Brightside: Cunningham

[R_T26]

Thought henplayed really well yesterday. Got great penatration on the 2bd Warren sack. There was also one play when he played the run perfeftly. After Ninkovich failed to set the edge on the long LT run, i expect Cunningham to win the starting job sooner rather then later.

 

[slash83]

I agree, IMO next weeks game is the perfect situation for him to get his first start and gain some much needed experience before the Pats face off with the fish, SD, and Bal.

 

[Ring 6]

Thought henplayed really well yesterday. Got great penatration on the 2bd Warren sack. There was also one play when he played the run perfeftly. After Ninkovich failed to set the edge on the long LT run, i expect Cunningham to win the starting job sooner rather then later.

I think you could go a lot deeper criticizing Ninkoich than that one play.
He is certainly the weak link in the front 7 so far.

Cunningham seems to be working his way in, but we have no clue what kind of run D he can give us yet.
I think we may be seeing Crable activated soon.

 

[D-cleater]

Newsflash: Tomlinson is still pretty good.

Maybe Cunningham will be special and I hope he is. But, as much as I hate to say it, but there are few players on this defense right now that make that play on LT, as much as we all dislike him. Spikes and Mayo weren't within 10 yards of the play, both easily sealed off, and were taken out of plenty of running plays, and beaten by the TE. There were plenty of missed plays by all of the front seven, and that includes Wilfork. TBC got mauled by Ferguson on several running plays. I don't think its fair to say that Ninkovich is the weak link.

All the same, I agree there is reason for optimism with Cunningham, and the sooner the better. Just don't be surprised to see him take some of TBC's snaps as well as Ninko's.

 

[Ring 6]

Newsflash: Tomlinson is still pretty good.

Maybe Cunningham will be special and I hope he is. But, as much as I hate to say it, but there are few players on this defense right now that make that play on LT, as much as we all dislike him. Spikes and Mayo weren't within 10 yards of the play, both easily sealed off, and were taken out of plenty of running plays, and beaten by the TE. There were plenty of missed plays by all of the front seven, and that includes Wilfork. TBC got mauled by Ferguson on several running plays. I don't think its fair to say that Ninkovich is the weak link.

All the same, I agree there is reason for optimism with Cunningham, and the sooner the better. Just don't be surprised to see him take some of TBC's snaps as well as Ninko's.

I guess you havent watched him too closely.
What players on the defense would whiff on a tackle when they werent blocked by anyone? The entire blocking scheme was to use an extra player to wall off the inside and leave Ninkovich unblocked.
I dont remember a single play going more than 4-5 yards outside the T on TBCs area, which is his area.
I dispute that Ferguson mauled TBC on run plays because he would have been blocking the DE lined up acrosss from him, but if you want to give me the clock time on a few I'll take a look.

 

[D-cleater]

If I recall, there were one or two plays in the second quarter, before TBC got his sack, and then again in the 3rd. The plays didn't result in a big gain, and they were inside runs, but they were on the defensive right side. I just happened to notice that that TBC got pushed back several feet more than once by Ferguson.

 

[Ring 6]

If I recall, there were one or two plays in the second quarter, before TBC got his sack, and then again in the 3rd. The plays didn't result in a big gain, and they were inside runs, but they were on the defensive right side. I just happened to notice that that TBC got pushed back several feet more than once by Ferguson.

I'll try to take a look. I've actually been happy with what Ive seen of TBC vs the run. Also not sure how Ferguson would block him on an inside run with a DE over him. Maybe it was nickel and TBC was at DE?

 

[condon84]

Agreed with this thread. The couple of times Cunningham showed himself on the field, it was for something positive.

 

[upstater1]

Hopefully this kid comes on. We have big problems right now with our ILBs and safeties. They are pretty young, but I think with a QB like Sanchez, the easiest throws for him to make our over the middle, and he middle of our D is soft against the pass. This will be a problem all year until it's solved.

We're still young and can work through this. Our safety play was awful the first half of last year and then it really improved in the second half.

We need Mayo to become a force, and to make plays.

 

[Defsoul]

When the Jets tried to run the end-around, I thought to myself: "Come on, you're not going to fool Cunningham with that play." And he wasn't fooled. I guess he saw that play quite often going up against Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin during practice while playing for the Florida Gaters.

P.S. It seems like Brandon Spikes put a pretty good hit on Brad Smith during that play. The hit couldn't be seen on TV, but I saw Spikes running unblocked towards Smith and Smith was shaken up a bit after the play.

 

[51Hits]

JMO, Cunningham looked stiff as you'd expect someone to be in his position, yet he still made an effetive tackle. Who knows how quick he is wen he's actually comfortable?

Speaking from experience, in high school I made the change froma 4-3 end to a LB and just the difference with playing with your hands off the ground was so huge, it's hard to explain. Sunday I kind of saw that in Cunningham, he's not reading the plays fast enough yet. But once he gets comfortable, I look for him to make that same stop, just for 3 yards less. I think he has that kind of ability, IMO.

Didn't Zach Thomas once say you measure a play maker by plays they made BEHIND the LOS? Cunningham was a monster at that in the SEC.

 

[mgteich]

Are we surprised that Ninkovich is the weak link on the front seven? Didn't we know that in March?

Miami added Dansby. NY added Taylor. The patriots were fine with Ninkovich starting, with his reps gradually taken by a rookie.

Rookies often need time to learn our defense. Cunningham won't ahve that luxury.

And yes, I too see Crable being activated soon.

I think you could go a lot deeper criticizing Ninkoich than that one play.
He is certainly the weak link in the front 7 so far.

Cunningham seems to be working his way in, but we have no clue what kind of run D he can give us yet.
I think we may be seeing Crable activated soon.

 

[condon84]

JMO, Cunningham looked stiff as you'd expect someone to be in his position, yet he still made an effetive tackle. Who knows how quick he is wen he's actually comfortable?

Speaking from experience, in high school I made the change froma 4-3 end to a LB and just the difference with playing with your hands off the ground was so huge, it's hard to explain. Sunday I kind of saw that in Cunningham, he's not reading the plays fast enough yet. But once he gets comfortable, I look for him to make that same stop, just for 3 yards less. I think he has that kind of ability, IMO.

Didn't Zach Thomas once say you measure a play maker by plays they made BEHIND the LOS? Cunningham was a monster at that in the SEC.

A problem with our read and react defense is that you rarely see our defensive guys make stops behind the LOS. It's almost impossible for them to do so in our scheme. The only times I've seen it happen is because of blown assignments by the offense or a defensive guy coming on an assigned blitz.

 

[Rob0729]

I think in the second half of season Cunningham will be a significant contributor to this team if not a valued starter. He is a month behind because he missed the preseason, but in limited action he looks to be the pass rusher this team is missing.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

A problem with our read and react defense is that you rarely see our defensive guys make stops behind the LOS. It's almost impossible for them to do so in our scheme. The only times I've seen it happen is because of blown assignments by the offense or a defensive guy coming on an assigned blitz.

No! No! No! The problem with our defense is not the scheme, it is the lack of quality players that can execute the scheme.

TFL's are the result of the D Line maintaining their gap reposnsibilities and holding at the LOS and the LBers and safeties filling properly. We have one guy, Wilfork, consistently maintaiining his gap responsibilities but NOT always the LOS and six other guys up front where every play is a guss for them.

Youth will be served, and we have a ton of it on defense. Unfortunately it will not do us much good this year. Our defense is so horrible we made a Dirty Sanchez look like Peyton Manning! Give me a break.

 

[reflexblue]

No! No! No! The problem with our defense is not the scheme, it is the lack of quality players that can execute the scheme.

TFL's are the result of the D Line maintaining their gap reposnsibilities and holding at the LOS and the LBers and safeties filling properly. We have one guy, Wilfork, consistently maintaiining his gap responsibilities but NOT always the LOS and six other guys up front where every play is a guss for them.

Youth will be served, and we have a ton of it on defense. Unfortunately it will not do us much good this year. Our defense is so horrible we made a Dirty Sanchez look like Peyton Manning! Give me a break.

I didn't see us really doing much but Next year should i see us getting back to what we were in the early '00's.

 

[Rob0729]

Are we surprised that Ninkovich is the weak link on the front seven? Didn't we know that in March?

Miami added Dansby. NY added Taylor. The patriots were fine with Ninkovich starting, with his reps gradually taken by a rookie.

Rookies often need time to learn our defense. Cunningham won't ahve that luxury.

And yes, I too see Crable being activated soon.

I don't know if the Pats felt they would go Ninkovitch as a starter. They probably thought Wood or Burgess would have stuck, but both washed out in the preseason.

BTW, Dansby is an ILB and the Dolphins are starting a rookie second round pick at OLB (or at least rotating him with an unproven second year player). I don't know how that is any different than what the Pats are doing with Cunningham. I seems that both the Dolphins and Pats had the same plan at OLB.

 

[condon84]

No! No! No! The problem with our defense is not the scheme, it is the lack of quality players that can execute the scheme.

TFL's are the result of the D Line maintaining their gap reposnsibilities and holding at the LOS and the LBers and safeties filling properly. We have one guy, Wilfork, consistently maintaiining his gap responsibilities but NOT always the LOS and six other guys up front where every play is a guss for them.

Youth will be served, and we have a ton of it on defense. Unfortunately it will not do us much good this year. Our defense is so horrible we made a Dirty Sanchez look like Peyton Manning! Give me a break.

Yeah, because our read and react defense has always been known for TFL even in the Super Bowl years.

Our players don't shoot gaps and penetrate to allow them to make plays behind the LOS. Our guys are asked to engage blockers, shed, and make the tackle. How the hell are they supposed to make tackles behind the line of scrimmage? Why do you think BB is adamant about LBs being a certain size and weight? They need to be able to take on blockers. We are not the Steelers two-gapping attack style defense.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

He had some good rush moves against Cincy, but WR's were wide open after the snap, so he becomes ineffective. He also had a nice play on Sanchez to force him into Warren.

However, if the Pats continue to play the 10 yard cushion, it doesn't matter who rushes the passer.

 

[mgteich]

Woods and Burgess didn't start last year. Why would they be expected to start this year?

Burgess was a DE in the sub package, playing a bit more tha 50% of the defensive reps; Cunningham has taken that role. It is a lot to ask of a rookie but we have no choice.

Thomas was the starter opposite Banta-Cain. Ninkovich replaced Thomas.

Woods was a run specialist that Belichick thought we didn't need.

I don't know if the Pats felt they would go Ninkovitch as a starter. They probably thought Wood or Burgess would have stuck, but both washed out in the preseason.

BTW, Dansby is an ILB and the Dolphins are starting a rookie second round pick at OLB (or at least rotating him with an unproven second year player). I don't know how that is any different than what the Pats are doing with Cunningham. I seems that both the Dolphins and Pats had the same plan at OLB.