smg93

Defense flexible enough to shutout opponents every week! Ahhh, stating the obvious. But the point is, I want to see a defense that can give trouble to many different offenses that we'll face this year. So rather than debating about the merits of the 4-3 or the 3-4, I'd like to see a defnse that is flexible enough to switch so that opponents are never complacent about the looks they'll see.

Box_O_Rocks

#1 in scoring defense at the end of the season - I believe that is the way you write up the stingiest defense on opponent's points...bend but don't break is fine by me, this team has enough opportunists to jump salty at the first mistake by an opponent - or don't people think J.P., Noodle, and especially Daunte are prone to the odd mistake?

Let's consider the schedule:

Week 1: J.P. Losman - he'll hand the ball over more than once while he's still learning.

Week 2: Chad Pennington - actually one of the better QBs the Pats will see as far as his decision making, his arm strength and raw O-line will help him to some mistakes.

Week 3: Jake Plummer - he showed signs of slipping back into his Zona days in the post-season, he'll be only too happy to deliver the rock to the wrong jersey in Gillette.

Week 4: Carson Palmer - has played NE tough since earning his starter's ticket, this is the big challenge game in the first half.

Week 5: Daunte Culpepper - It might even be Joey Harrington by this time. He has a long and storied history of putting the ball on the ground, stop the run and force him to throw and scramble and you'll have some fun defensively.

Week 6: Bye

Week 7: J.P. will still have a lot to learn (if he's still starting).

Week 8: Brad Johnson - Ol' Mr. Reliable will play smart and give NE a tough game.

Week 9: Peyton Manning - will be on a tear, for what's left of his hair, I look for Pees & Co. to develop and molest his mind with a game plan he's not expecting or has never seen.

Week 10: Patrick Ramsey - poor Noodle will probably be out of it by now.

Week 11: Brett Favre - All hail Lord Int.!

Week 12: Rex Grossman - A decent QB who is still fairly raw in my book. Despite working against an opportunistic D in practice, he'll have a surprise waiting for him.

Week 13: Jon Kitna - made the defense work their tails off as Palmer's back-up, thank God for Mike Martz.

Week 14: Joey Harrington - perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part, but...

Week 15: David Carr - needs to hope his O-line gells and they face some 3-4s before meeting NE's.

Week 16: Byron Leftwhich (sp?) - shouldn't have too many tricks left in his bag by season's end, facing a post-season quality defense at this point will just be too much.

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Joker

Preseason obvious points

Vince Wilfork has mastered the Ted Washington technique...except he's far younger quicker and well...a very nice surprise

BB didn't hesitate with Beisel and ASKED Seau to play..turned the phone over to Rodney..and the rest of the country laughs


heh

Seau inside means Vrabel outside..and Colvin..remember him??
I keyed on Colvin this preseason


heh...Colvin had 10 and 1/2 sacks with Bears..he;s fully healthy..and Seymour is coming...I want ONE of you guys to tell me who controls Richard Seymour 1 onRodney and Bru healthy...c'mon

Oswlek

I bet he'd do better than Monte Beisel.

Oswlek

A good one

In all seriousness, I just want NE to be in the top 5 in scoring D at the end of the year. Whether it is done by blitzing or just rushing 3 and dropping into coverage, I couldn't care less. I would also like to see a few intimidation type hits every game. NE gave up tons of big plays, but what I was just as disturbed by was the fact that they weren't physical at all during thei down time. Even when they improved at the end, I can't recall a single monster hit after the Samuel one on Denver's TE. I suppose Wilson's hit on the backup RB vs. Jax might count since it forced a fumble, but it wasn't a "jump out of your seat and yell aloud" type hit.

That's what I want: a physical D that lets up few points. How they go about doing it is their prerogative.


Edited to add that I think we will get just that. Wilfork has looked great since the middle of last year, probably even better over the PS, and we all know what Seymour brings to the table. If those two stay healthy (and DBs/LBs don't drop like flies, of course) than this D is going to be a monster. Do you double both and possibly leave a blitzing LB to come in completely free? (and even without the blitz, do you really want just a RB on Colvin or Vrabel - or even TBC?) If no double team is done, than that gives Big Sey and Vince 1:1 opportunites which they will win most of the time. The truest cliche in football is "it all starts up front," and NE certainly has a head start over most teams in this area.

Brownfan80

Man, you're really on a rip this morning, huh?

maverick4

I would like to see a defense that adapts every week to successfully limit an opposing team's top 2 favorite options, whether they be plays or players.

JoeSixPat

Very little.

45 minutes of ball control offense and 15 minutes with our defense on the field would suit me just fine.

People often say that the best offense is a good defense. But it tends to be difficult for another team to score when their offense is only on the field for 20 minutes a game.

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ctpatsfan77

With all due apologies to Monty Python et al., the D plan for that week should be called Confuse-a-Colt. [For J.P. Losman, we get the economy plan, Bewilder-a-Bill. ]

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Born_a_Patriot

A good one.

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