R_T26

Seems like the lasy few years we wonder when were going to get a passrusher here.
We look at all the draft prospects and wonder which one they will pick, but they never do.

We hope they get one in free agency, which they did in 2007, signing AD coming off back to back double digit sack seasons. But instead of seeing him come off the edge he was turned into an ILB who stays in coverage. The one game he was let loose as a Patriot was the Super Bowl. Where he was the best pats player on the field (sans Welker). Yet 2008 was more of the same (remember what he did to favre week 2).

Last offseason Vrabel is traded, and we were all on here saying BB is up to something and has a plan. Then FA went by (dont say BB signed Tully as the passrush fix), draft went by, abd most of training camp went by....and the answer
to the passrush was trading a 3rd and 5th for a 31 year old whose sacks have steadily declined.
Then turn around a week later and trade your best passrusher on the defensive line.
So do you guys think BB will make passrush a priority this offseason?
Or will we be here in august talking up woods and crable again.

The Dynasty

I dont think this is even a question...

It was quite obvious the biggest piece missing on this years team was the lack of a pass rush. BB and staff cannot and will not ignore this. It will definitely be addressed probably from the draft rather than from FA

__________________
"It is what it is" -Bill Belichick

"...as the head coach I can kind of do whatever I want. If I want to coach the punters, I can go coach the punters. If I want to watch the offensive guards, I can watch the offensive guards." - Bill Belichick

mayoclinic

BB is nothing if not a pragmatist. I think he understands that the lack of defensive pressure won't cut it, and that the only way to slow down offenses like Indy and New Orleans in today's NFL with it's passer-friendly rules is to get pressure on the QB.

I think last offseason the priority was to upgrade the talent in the secondary. This has been done adequately, assuming we can keep Leigh Bodden. But no secondary can stop Brees, Rivers and Manning if they have all day to throw. The defensive priority this offseason has got to be the pass rush. And I expect BB to attack it with a vengeance.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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Patspsycho

Exactly.

And don't bank on our savior being an OLB 3-4. That position is overrated as a pass-rusher. It might well be a monster DL.

I am watching Pats vs. Colts on NFLN right now and the one thing that keeps striking me is how little pressure they put on Manning. I am now wondering how we lost by just one point.

celticboy04

Greetings,
Might have to live with that being a possibility.
Shalom,
Celticboy04

patsfan-1982

i say yes but like psycho said i don't think it will be OLB im looking for a big upgrade at D line BB is to picky with he's LB's no way a rookies comes in here and makes a impact at OLB in this system. but it would be nice to see him take one of the many good looking OLB in the first or 2th round

GoWhalers

I always took BB's basic philosophy to be as follows:

Step 1) Stop the run. Force them into known passing downs. Get the ball back into your offense's hands.

Step 2) When the offense has the ball, execute and score. Remember how effective the Patriots used to be on the first drive of the game? There was a crazy stat about how they scored TD or FG on like 95% of their first drives.

Step 3) Once the other team is playing from behind and is one-dimensional, then you let loose with the pass rush.

Clearly we never got to step 3 against a quality opponent. The Pats struggled alternately between steps 1 and 2. Sometimes they would get good stops, only to have the offense go 3 and out. Sometimes they would be scoring effectively, but then the defense would be sloppy.

I don't think a BB-orchestrated pass rush is going to be highly visible unless the opponent is playing to the pace dictated by the Patriots. If the opponent is dictating tempo of the game, BB is going to spend his scheming trying to restore control at the line of scrimmage, not sending exotic blitzes.

celticboy04

Greetings,
Agreed. I think the other end position is a bigger need than OLB. Now I am not saying we don't need an uprgade there, I don't think singing one dominant OLB is going to be the biggest solution to the pass rush issues. Especially when you have a guy like Jarvis Green gets dominated by runningbacks when they block him. BTW isn't Guyton's natural position OLB?
Shalom,
Celticboy04

jmt57

I don't know if Belichick completely ignored the pass rush last offseason; I think certain things didn't work out. For example we the Pats made a serious attempt to sign Jason Taylor, and while we don't know for sure, I'm guessing there were negotiations for Julius Peppers as well. Probably a few others that we'll never know about that the Pats made a run at too that would have been welcome additions. Unfortunately the Pats weren't in all that great of a cap position for free agency last year.

Hopefully MacKenzie is fully recovered. If so I'll be curious to see how he'll be used. I recall reading that he was projected to play ILB and Guyton would be the backup, even though he was an OLB in college. I wonder if he is healthy if the Pats would move him back to the outside - or leave him inside with Guyton and make Mayo an OLB.

As for Crable, I don't think anybody's expecting anything from him. If the team gets some production then great, that's a bonus. But realistically, how much faith do you put in someone making the team that has been out of football for two years with injuries?

RyanP421

Excellent post...Agreed 100%