Patjew

Because its really, really hard.

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Ian bows to no one. He is like the love child of Chuck Norris and Adam Seward.

maverick4

William Belichick made his mark coaching maybe the best 3-4 linebacking corps ever with the 1980's NY Giants teams. There were multiple HOF linebackers on those teams.

He then went on to win 3 Superbowl championships as a head coach, using mostly older or unheralded linebackers with the Patriots.

This past year, he selected the Defensive Rookie of the Year in Mayo.

Hey Bro = practice squad troll

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-Offense wins games. DEFENSE wins championships-

"I was leaving late one night, and this tall skinny kid approached me holding a pizza box. I said, "I know who you are, you're Tom Brady, sixth-round pick from Michigan." And he replied, 'and I'm the best decision this organization has ever made.' I was stunned. The amazing thing is he didn't say it to be arrogant...he was sincere. I went home and told everyone about it." - Bob Kraft

PatsBoy12

What's your point? BB wasn't coaching them in the 90's. I made the 90's reference with the Steelers because that was when they had Lloyd and some of the other guys you mentioned. Again, this is not about defending BB. I thought I made that clear. I just don't know what you're expecting. When the LB corp was in it's prime, the Patriots won. He went and got Rosie Colvin one offseason, and he played well. He went and got AD one offseason, and he's played well. He was having a heck of a year before being injured last season. You mentioned in the initial post that none of those guys were athletic and only flourished because they were smart . . . well, I'll take a smart athlete over a pure athletic freak any day, wouldn't you? What more should he be doing? What would you do in his position?

This man has won SB's and is regarded by many, including other coaches, as the best in the game. You make it seem like anyone who points that out is just blindly defending the man. I assure you that I've criticized Belichick before, but hasn't he earned the respect of many for his moves? Seriously? If you know so much about building a LB corp, with all seriousness, maybe you should be on an NFL team's payroll in some capacity. Why keep the knowledge for forum banter. You should be using it to make financial gains. I don't know. Like I said, you are entitled to your opinion.

HBWU, I'm really trying to understand where you're coming from. I'm not trying to attack you or argue with you or any of that. I just have a hard time understanding your angle.


Though I won't engage in name-calling, I feel you on this. I'm really having a hard time understanding where he's coming from, as are many. In his mind, we're all just being BB defenders. I've tried to explain that I'm far from that, but I don't think he wants to believe it.

patsfaninpittsburgh

Bro

Might want to check the age and recent injuries for that D-line. All are at or around 30 with injuries. It's a window thing.

Besides can anyone really say that the vaunted Steelers defense would ever keep Brady and Co under 30 points? The Cardinals offense tooled them all over the field. Too bad the 30th ranked defense on a 9-7 team couldn't get it done.

MetalBleachers

LBs have been the lifeblood of the Pats' championship teams. They've got last year's DROY and a 3rd-rounder (Crable) from last year, as well as an undrafted guy (Woods) who's slated to start this year. If they can hold the fort with those two platooning, I think that says a lot about BB's coaching ability.

Add to that the rise of Mike Vrabel from career backup to starter on a SB champ, plus TBC's maturation from a 7th-round draft pick to starter, and it seems that NE knows how to handle LBs.

If Rosie hadn't had a freak injury and Adalius Thomas hadn't gotten nicked up the past couple of years, we might not be having this conversation.

MetalBleachers

Amen.

PatsBoy12

Very well-written statement. Thanks for posting this. I believe I touched on this very thing in an earlier post as well.

DaBruinz

I always find it amusing when people mention the "greatness" of Pittsburgh's 3-4 defense. Why? Because its a different system than what BB runs. Pittsburgh runs a less complicated version, known as the 1 GAP. BB and the Pats run a 2 Gap system.

Now, I also find it kinda funny that you mention Lloyd, Kirkland, Porter, Bell, and Haggans... Considering you are talking about a 12 year period of time and that some of the players you mentioned replaced the other players.

Lets review them.
Bell - Yeah, he won DROY and played a total of a bit more than 3 years in Pittsburgh... Then was banished to KC.
Haggans - Spent 4 years on the Steelers before getting his 1st start. And during 2005, he spent as much time on the bench as he did on the field.
Lloyd -The last year he was in Pitt was 1997...
Kirkland - The last year he was in Pittsburgh was 2000
Porter - Mr. Loudmouth himself...

The Patriots have said that its a lot harder for them to draft linebackers because they expect so much from them.

DaBruinz

Why am I not surprised that you chime in and take shots at BB? No one said that BB was perfect. And while the Pats have "passed on plenty of good LBers", please share with everyone just how those LBers would have done under BB in the Pats 3-4 2 Gap Defensive Scheme.

DaBruinz

The top starters for the Pittsburgh D-line all have at least 8 years experience. However, I like the addition of Ziggy Hood at DE. Pittsburgh will be looking at NT in the draft next year as well as DE again.