SAN DIEGO, CA -- For two straight weeks, the Patriots defense
seems to have forgotten how to do what it was that they had gained the
reputation of doing best.
Stopping the run.
They allowed 217-yards rushing by San Diego Chargers runningback LaDanian
Tomlinson on Sunday and 180-yards on the ground by Kansas City Chiefs runningback
Priest Holmes last weekend. The defense struggled all afternoon,
with Tomlinson breaking tackles on runs where he could have been brought
down for a loss. Instead he turned them into big gains, including
touchdown runs of 37 and 58-yards.
Through two games the Patriots defense has allowed a total of 459-yards
on the ground, which is a big problem. They held Pittsburgh's Jerome
Bettis to just 35-yards in game one and Curtis Martin to 5-yards in game
two of the 2002 season. They were getting pressure up the middle
from Richard Seymour, and it was the middle of the defense where Tomlinson
blew up the middle for a touchdown.
New England's defense was supposed to be so good that their win over
the Patriots gave San Diego a reason to believe they can replace New England
as AFC Champions.
"I'm telling you right now, we're contenders," said Tomlinson after
the game.
With his team sitting at 4-0 and after averaging 8.0-yards per carry
with two touchdowns, Tomlinson has every reason to be confident.
After all, he did it against what used to be one of the best defenses
in the league.
Prior to the Kansas City game last week, the Patriots defense had played
unbelievably well against their opponents starting runningbacks.
Dating back to the Oakland game last year team's starting runningbacks
were averaging 38.2 yards-per-game against them. During the last
two games they're averaging 198.5-yards-per-game. New England's defense
has dropped from 3rd in the AFC last year to being currently ranked 15th
in the conference, allowing 141.3 yards per game which is up from last
year's 115.9.
The ironic thing was that after bulldozing the Patriots defense for
180-yards last weekend, Chiefs runningback Priest Holmes was held to just
52-yards by the Dolphins defense on Sunday.
Which now leaves fans wondering what is the problem?
That's an answer that only Bill Belichick can figure out the answer
to. The reputation the team had earned came in large part from the
schemes he had designed.
So for now it looks like it's back to the drawing board.
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