JaxPats

There has been a lot talk concerning our defense. I for one think (and I hope is true) is that coach has not shown much because there really has not been a need to with this offensive line. They have shown they can pretty much score at will and looking back at the final scores in most games have had more than enough points to win. Granted there were a few nailbiters along the way, but defense has stepped up when needed. Brady in the clutch as we all know is also a huge factor. Was Belichick saving it for the playoffs as another weapon for the playoffs thinking we might end up with Indy? Does anyone else feel this might be the case? I'm thinking the defense will now show up huge.

Bertil

I doubt he shows much of anything defensively until the most critical times. When BB and RAC faced the "unstoppable" Colts in the '04 Divisional Round (in Jan of '05, with Gay at CB instead of Ty Law), Brady said that he knew Peyton was in for a long day when he saw what the D had in store. They had played it close to the vest all year until it was time to put the cards on the table. I'm thinking that that is the case this year too. The only caveat is that BB probably has felt that they'd be facing the Colts again. Now those schemes are going to be foisted upon Prince Philip at the most innoportune time. Good luck.

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JaxPats

There also has been a lot of talk citing our D is ranked 5th overall in the league. Well, there are 4 teams left, so what does that make us. I have it at one. Am I wrong?

hambone1818

I don't really have time to find that article--and wouldn't even know where to begin, because I can't remember who wrote it--but someone posited the theory that the Patriots have run a vanilla defense for almost the entrity of the second half of the season as well as the JAX game. When you think about it, the defense hasn't blitzed much and been in very conservative formations for most of the year. When the Giants held a 12 point lead, you saw the defense open up, start blitzing more and they shut Eli down. Ditto the JAX game, they started blitzing more in the second half, putting more pressure on Garrard and only surrendered 6 points in the 2nd half.

One could say this is a result of an older linebacking core (coaches saving the blitzes and exotic defensive packages for the 2nd half, when they theoretically mean more), but I think we see a different Pats defense this week. With LdT, Rivers and Gates hobbled, I think we see a ton of blitzes, and a defense that is very physical throughout the game.

If we don't see this--and the Patriots still win--then I might be a little worried for the Super Bowl. I think if the defense, in fact, cannot handle a full all-out game like what we saw in the 4th quarter of the Giants game then either NFC opponent would present a huge challenge.

alamo

I am sure that Belichick sat down after the Colts AFGCG loss and tried to figure out how to prevent it from happening again. I think "60 minutes" and the defensive style which has lead to fourth quarter shutdown of the otehr team is the result.

cavtroop

I think it will be much like last week. Fairly vanilla for the 1st half or so, just to see what the Chargers have in store for us.

I'd imagine very little blitzing etc until the second half. That lets us rest, and adjust to what the Chargers have planned. Chargers probably score 14-17 in the first half and 3-7 in the second half or so.

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xmarkd400x

Bill Belichick likes to play one kind of defense in the first part of the game (could be first half, first 3 quarters, whatever he decides) then play a defense that looks like the original defense, but isn't. Imagine if you were a QB, and for 3 quarters a specific type of pass has been there. Then, in the 4th quarter, the Patriots start jumping that route, leaving something else open. Would you be able to identify it right away, or would you go back to that same type of pass over and over expecting it to work because it had been working for the whole game?

JaxPats

[I think we see a ton of blitzes, and a defense that is very physical throughout the game.

I agree completly. Of the two remaining games I would have to say this is the tougher of them. I'm not dissing Gb but I feel very confident that the defense can handle them quite nicely. Anothe poster said: That Belichick runs a certain D for the first half or so, then runs something else for the 3rd to the 4th quarter to really confuse the other team. I agree with this aspect also. As I said in my initial post though, I doubt the coach has shown what he really wants yet and will shut them down easily. JMO.

TheGodInAGreyHoodie

We have the best defense in the league.

Giants have the second best.

Then, Green Bay.

the Bolts round out the list of the 4 team league.

28 Teams are no longer in the NFL as far as anyone is concerned.

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Grogan's neck roll

I disagree with this aspect of what you wrote. My take is, with SD banged up as they are, my guess is that BB might wait another game to "unleash the hounds". It could be they still play it fairly close to the vest against the Chargers, then really mix it up in the SB, especially if they play GB and they have a very experienced QB.

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