E Belichick Unum

It all starts with the Draft, unless it doesn’t. A look at the Patriots in 2011 looks an awful lot like it did after the 2010 draft. Bill Belichick once again focused on everything other than the most glaring weakness on his team, Outside Linebacker. I can hear the groaning now, I can hear the BB apologists saying that there was nobody out there, or that the value was better for the players that they took. So I figured what the hell, let’s look at the stats. In the AFC East, the Jets were number 8 in the league with 40. The Dolphins were number 10 at 39. The Patriots were number 14 with 36, so you think, not that bad? So when you look at points per game and see the Pats at number 8 giving up 19.6 PPG you get a little more comfortable. Then you look at 3rd down percentage and the team gave up league worst 47% conversions. That’s right they gave up 99 third down conversions out of 210 attempts, the second worst was Tampa, Buffalo, Tenn, Cleveland and Jax at 43%. Total yards? 366.5. Passing yards? 30 in the league at 258.5 PPG. Yards per attempt? Number 7 at 5.6 Y/A.
NFL Stats: by Team Category
There is plenty of ammunition for either side of the OLB argument to hang their hat on, I will add one more stat to the mix, and it is very subjective in nature, It is the eyeball test, you know the one that makes you leave the room on third down because you know that the Jets are going to make that first down and you want to beat everybody to the bathroom? The one that makes you take the over on Sunday at 12:30? There is no bigger Patriots suck up than I am, but when I watch a game on Sunday, or Monday or Thursday I know what I am going to see; good defense on first and second downs and a breakdown on third because there wasn’t enough pressure on the QB to make him get rid of the ball, especially when the game is on the line and it comes down to offensive line adrenaline versus pass rush adrenaline. Give me DeMarcus Ware over Nate Solder any day.

ausbacker

What's your point?

patsfan-1982

rookie OLB's are just not going to make any impact in this system unless that OLB is a top 5 talent and that pats did not have a top 5 pick and even if they did they would trade down so there is no reason to cry over spilled milk it is what it is the pats have average OLB's at best but thats not relly the reason the pats have lost 3 playoff games in a row they have lost in the playoffs cause they cant keep Brady on he's feet so they Drafted a top OT and a G

Why?PJ

um, someone needs to take a look at BB's history and they might realize bb doesn't draft pass rushers, he gets them in free agency.

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RhodyPatriot

Deepest draft in years for DL/OLB. BB could have and should have drafted a pass rusher or 2. Signing 1 FA is short term and not the solution. Given the retirements, age and bad blood from Mankins upgrading the OL was a necessity.
What's troubling is that it seems the O has become the priority with this organization over the past several years and since that has become the case they haven't won a damn thing.
BTW Tom Brady was upright for the Jets game. His poor performance was not because of the OL play. Brady's inability to find OPEN receivers (they were there) which then produced pouting on the sidelines and lethargy on the field was totally on Brady himself.
The NY Jets publicly trashtalked Brady and the 2010/2011 TB had no response.
THAT is troubling!!!!!!!

patfanken

Man, this is getting old. For the last 2 weeks in dozens of posts you have made your opinion well known, yet you continue to pound the table with your "johnnie one note" diatribe. How many threads like this can we expect to see from you before the games start playing? Please give it a rest.

You even (finally) acknowledge that there IS another side to the issue. Thank you. Yet you keep failing to accept the relevant facts. That over the last 8 games a lot of those negative stats were dramatically improving. You fail to consider the entire FA aspect to the total picture, as if, if we didn't get a pass rusher in the draft we have no where else to go. You fail to recognize the youth of the defense and the the FACT that players imrpove as they are in the league. Cunningham had just one sack, thus that is all he will ever get, well at least in your world. Finally you fail to recognize that in this defense, at least, ONE single player has NEVER been relied on to create QB pressure. Its the ENTIRE team. Even in the years the Pats were constantly among the top 5 in team sacks, they RARELY (actually only once in 2007) had a double digit sacker. Why do we suddenly need one now.

The Pats need to improve their pass rush. So do about 29 other teams in the league. Tell me something I don't know. So take a deep breath and trust that while your subjective eyeball test tells you we needed to draft pass rushers, BB's clearly didn't . Your constant complaining is making you start to sound like a whinny b!tch And I don't mean to say that pejoratively, just as constructive criticism.

sieglo

This is insightful.

Haley

Given that this was the deepest draft in years for DL/OLB, what does this tell you in terms of supply and demand? What players will be most likely available in free agency?

I would argue that what BB did was very smart. He took players that would be difficult to gain in FA and left the easiest acquisition for that time. Those who took the dice roll on DL/OLB might be regretting it later when they really need that CB and there are none to be had!

ctpatsfan77

I wonder if this is true of other teams, but I've noticed a certain proportion of Patriots fans who seem to believe that every other team manages to improve in the draft/FA/trades, but not the Patriots. . . .

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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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Rob0729

First, the Pats were one and done in 2009 and they got killed by the run, not the pass. In fact, Flacco only threw 10 times in that game and only completed 4 of those passes for 34 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT. The pass rush had nothing to do with being one and done in 2009.

Second, last year the Pats shutdown the Jets offense a month earlier winning 45-3. Although Sanchez had a good game in the playoff game, that loss had more to do with how the Jets were able to shutdown the offense than the defense. In fact, the Jets beat the Pats because they didn't deliver a strong pass rush in favor of taking away Brady's passing options with extra guys in coverage.

Third, as pointed out, Belichick prefers to get pass rushers from free agency over the draft especially at OLB. Both Colvin and Adalius Thomas, who are the two biggest acquistions at OLB of the Belichick era, were free agents.