blackglass3

There has to be a billion pictures of Hobbs. Do we really need to see that one?

Tools. Without Mike Reiss, the Globe would be Herald-esqe.

MrBigglesWorth

I don't get this statement. So because you think Ellis is bad the rest of league compared Asante to Ellis thereby elevating to a ProBowler?

By that logic Reche Calwell should have been a pro-bowler in 2006 when we had kelvin kight.

Maybe BB told him to play 15 yards off.

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Fencer

1. It was obvious when his reps were reduced that Hobbs was playing through an injury. I commented on it repeatedly at the time. Nobody paid attention, because it was no big insight, as many of the rest of you had noticed the same thing.

2. We've already established that somebody made a mental error on the Burress play, whether Hobbs, a coach, or another DB. After all the plays on which the DB gives up the pass but doesn't let the receiver get behind him, this was NOT a game situation in which there should have been any chance of the receiver getting behind the last DB.

unoriginal

Hobbs is a player. He should do really well next year. He's seemed to perform at pace with Asante Samuel for each year he's been in the league, and Asante became a ballhawk at the end of his 3rd year in the league too.

E Belichick Unum

Why throw at Assante when you can throw on Ellis? Assante has some talent, Ellis was a young first year starter. So Assante come back this year, has a pretty good year, but most of the big time throws go Ellis' way, and a large percentage of them get caught. I don't like Ellis on the corner every play. He is small, gives the reciever too much cushion and gives up too many big plays. The Pats play a zone defense too much for a corner like Ellis. He can't out jump the reciever for the ball and doesn't seem to play close enough to the reciever to break the play up. I am pretty sure that there aren't any defenses designed to allow a reciever to catch the ball.

Ellis was put in a bad spot. He was left alone on the corner while the team blitzed. That left Ellis alone with Burress, he should have been on top of him, make Ely beat him. Instead he plays off Burress and he gets beaten. Maybe the coaching staff can be blamed, or maybe he was the best of what was left on the team, but he had a bad year. Its really a shame too, we need help on defense but he is still young. After the year he had the team will have to go looking for somebody to challenge his position. With Assante probably leaving that means need multiple new DB's in camp.

I hope I am wrong and his problems were systemic. I not a troll and the Pats are my team, but I can look at them and see the flaws. Ellis had a bad year and if there were somebody better he would have been replaced. There was a period where Randall Gay was starting, then he got hurt. But Hobbs wasn't that good all year, regardless of the scheme, or the type of defense. Belichick didn't win three Super Bowls by giving up big plays in the defensive backfield.

Keegs

I question his toughness. that makes you a liar.

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Wotan_the_Wanderer

Actually, there are and the Pats defense employs such schemes and strategy often in situations where giving up short completions while forcing the opposing team to buring time off the clock late in a game to protect a lead is called upon.

Said this, I agree that Hobbs is a player and often gets a bum rap from many Pats fans. Understand that even last season, he even lined up on the left side and went up against Harrison against the Colts. He'll get better and make more plays on the ball. I expect he'll step up to fill in for the expected departure of Asante nicely.

BHSL2

Here's what some people need to understand. The Pats play a cover three. The large cushion is a staple of their bend but don't break philosophy. I remember distinctly observing a pre-snap look where Randall Gay himself was 12 yards off the outside receiver. In the cover-3, your cbs and FSs need that cushion, otherwise the purpose of the philosophy is nullified.

That being said, I think Hobbs is best in man coverage. He has some work to do to be a better zone defender. There was one play in the SB where Manning threw a lob to the sideline towards Toomer. It should have been incomplete, but Toomer made the play on it. That shouldn't happen.

The film could prove me wrong, but I don't think Ellis jumps routes as frequently or as well as Asante, so Hobbs is more inclined to stay back and give up the completion. In the cover-3, he can afford to jump a route. If he can learn to read routes better in the zone defense, he will get better.

Deus Irae

You have no idea what you're talking about. Some examples:

- Prevent defenses that defend the sidelines are often actually hoping that a pass is completed, to the middle of the field, keeping the game clock running. Well, perhaps "hoping" is a bit strong, but they are designed to allow completions in the field of play.

- Hobbs started all 16 regular season games this season, according to NFL.com.

- According to Reiss, Hobbs was thrown against more than Samuel, but gave up fewer touchdowns.

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tobias funke

You mean the play where Toomer facemasked Hobbs to the ground before catching the ball?