Should we be worried about the defense?

[mayoclinic]

It'll be a work in progress but should be fine as the season progresses. We have a TON of new/young players. Mayo, Guyton, all the CB are either rookies, second year players or new to the team and they're all starting. I expect the defense to be iffy for a while but better than last year and it should get better each quarter of the season.

I would agree with this. It's not realistic to expect the defense to be in mid-season form with so many young players and so many players new to the system. So far the defense has showed nice athleticism and effort, but a lot of inconsistency. The mental lapses should improve with time, and the physical potential has shown some nice glimpses of what this defense could possibly be. It's far too early to tell if it will fully live up to it's potential, but also far too early to panic.

 

[FalconHeavy]

Agree... Tedy looks like hes 87 yrs old out there and should b announcing hsi retirement next week.

The Secondary needs more time to gell - many new parts out there.

Very sad but true. I guess we are watching the last few games of his great career ! :nooo: He is one of the greats that we had and should deserve a place in the organization (LB coach may be ??)

 

[NJPatsfan26]

Very sad but true. I guess we are watching the last few games of his great career ! :nooo:

That would be sad to see.....well all we can hope for is the best season of his career then!!

 

[SyN65]

Of course we should be worried about the defense. If last nights game is any indication of how our secondary will play this season than we are screwed. Teams should not be able to pass on us that easily.

On the brightside, our run D looked VERY good and we got to the QB a lot easier than last year.

 

[Feep50]

What? Me worry? Not a chance! Bring on the regular season!

Meriweather is stepping into his own this year. I like our draft picks a lot!

 

[JFK]

We should be worried but we are better in all aspects of our D compared to last year and Brady is back. I was watching some highlights of our game last year and HOBBS was used and abused by deep passes a lot.

 

[Feep50]

We should be worried but we are better in all aspects of our D compared to last year and Brady is back. I was watching some highlights of our game last year and HOBBS was used and abused by deep passes a lot.

The Hobbit is past tense...... I'm not sad to see him playing with the Eggles:singing:

 

[FalconHeavy]

So what is the consensus ? is the 4-3 working out or is it just a decoy and another wrinkle that BB is throwing at the other teams ?

 

[DarrylS]

The D will be better than fine, there are lots of new moving parts, including some 4-3 looks.. takes a while for it to come together.. not at all worried about the D at all.

Not sure you can tell a whole lot from a preseason game..

 

[bostonia3333]

I think our corners are much better than Hobbs. It's nice to see Bodden out there---his presence wasn't dominating, but he's long and athletic enough, and was pretty competitive in defending passes coming towards his way. Wilhite showed the arrogance that I like to see in a corner--he's got a lot to learn

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

The D will be better than fine, there are lots of new moving parts, including some 4-3 looks.. takes a while for it to come together.. not at all worried about the D at all.

Not sure you can tell a whole lot from a preseason game..

In the absense of any game planning, the one thing that would be a worry is if we were being physically dominated.

I didn't see any evidence of that. Lots of young guys out there getting work in.

 

[denverpatsfan]

I am for one especially the secondary. During the preseason they have been losing one on one matchups with receivers and running backs. They also still seem to lack speed and can't tackle worth a crap. Not real encouraging since they seem to have perfected the no huddle in Buffalo this off-season.

The D-line looks good however. Can they get enough pressure on the QB to cover for the secondary?

 

[cstjohn17]

I am not worried anymore, my expectations have been lowered. They are just average to good, not great. Should be the in the top 10 in PA, good against the run and will occasionally get gashed through the air. Same old, same old.

 

[LeonPowe]

Let's just say that if the Patriots don't put up 40 points per game, they aren't winning the Super Bowl.

 

[TheComeback]

This is pathetic. Jason Campbell had a decent half in the preseason and people are already saying that Hobbs would still be the #1 on this team? Sorry, but you have to be a complete idiot to think that. I drew the opposite conclusion-- we are running vanilla defenses against an offense that was absolutely determined not to stink it up this time.

I saw much more physical play from the secondary in this game than I saw last year.

Wilhite got picked on? On what planet? He had three tackles the entire game and a pass deflection. Did I mention the pick returned for a TD? If anything, he played better than Bodden did.

The two TD's we gave up in this game weren't even through the air. If you were paying attention, you would have seen some great play from Bodden in the end zone. He broke up a big pass to Malcolm Kelly and broke up another one later.

We broke down on the pass to Chris Cooley because Bruschi was covering him and passed him off to a safety who just wasn't there. Again, the result of playing a vanilla scheme. And besides that, even the best secondaries give up big plays now and then.

Bodden had good coverage on the big pass to Moss. Had he gone for the hit instead of the pick, and pushed Santana out of bounds, that play is likely incomplete. Hopefully, he learns from his mistake.

On the TD that Campbell ran in, coverage was perfect. If Lenon hadn't fallen for Campbell's pump fake, it was a sack and a field goal instead of a run for a touchdown.

We got good pressure on Jason throughout the game, but he was strong in the pocket and didn't look at the rush. Frankly Jason is a much better QB than he is given credit for; the Skins oline was getting dominated--especially on running plays-- and he still played well.

Just FYI, we recorded 10 QB hits, 4 sacks, and 4 pass deflections throughout the game. By comparison, the skins recorded 3 QB hits and 1 sack. All with our vanilla defense.

I think I've had enough of the fools on this board.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

you have to realize that if it weren't for Jason Campbell getting a wide open 73 yard pass to Chris Cooley he would have only had 120 yards passing in the first half. That big of a play probably won' t happen against one of our starters - I think Campbell exploited a third stringer on that play.

the secondary shows some promise but they are young and the veterans are new to the system. let's see what Springs can do and give the secondary at least until mid season to gel.

 

[RayClay]

Looks like a bunch of guys who have hardly played together...

Oh wait, it is! Calm down.

 

[dhamz]

you have to realize that if it weren't for Jason Campbell getting a wide open 73 yard pass to Chris Cooley he would have only had 120 yards passing in the first half. That big of a play probably won' t happen against one of our starters - I think Campbell exploited a third stringer on that play.

The if game always works both ways. If they don't blow a coverage on Cooley it is only 120 yards (which by the way would have ranked 30th in the NFL in 08)? If Campbell doesn't miss a wide open Santana Moss for a 72 yard TD pass he throws for 280 in a half.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Bodden's playing defense precisely the same way that Hobbs did last season, with one difference.

Hobbs did it better.

The other 2 aren't even in the same galaxy with Bodden or Hobbs right now.


P.S. Bodden got smoked deep, although the pass didn't connect. If that same thing had happened with Hobbs, even in the exhibition season, we'd still be hearing the anguished screams of the mob.

I don't know about that. I don't think you can play any worse than Hobbs. Each game has been different for Bodden, the first week he was playing man to man with jams at the line of scrimmage. However, in the last two weeks he has played off like Hobbs. Wilhite plays exactly like Hobbs and Samuel -- always playing at least 5 yards off of the line of scrimmage and trying to jump routes.

But your right, I was disappointed to see Bodden get torched by Moss yesterday. The only reason why Moss and Campbell didn't connect is because the Pats are finally starting to generate some type of a consistent pass rush. It was nice to see their blitzes actually getting to the QB.

I think it's safe to say that we are going to see the Pats play more of a 4 down line instead of a 3 down line. I liked what I saw from Gary Guyton and I believe he beat out the fan favorite Pierre Woods. Although I usually talk bad about Woods, he played a pretty decent game last night.

In the end, get used to seeing the same lineup you saw last night because the Pats are better equipped to run a 4-3 or 4-2-5 instead of a 3-4. I really like the combo of Mayo, Thomas and Guyton at LB. In fact, Guyton is the prototypical OLB in a 4-3 defense.

 

[Bartmac36]

Barring a complete collapse in the last pre-season game, I think Wilhite will be a starter on opening day...I actually think there is a better chance of him starting than Bodden...I would like to see it become a competition between Bodden and Butler for the other starting CB job...Bodden has underwhelmed so far, while I've been VERY happy with Butler's play...he doesn't look like a rookie to me...