After watching us against the Eagles- Defense a Must!

[carolinatony]

After watching the first half against the Eagles tonight I think we all know we need DEFENSE FIRST in the draft.
If Rodney retires and we lose Asante to FA we will need DB help. We need some speed and youth at LB as well and a pass rusher would be nice.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Hobbs played off against Eagles receivers all night. Was he afraid of being beaten deep? Was that the game plan? Hobbs is usually ultra aggressive so something changed.

All I know is Eddie Jackson is NOT the answer at CB if Samuel leaves. Scary!

 

[dryheat44]

Hobbs played off against Eagles receivers all night. Was he afraid of being beaten deep? Was that the game plan? Hobbs is usually ultra aggressive so something changed.

All I know is Eddie Jackson is NOT the answer at CB if Samuel leaves. Scary!

I think Jackson was signed to be primarily a special teamer. As a fourth (or fifth CB if you want to count Eugene), he's fine. But there's no way you want him in the top 3. When Samuel leaves, he will be replaced in the top 3 with either a veteran FA, Mike Richardson, or first-day rookie.

 

[VJCPatriot]

If Rodney retires

Didn't we just draft Meriweather for that?

and we lose Asante to FA we will need DB help.

Assuming he goes yes. But there should be plenty of DB talent to pick from. Remember Asante was a 4th round selection.

We need some speed and youth at LB as well and a pass rusher would be nice.

People have whined about this for years. The Patriots continue to sign veteran linebackers instead and 3 championships later, and on the verge of winning their 4th, how can people continue to bemoan this issue?

 

[carolinatony]

You try to upgrade your weakest link and its not the Offense scoring 35+ points game.

 

[sebman2112]

Hobbs played off against Eagles receivers all night. Was he afraid of being beaten deep? Was that the game plan? Hobbs is usually ultra aggressive so something changed.

All I know is Eddie Jackson is NOT the answer at CB if Samuel leaves. Scary!

Are you talking about the 8-10 yard cushion at the LOS? That's schreme related, and Samuel is also often lined up that far of the LOS. I'd like to see the CB's playing a little closer and bumping at times, but it just seems the Patriots have gone away from this the past few seasons.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I'm firm imo that McFadden is the best talent in this draft and would be hard to pass up. I'd leap for joy if we got him.

I will say this though, if McFadden is off the board I don't think there is a top 5 player I like at this point. I'd be happy to trade down to the 8-10 range to pick up the LB James Laurinaitis from Ohio State. I don't know why so many people are down on this kid? He's athletic and smart and above all he is a good football player. I think he would be a good Patriot.

 

[Remix 6]

Hobbs played off against Eagles receivers all night. Was he afraid of being beaten deep? Was that the game plan? Hobbs is usually ultra aggressive so something changed.

All I know is Eddie Jackson is NOT the answer at CB if Samuel leaves. Scary!

the CBs dont choose how far they play off. its all part of the scheme/gameplan

 

[Jimke]

The Pats may fool all of us and trade away most of the picks for veteran

players and choices in the 2009 and 2010 drafts.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

As far as lining up goes, everything that happens BEFORE the ball is snapped is scheme related.

However I promise you, BB does not have anything in his schemes that allows Curtis to run a 20 yard button hook on Hobbs and be wide open.

Throughout the entire game, Hobbs rarely closed the pre snap gap on the Eagles WRs, he allowed them to turn it up or inside all night for big yards.

Maybe Hobbs expected inside help or maybe Hobbs was over protecting the deep route, either way the Eagles chewed on him all night.

And I do not want it to seem like I am picking on Hobbs because our safeties did not have a particularily great game defending the pass either. (Although part of that I attribute to Westbrook being their first responsibility.)

The scheme for the Eagles game was to take away Westbrok and force Feely to make enough big plays in the passing game to beat the Pats. And while Feely came close, he also threw 3 big picks that choked the Eagles.

 

[sebman2112]

As far as lining up goes, everything that happens BEFORE the ball is snapped is scheme related.

However I promise you, BB does not have anything in his schemes that allows Curtis to run a 20 yard button hook on Hobbs and be wide open.

Throughout the entire game, Hobbs rarely closed the pre snap gap on the Eagles WRs, he allowed them to turn it up or inside all night for big yards.

Maybe Hobbs expected inside help or maybe Hobbs was over protecting the deep route, either way the Eagles chewed on him all night.

And I do not want it to seem like I am picking on Hobbs because our safeties did not have a particularily great game defending the pass either. (Although part of that I attribute to Westbrook being their first responsibility.)

The scheme for the Eagles game was to take away Westbrok and force Feely to make enough big plays in the passing game to beat the Pats. And while Feely came close, he also threw 3 big picks that choked the Eagles.

Hobbs didn't have a particularly good game, and he did give up some passes he shouldn't have. But again I can't understand why some posters seem to be focusing mostly on Hobbs.

From your post it seems like Hobbs was the main guy getting abused out there, when it was Randall Gay who had a horrid game in getting burned twice for TD's. Eddie Jackson didn't play so great when he had to move up (kind of understandable since he's coming off PUP and wasn't expected to play such a large role), and the Safeties didn't play so great for the most part either.