Ninkovich--doing his job

I have been very impressed with Rob Ninkovich's emergence as one of the leaders on this defense this year, as he continues to fly under the "NFL radar," but has played to a very high level.

Some numbers for Ninkovich through 10 games:

11 games played, 11 games started

2.5 sacks

2 INT's (with a huge defensive TD on a return thrown in for good measure)

2 fumble returns

and the most impressive to me....4 passes defended so far

This is a guy (like so many others) who defines what it means to represent this team. A guy who barely was even drafted in a low round, who flies under the radar, and who no one really even knows about outside of Boston. Yet he works hard, tackles well, does his job, and provides one heck of a spark in this defense...Oh yeah, he's one more player who gives pretty decent production on the cheap, which is another important factor.

With the potential to really add to these numbers, as they are only through 11 games, he may not be the best kept secret on this defense by the end of the year.

Yup...i was really down on him before the season but i'll gladly eat my words. He has improved alot and that one tackle on that McCoy run was a thing of beauty.

Just do your job!

A very steady, reliable "blue collar" Patriot..

Ninkrable. You know it's true.

Something weird I noticed. We use Ninkovich exactly the way Alabama uses Donta Hightower. Watch a few bama games with this in mind and tell me if you see the same thing.

I wasn't crazy about the guy 2 years ago as being a player on the team,but he has grown on me and seems to be worthy of wearing #50...not exactly Mike Vrabel but at times I see flashbacks of Vrabel in him like the INT for a TD in the Jets game for example.

I liked him back when people were calling him STINK-ovich. I was the first one, or one of the first.

Kind of like that scene in "Josey Wales" when the shopkeeper says "now wait a minute...this is my place, I saw him too! I'm due a share of the reward!". "Now you say those horses belong to those there pilgrims...".

THe AntiCrable.
or the UnTully Banta Cain

Very consistent this year.
Not seeing some of the missed tackles we saw last year.


An unsung hero for me.

SanAngeloState said:

I liked him back when people were calling him STINK-ovich. I was the first one, or one of the first.

Kind of like that scene in "Josey Wales" when the shopkeeper says "now wait a minute...this is my place, I saw him too! I'm due a share of the reward!". "Now you say those horses belong to those there pilgrims...".

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I was one of his early supporters as well, but not actually for his play. My hate for Tully Banta-Cain ran so deep I was like "throw in the fake vrable. he has to be better than this shiz im seeing":bricks:

Definitely reminds me of a younger vrabel, i think he'll continue to grow too.

SanAngeloState said:

I liked him back when people were calling him STINK-ovich. I was the first one, or one of the first.

Kind of like that scene in "Josey Wales" when the shopkeeper says "now wait a minute...this is my place, I saw him too! I'm due a share of the reward!". "Now you say those horses belong to those there pilgrims...".

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I liked him in the Indy 09 game. He and TBC were providing constant pressure as the two DE's in a 4-2-5 defense they played for the most part that night. When he got hurt, so did TBC in the early 4th qtr...and ........

stuff happened.

Got away with a huge facemask pen that would have killed us. The refs did make a few calls that went in our favor.

vuudu said:

Got away with a huge facemask pen that would have killed us. The refs did make a few calls that went in our favor.

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There was an Eagle penalty and they would have offset

supafly said:

Some numbers for Ninkovich through 10 games:

11 games played, 11 games started

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Definitely the most impressive part.

He's steadily improved. I also liked him early - but not nearly as much as I do this year.

I cannot explain, but some of the "randoms", I get good early feelings about (Hawkins, Ninko, Moore) and some I really don't (Beisel, BJGE, Molden)... But obviously, as you can see, I'm not quite Ron Wolf-like in my talent evaluation skills !

Tippecanoe said:

Definitely the most impressive part.

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That is an impressive feat, isn't it?

I forgot they were through 11 not 10, and when I went back to change the other 2 numbers I must've forgot that one.

Glad you are paying attention though, good contribution.

farn said:

He's steadily improved. I also liked him early - but not nearly as much as I do this year.

I cannot explain, but some of the "randoms", I get good early feelings about (Hawkins, Ninko, Moore) and some I really don't (Beisel, BJGE, Molden)... But obviously, as you can see, I'm not quite Ron Wolf-like in my talent evaluation skills !

Click to expand...

Haha...sometimes a name tells you all you need to know about a football player amirite?

Tully Banta-Cain? Just doesn't sound right to me.

Tom Brady - there are so many different ways you can say this name and it sounds great everytime. It just flows out of your mouth as if an angel was singing it.

He's good as a line backer in the base 4-3, But Bill uses him in the Nickel D as a DE in a 3 point stance....

He's so badly out of place in that Nickel. He really cannot rush; and I don't blame him. Anderson needs to be out there. Yeah, you're sacrificing flexibility because Anderson cannot drop into coverage, but 9/10 times you'll need a 4 man rush. That means Nink must rush the QB. It's not his strong suit.

Really. Excluding the garbage time TD, PHI had 4 good drives against the Patriots. In three of those drives, the Pats almost exclusively stuck with the Nickel D where Nink kinda played that hybrid DE role, and rushed the QB, that our previous OLBs did. The results were poor. The opposing O-line would shift and target Carter -- thus nullifying him.

They really need Anderson and Carter out there at the same time to generate a rush. W/o both the results are too poor.

EDIT: As a corollary to the above I'd point out that Nink's best place came on that run-stuff behind the LOS. But why? Because Anderson -- so frequently assumed to be a liability against the run -- bull rushed his man, and effectivly set the edge forcing the RB to do an about face and run the other way...right into Nink.