VJCPatriot

Sorry, Bruschi has been the heart and soul of the Pats defense for a decade. He has earned the right to talk. A lot more than some random message board fans. I can see how any defender would be upset when their coach basically says, I'd rather go for it on 4th down on my own 28 than trust my defense to stop the Colts in the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

MoLewisrocks

That's all well and good, but as an analyst if he wants to be taken seriously he needs to learn to temper his own kneejerk, passion driven opinion with some rationale perspective. Both he and Rodney need to be mindful of their own lack of perspective where this team is concerned, and that cuts both ways. I saw that perspective from Willie last night on NFLN. He's become more detatched and with some distance (and alternate experience in cleveland) he seems to appreciate Bill even more now than he did when he left (and his feelings were a little hurt...). Again, the last time Bill trusted a big game lead to his defense in Indy they failed him. Tedy and Rodney were part of that failure. That once upon a time a long, long time ago this defense was able to meet that kind of challenge is just ancient history... That defense hasn't functionally existed since 2004.

VJCPatriot

The problem is, how are you ever going to find out if that defense exists if you never give them the chance to be tested? I think the shadow of past losses may have affected BB's judgment in this case. This defense has had a lot of turnover, it is NOT the defense of 2006 or 2007 or even 2008.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Snarf

"This defense has had a lot of turnover, it is NOT the defense of 2006 or 2007 or even 2008."

Our current defense has done nothing but choke late in games, "play soft" either ALL the time or at complete irrational, inopportune times, and get exhausted well before most other defenses do.

The personnel isn't even the problem, IMO. It's all on the coaching.

Pees has made our defense a loser. It doesn't matter who you stick in there. Pees created a loser, and lose it shall while he remains. Conditioning is clearly a problem, so is lack of creativity.

We need to run Pees out of this town before we choke our next big game.

Patriot_in_NY

I think Tedy might be a little too close to the situation to see it that clearly..... Speaking with his heart, not logic.

BradyManny

I like what Brady said about today - look, Bruschi was on the field for the AFCCG game where the exact scenario happen. The Pats punted to Manning, gave him the ball with 2 minutes left and an entire field to cover. And Bruschi and the rest of the defense got run the F over. Just as they did in SB 42, just as they did in OT last year, or when they gave up leads (only to see the offense bail them out) against the Rams & Panthers in those SB. Honestly, Bruschi should shut the hell up in this case. The truth is, these were all scenarios of an explosive offense going up a gassed defense, just as it would've been in Manning vs. the Pats D at that time. The odds are in the offense's favor in that case.

Its_The_Patriots

Well said!!!!

__________________
"If if's and buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be Christmas." ....Bill Belichick

BradyFTW!

Exactly. Bruschi and Harrison's pride are dictating what they're seeing here, but the simple fact is that they were the heart/soul of a series of mediocre defenses over the last couple of years who repeatedly got steamrolled in these situations. They proved that they couldn't be trusted to hold a lead.

Does Belichick's decision demonstrate a lack of confidence in the defense? Well, it's completely relative to your confidence in the offense, but sure, let's say it does. Some guys probably will take it that way. And if they do, if they're actual professionals, they'll take that as a wake-up call and a challenge. If they stomp around and sulk about it, then that says all that you need to know about them.

bostonia3333

Out of all the mediots nationally, Dilfer sounds the most worked up and angry of them all. Perhaps he had $$$ on the Pats or something, but I've never seen an analyst go this berserk over something that happened in an NFL game.

Plus Dilfer was technically an offensive player. Usually those guys don't want to punt and want the ball in their hands. I find it odd that he's so angry about this decision.

PATSYLICIOUS

Why should he shut up? Just because you don't agree with him?

I personally stand behind BB on the call but as a defensive player you can't fault Bru or any Patriot defender for feeling this way.