TommyBrady12

Patriots' Defense Could Use a Dose of Heavier Blitz Packages - New England Patriots - NESN.com

This is the best article I found so far about the state of the defense so far. It basically says the pats Defense is right there along with other contenders like green bay Atlanta in terms of number points allowed. Also makes a great point that the defense will be much different with chung, haynseworth and dowling back. Also says that why the pats aren't blitzing more is puzzling. Could it be that BB has no faith in our secondary and is afraid to give up the big play and not blitz?

Anyway Howe seems to suggest the defense will take some time to improve.

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"He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He goes from being a rookie that nobody is expecting anything from, to taking over with people saying he can’t do it, to winning three Super Bowls....It should already be obvious he’s the greatest quarterback to ever have played. "

- Steelers S Troy Polamalu on Tom Brady

cmasspatsfan

Improve? What you smoking, we're doomed, we're one and done in the playoffs, we're wasting another year with Brady, wheres this optimism coming from? You're a homer

Thought Id save some posters some time. Ive been waiting for the whole defense with Big Al out there all at once with a couple of games under their belt to see what they can do.
Im pretty sure they can be much better than they've shown so far.

NHPATSFAN11

I was thinking the exact same thing. ONe blitz that I remembered from Saturday, When Fitzy was pressured in his endzone from Ninko, resulted in Fitzy throwing the ball away. The other big from Fletcher worked as well, barring the ridiculous roughing the passer penalty called. I understand not having faith in the Secondary, but I think were at the point where the Pass Rush is so bad that were going to give up the big play regardless whether we keep the LInebackers ( or whoever else blitzes) in coverage or not. I dont think there is much to lose at this point by blitzing. SOmeone please correct me on this??

RelocatedPatFan

Mayo blitzed at the end of the game (the play where McCourty made the tavkle at the 1 yard line...yeah, thought you might remember that). The biggest difference is the linemen and Mayo especially weren't trying to get their hands in the air.

Maybe their thinking too much out there and losing sight of some of the basics. Then again Fitz can get rid of the ball very quickly.

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patsfaninpittsburgh

If Belichick knew that Brady was going to throw 4 picks, he probably would have blitzed more.

There's no reason to blitz San Diego. They are a big play offense. Make them matriculate the ball down the field and they will prone more than enough gaffes to lose the game.

The Miami game had plenty of pressure.

Deus Irae

I think that the defense will improve as the season progresses, because I think the line play will improve and McCourty will get it together, but the defense was struggling when Chung, Dowling and Haynesworth were playing, so their return isn't some magical cure.

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TommyBrady12

I disagree to the extent the pats defense was at least able to make key plays when chung, haynseworth and dowling were there. They were not perfect but they at least stopped San Diego twice on the goal line. Last week when these guys weren't there they were not able to make key stops.

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"He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. He goes from being a rookie that nobody is expecting anything from, to taking over with people saying he can’t do it, to winning three Super Bowls....It should already be obvious he’s the greatest quarterback to ever have played. "

- Steelers S Troy Polamalu on Tom Brady

Rob0729

As I said in another thread, I think the Pats are pairing down the playbook until many of the defenders feel more comfortable in a new role. You start blitzing and it puts far more pressure on the coverage if the rush doesn't get to the QB. Fitzgerald and Rivers both have quick releases. So that is a factor too. In the first game, Henne made several big plays while being hit at the end of the game.

Also, the fact three starters/major contributors were out of the game on defense vs. the Bills meant the defense couldn't get too exotic.

jmt57

I recall last year and the year before many were calling for the Pats to blitz more often; then after reviewing the previous game we found that the Pats were indeed bringing additional pass rushers quite often. The problem was not that the Pats were not blitzing; it's that the pass rushers were not effective in doing that.

As I recall the Pats brought an extra pass rusher many times against Miami, and it worked successfully; they then abandoned doing that after going up by a couple of scores with about 7 minutes left.

Hopefully this is an indication that the coaching staff's plan against Buffalo may have been improper, because adjusting a game plan one week to the next is a whole lot easier to do than suddenly turning an ineffective pass rusher into an effective player.

TriplecHamp

wait, you telling me that leaving our corners on an island without pressure isn't working?