JR4

Is this one of BB's worst defenses of his going on 9 years here?

some possibilities
1. the pass rush.
2. DB talent.
3. OLB Talent
4. coaching
5. bend but no break schemes

maybe more . how do you see it?
Is there anything that can be done this late in the season?
Do you think it will change befor the end of the season?

Halifax_Pats_Fan

I don't know what it is but the middle of the field is killing them...sometimes receivers, backs or ends will just sit in a zone, or slant into the middle. Crossing patterns we seem to be o.k., but when opponets get deeper into the secondary, there is where we are not so good.

To answer your question it is a combination of 2 and 5. Address those areas and that should shave some points off of the board...

ALP

i think that u should add young player inexperience in as one option as well...

as cliche as it sounds, its a fact....of this defense, and one which we didnt really have to deal w/ for a long time in the LB core, the most important core in a 3-4 defense (scheme wise)

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Rob0729

I don't know if it is worse than 2000 or 2002, but close. I think it still has everything to do with pressure on the QB. The Pats give opposing QBs too much time and the receiver can get open even when the coverage is initially really good.

PJM

Totally agree about the lack of pressure on the QB. In the Pat's scheme that was meant to come from Vrabel and Thomas. AT is out and Vrabel is having a down year. That exposes the DBs who are not the strength of this unit. I have a harder time explaining the softness up the middle;I think they were trying to address it with a converted Safety but couldn't find the right guy. There is a lot of speculation that they will target that position in the draft (which means they will take a tight end).

wistahpatsfan

You might be right, but I think it's in reverse. The DB's inability to come up and compress the coverage when needed forces the LBs to participate more in mediun coverage. This reduces the plays we can bring the LBs forwars and lessens the pass rush. This is acomplex, mechanized defense. All the parts have to workwell or it's up to the offense to compensate.

DarrylS

OTOH they give a qb so much time, because they "stay home"... clogging the lanes, denying the rush.. but the DB's are not top echelon and get exposed. As good as Guyton, Mayo and Woods are.. they do not have the NFL pass coverage experience..

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JR4

when you say "DB's inability to come up and compress the coverage"
is this because of scheme or DB talent?

satz

We play every game different and are game plan oriented.

game plan : My thoughts on what i saw stop the run,defend the middle by using sanders[he should be in the UP] in the box against the run and TE coverage and let ginn/camarello/bess to beat them.

OLB -
Hold the rush lanes and put enough pressure to not let any play bounce outside for huge gains - very successful
Against wildcat woods and vrabel who is lined up against the sweep to rush hard to not give ricky a clean run. very successfull . woods and vrabel were right where ricky wanted to go so had to stop and in one play tripped and fell.
very successful.
IN 2 or 1 DL mode they played at the line as DL and did not give alot as a light box the dolphins must have been able to run easily but could not.you saw bru in their at the line in this package.

ILB -
Man coverage on TE and RB . But in nickel the used merriweather/sanders on fasano.
1 TD where guyton kinda hesitated .
Wildcat - crash the gap the gaurd clears and do not let him to get to the gap he is opening by crashing in their. very effective

DL - played good but also played to their strength . they were prevented from running around chasing the ball carrier by vrabel and woods who set the edge to turn them towards them.keeping them fresh longer.

DB -
Well sanders was on the line either on TE coverage or run support so the DB gave up some cushion . actually ginn got a bit but we have been burnt too many times by not keeping the play infront. IN man coverage we just do not have have the horses to recover a blown coverage.

We are not waking up as in the first few weeks and talking about busted huge plays again keep it in the front and tackle good.

DB missed quite a bit of tackles , if they could just tackle better the game would not be so close. they just whiffed on tackling alot.instead of loss of a yard or 1 yard gain it ended up 6-7 yards. got to stop it.

IMPROVEMENT NEEDED.
tackling by the DB.
pass rush lanes and angles were poor especially in stunts .we need to move vrabel or woods out a bit and give cleaner paths .But again it might be a game plan to not let pennington step up.
as we learned do not rush safeties or corners as even pennington had a field day in the 2nd quater our DB are not good enough to be left alone with faster or good WR in man.
Cannot use this game plan against some good WR teams sanders played near the line to help run stuffing and TE coverage role.maybe we are seeing sanders playing the rodney role in the light box sets.

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tanked_as_usual

short memories or what? the 2005 defense was much worse

injuries and inexperience have piled up......it happens......