skipped some of the preseason conditioning program this year to heal and decompress from the Super Bowl defeat, but it's doubtful that he did anything to lose his coveted workout-warrior parking space at Gillette.

Behind him is the big question mark, however.

The drafting of San Jose State's Kevin O'Connell in the third round will raise doubt in some corners in the coaching staff's confidence in the current backups, Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez. But in reality, it may be an attempt to repeat history - and if O'Connell sticks as a fourth-stringer on the roster, you'll know that Belichick thinks he has Brady's eventual replacement in-house.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/sports.