Perhaps We Will See More 4-3, 5-2, and Nickel Looks This Year

[Kontradiction]

With the addition of Brace, we'll see the 3-4 90% of the time and the 4-3 10% of the time, IMO. As someone else said, adding in Brace in short yardage situations would be excellent. He's big and the four man line of Seymour, Brace, Wilfork, and Warren backed up by the likes of A.D., Mayo, and Redd would be nearly impossible to run against. However, while we HAVE used the 4-3 at times since '01, the 3-4 alignment is BB's system of choice.

 

[yopats]

I guess we shouldn't post anything about the quality of our team until the day after the Super Bowl each year.

What do you think we are going to do for the next four months other than to speculate, without facts, on the quality of the team and its players.

BASED ON WHAT
Wheatley and Wilhite have one more year of experience and looked good in preseason.
Bodden is a quality corner.
Springs is a quality corner who Belichick chose to pay $4.55M to play this year.
Butler was so good that when he was drafted, Hobbs was fired by Belichick.
( yes, fired. We could have gotten more for him if we waited for his contract to end)

BOTTOM LINE
Last year we had one competent corner. This year, we have 2-5.
As with the situation at LB, if Belichick thought that we didn't have a competent secondary, he would have kept Hobbs for the year.

Agreed 100% .. I think that we now have a MUCH better situationally competent defense.

Bill talked about the evolution of the passing game this winter during the Superbowl and I think that the current changes to the defensive roster are indicative to his statements.

 

[maverick4]

the nickel and dime packages are about putting more players in coverage, not fewer

Thanks, Captain Obvious

 

[yopats]

If we play 4-3, who are the 3 linebackers? Mayo, Thomas, and... ? I would be shocked if Bruschi is anything but a sub at this point. He is too slow for 3-4 so unlikely an option for 4-3.

I think that Bill doesn't even think of those sphere's anymore. I think it is all about matchups and he will put out personal that give him the best matchups possible. We have played games w/ 5-6 lb's in at one time before.

I think Merriweather is going to be used to create some real havoc this year he is a playmaker and Bill knows this.

 

[maverick4]

I think Merriweather is going to be used to create some real havoc this year he is a playmaker and Bill knows this.

Meriweather should be a top free safety this year.

 

[Fencer]

It all depends. First down against a spread offense I'd expect to see 3-3-5. 2 of the 3 LBs are surely Thomas and Mayo. But whether the third is Guyton, an OLB, or a safety-as-LB is less clear.

It's also possible the 5 DBs include 3 safeties, if it seems Meriweather can handle one of the WRs and it also seems running plays are pretty likely.

On 3rd-and-long I wouldn't expect to see 3 true DL.

 

[maverick4]

It's also possible the 5 DBs include 3 safeties, if it seems Meriweather can handle one of the WRs and it also seems running plays are pretty likely.

That sounds like a 3-4 but with one of the linebacker spots played by a strong safety.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

FACT is not the word to use,thats my point - The FACT that you used the word fact in "Its a fact we now have a competent secondary" is an opinion you have based on the players accomplishments on previous teams,NOT fact that our secondary is competent until proven so.

Belichick thought Duane Starks was a competent CB,he also thought that Monty Beisel was a competent LB,He also thought Doug Gabriel was going to fit well as a 3rd WR,He thought that Chad Jackson was going to be a superstar - In other words,What BB thinks of a player who is competent usually he gets it more right than wrong as his great career as HC shows in NE, but there has been mistakes in the past 4 years mostly in the defensive area and no one knows what Bodden and Springs will do here in a complex defense that neither one has yet to be a part of.

That was mean...but sadly true.

Bill didn't have much choice in the past - injuries or insane contract demands forced his hand. This year he's made some pre emptive choices. It remains to be seen if he wins the risk/reward challenge. Just like it remains to be seen how far off receivers our DB's play in 2009. And how often or how successfully we rush passers. If it's still 8 yards and we're not getting to the QB with any consistency, maybe we find the more things change the more they remain the same.

Bill was pretty clear yesterday on WEEI that it wasn't a case of there being no OLB that could not help us in this years draft. Just that he felt trading down and adding 2010 picks represented better value. Ditto the swap of Hobbs for a 4th round OG, which he indicated was not his intention when he awoke Saturday AM. He took Butler at 41 because he was surprised to see him still available there and felt there he represented value. So he didn't enter this draft with Butler as a must have target or elite grade or he'd have taken him at 23 or 34. He liked Brace and Butler as values in the 40's and traded up to get both because he felt either might go between 42-46 seeing as they were the second best rated NT and CB on most boards.

What that all underscores is it's a process with Bill, not a fait accompli as it is for some of the fan base. And like he always says, given the ever present variables involved in team building, he won't know what he in fact has as a team until week 6-8. Lots of moving parts, and this year lots of new to the system moving parts.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Meriweather should be a top free safety this year.

To be fair, Eugene Wilson says hello. The concensus here in 2005 was he was a perrenial pro bowl FS in waiting...

 

[Isaac]

Brace certainly gives them more options. In terms of the 4-3, as far as I can tell there are probably two broad categories of how the Patriots play the 4-3:

- The 3-4ish 4-3: this is the one where they have substituted Jarvis Green for an OLB but otherwise the responsibilities of the front seven don't change that much from the base 3-4 (still lots of two-gapping). I don't think Brace affects this one much.
- The 2-5ish 4-3: this is the one they used in the SuperBowl against Philly and is among the greatest shifts in the defense. The OLBs act as traditional 4-3 DEs and the front seven shifts primarily to a one-gap philosophy. Brace could be one of the two DTs, but then Seymour and Warren have no role. This is best against a pass first offense.

I guess I don't see any reason based on this offseason that the 4-3 would increase this year.

 

[maverick4]

- The 2-5ish 4-3: this is the one they used in the SuperBowl against Philly and is among the greatest shifts in the defense. The OLBs act as traditional 4-3 DEs and the front seven shifts primarily to a one-gap philosophy. Brace could be one of the two DTs, but then Seymour and Warren have no role. This is best against a pass first offense..

I loved that formation, with Big Willie and another linebacker lined up as defensive ends. Not sure why we'd see more of the 2-5 though, when with this roster we have elite talent at DE and DT, and less depth at linebacker. I would hope Brace would get more playing time besides spell Wilfork at the nose.

What about a 5-2 in non-goal line short yardage situations? A d-line of Seymour, Warren, Brace, Wilfork, and Green, with Mayo and Thomas behind them.