Bigfatcat999

From what I got Talib dropped the average Passing yards allowed by 40 yards a game.

Edit:

Before Talib: 285.3

After Talib: 253.5


Before Talib: 1.11 Interceptions per game
After Talib: 1.25 interceptions per game (Very small sample size)

nabwong

It looked to me that Hightower is not as comfortable as he was before he got injured. I wonder if that injury is bothering him more than we know, like Mayo last year or 2.

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patchick

I think this season has been a dramatic illustration of how -- for all teams, but the Patriots in particular -- all aspects of the defense are interdependent.

We've had a lot of debates: "Is it the personnel or the scheme?" "Is it the lack of coverage or the lack of pressure?" But most of those are false dichotomies. Pressure upfront keeps the coverage job manageable. Holes in personnel limit scheme flexibility. Etc. And that's particularly true for a game-planning team like the Patriots, who tailor schemes to fit the players on the field, on both sides.

The defense with Talib & Dennard at CB and McCourty at safety looks different all over the field. Better backfield personnel, more aggressive front-7 schemes, and on and on. So no matter what your position was on all those dubious "or" debates, you can now feel vindicated.

JackBauer

Huh? Hightower played probably his best game of the year last night.

nabwong

I thought he did well but he was more impressive in the first few games of the season. That's just my opinion. I think he can be more explosive though.

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patsfan13

Agree with all this and add to the mix Cunningham returns to help the pass rush.

BTW great spot with Troy Brown and Chatham talking about the development of the D since the secondary had the pieces added and rearranged:

Troy Brown on Belichick never letting former players beat him


The talent has been in place in the front 7 and now with the emergence of Dennard, Talib freeing up McCourty to move to FS and Arrington to the slot. the secondary is being transformed into a nice group.

We have seen the young talent being added and now we see this young athletic group becoming a force to be reckoned with.

BTW the the development of Love has freed up Big Vince to use his entire skill set. This is a major factor, VW is as good as ANY DLman in the league period.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

patsfan13

Yeah he is back from the injury and is at the point of the season when he is no longer a rookie. He will only get better and will add rushing the passer to his arsenal.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

ctpatsfan77

To be fair, you didn't get the like, DramatiCat did.

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BradyManny

LOL. Fair enough.

Dingleberry

For those who deem Arrington's play from the slot as unexpected....

Arrington showed he was a very good slot CB when he first came on the scene with the Patriots. Getting him off the outside has been the biggest factor.

Talib > McCourty as #1 CB
Dennard >> Arrington as #2 CB
McCourty >>>> any other Safety
Arrington >> Cole or any other slot CB

The addition of Talib upgraded 4 of the 5 DB positions in the sub package. Think about that. And now because of that, we are finally seeing what we have been dying for......some timely blitzing!

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