Rappaport: Defense keeps it simple

[JSn]

Shades of Rex Ryan. But for the athleticism on this team, this might be a great move for now. Can it win an SB? Dunno. Maybe.

Defense keeps it simple - BostonHerald.com

Last Sunday, and potentially for the future, simple was hip.

“Sometimes, it’s better just to get after the ball and fly around and have fun,” linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. “You can do a lot of scheming, changing plays, a lot of formations, but does it stop the ball? Does it (prevent) a big play? Sometimes people forget about the main goal of defense - to not let the ball get down the field. Just hit, just play.”

Along with coordinator Dean Pees, Belichick decided to vastly simplify the defense, and the Panthers scored just 10 points, eight below their average. It held Carolina to just 126 yards rushing, 25 yards below its average. The Panthers converted on 23 percent of their third downs, compared to their average of 36 percent.

 

[Sicilian]

I'm very pleased with the defensive performance last week, but I agree with what was said about this earlier in the week. A simplified defense works fine against Matt Moore and that Panther offense. Go up against a better offense and it may not be as effective.

 

[tombonneau]

Outside of that one pass to Smith and a couple Deangelo runs, the D did great. Granted, it was Matt Moore, but still ...

 

[Rob0729]

We gotta see a simplified defense against a decent QB before we say that simplifying the defense worked. Moore did miss several wide open receivers early in the game. If Delhomme was starting, he might have made those passes for big gains.

 

[Patspsycho]

“At least we were on the same page,” safety Brandon Meriweather said. “And without thinking, it helped us play faster.”

This is the achilles heel of this young defense. Not even Mayo is immune to this from time to time, yet they hovered near the top 5 for a while, and are definitely in the top 10. Imagine what this defense is going to be like in a year or two when they have the schemes down cold to the point of being able to play instinctively (e.g., without thinking).

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Perhaps a simplified defense would benefit AD as well, if he can get back on the gameday roster. It's strange though that we'd change our approach this late in the season. I guess Houston would be a good test for it, but it's definitely hard to tell without facing one of the big guns until the playoffs.

 

[xmarkd400x]

If you have the horses, I think a simplified defense can work really well. That's kind of how the Colts play it. They have a defense where they only ask players at a certain position to do a couple of things, and they can plug in young players over and over again. The Pats, on the other hand, have a penchant for scheming the crap out of the opposing QB. This works with players who understand the game very deeply, but for the second year CB, not so much.

 

[emoney_33]

This is the achilles heel of this young defense. Not even Mayo is immune to this from time to time, yet they hovered near the top 5 for a while, and are definitely in the top 10. Imagine what this defense is going to be like in a year or two when they have the schemes down cold to the point of being able to play instinctively (e.g., without thinking).

The talent and the speed, with experience and schemes... oh man, we could be in for one awesome treat in the next couple years

 

[BionicPatriot]

Yeah, hopefully we can keep a lot of the guys and get the right young guns in this years draft. I really don't know how to feel. On one hand, it makes sense this could be cause for improvment. This isn't the LB corps and secondary duo of Bruschi/Johnson/Phifer/Vrabel/Mcginest/Harrison/Law, thus they're not "there" yet mentally in knowing what the offense will do.

Perhaps it will work for this team, being able to just attack as we haven't seen all year. Still, I didn't see anything for a pass rush untill the 4th qtr, so if that's them "attacking"....
Lets see how they do to finish the season then we'll go over this. I can't get excited over stopping a 3rd place, 18 PPG offense. That's terrible.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I'm very pleased with the defensive performance last week, but I agree with what was said about this earlier in the week. A simplified defense works fine against Matt Moore and that Panther offense. Go up against a better offense and it may not be as effective.

"Effective" is the operative word.

The gulf between what this site has come to think is "effective" vs the reality of "effective" in the real world is now quite stunning.

 

[jays52]

"Effective" is the operative word.

The gulf between what this site has come to think is "effective" vs the reality of "effective" in the real world is now quite stunning.

Yeah, quite stunning. Stunning how people continue to bash the defense when it is the best the team has had in five years.

 

[patsfan-1982]

i don't think they have done anything more then play simple defense this year


most of the time they are playing in nickel not a lot of zone blitzing not a lot of blitz by the CB's

just read and react keep everything in front of you BB defense


playing matt more will make a average D look good

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Hopefully people realize that Matt Moore was the QB and the Panthers are a horrible team.

 

[alvinnf]

I'm very pleased with the defensive performance last week, but I agree with what was said about this earlier in the week. A simplified defense works fine against Matt Moore and that Panther offense. Go up against a better offense and it may not be as effective.

That's not true.... Simple and played hard has worked on that side of the ball for decades. Plus it's a better idea for a young secondary that can't think on it's feet. See; New Orleans game......

 

[cstjohn17]

Shades of Rex Ryan.

What does that mean? Ryan keeps his players loose but his schemes are not simple.

The Patriots can afford to play a vanilla defense against the Panthers. In the past the Patriots could play a base 3-4 because they were super talented. Try to run a vanilla defense against Peyton Manning, it would get ugly.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Holy Sh*t ive been saying this since April. Screw all this read BS let the kids play.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Yeah, quite stunning. Stunning how people continue to bash the defense when it is the best the team has had in five years.

One can argue that this D has lost us 4 games (Denver, Indy, NO, Mia). This is not the Best D weve had in 5 years, were not clutch (loses in the 4th quater) at all and playoff caliber qb's have tourched us. We've been totally dominated in the last 2 min of each half (on both sides of the ball). These are the marks of a shakey D.

 

[Horace's Ivories]

What does that mean? Ryan keeps his players loose but his schemes are not simple.
.

put revis on the best receiver
blitz every other down
pretty simple.

 

[IcyPatriot]

It worked because Carolina did not expect it.
]
Hopefully if works even when the opponent does expect it.

 

[cstjohn17]

put revis on the best receiver
blitz every other down
pretty simple.

The guy is a fat goof and the no one hates the Jets more than me but give them their due. The have the top defense in the league without Jenkins and with a so-so offense.