Talib: “Whatever the plan is, that’s the plan.”

Pats DBs under pressure | Boston Herald

Nice piece on the DBs against the Falcons. Aquib Talib has clearly mastered the playbook and the quote book. He's achieved Zen Master status under Belichick and Matt Patricia.

McCourty and Arrington quoted by Borges as well. It's good see DBs given access to the press. That was not common last season. There's a sense of calm and focus with these guys going into a game with an A-list quarterback that is a huge development.

Talib has been awesome since we got him. I expected him to make a difference, but I'd be lying if I thought he was going to be this important to the defense.

Not a bad trade for a 4th-round pick...

convertedpatsfan said:

Not a bad trade for a 4th-round pick...

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True that. FWIW, over on the draft board I just did a roundup of all of BB's trades of picks for vets:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...trading-picks-vets-patriots-track-record.html

Julio Jones is one of the top wideouts in the NFL, but he's the kind of receiver that Talib usually has solid games against. It's the little speedsters like DeSean Jackson that he struggles with. Put him on Julio and give him help over the top, single Roddy White with Dennard (as Roddy is hobbled), and single Arrington with Harry Douglas and the secondary should be able to slow the Falcons down enough for the offense to put up some points and win the game.

i like the "Whatever the plan, is, that's the plan" phrase.

Similar to the 'it is what it is' zen-category phrases that effectively shuts down the media's probes.

KontradictioN said:

Julio Jones is one of the top wideouts in the NFL, but he's the kind of receiver that Talib usually has solid games against. It's the little speedsters like DeSean Jackson that he struggles with. Put him on Julio and give him help over the top, single Roddy White with Dennard (as Roddy is hobbled), and single Arrington with Harry Douglas and the secondary should be able to slow the Falcons down enough for the offense to put up some points and win the game.

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My only concern with this is the height diff b/w roddy and dennard...but I would expect something similar to what u described as well

Talib is beginning to be one of my faves... hope he stays out of trouble.

ALP said:

My only concern with this is the height diff b/w roddy and dennard...but I would expect something similar to what u described as well

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It would be a huge concern if White was healthy, but he's not. Either way, Dennard is physical enough to re-route him at the LOS and throw off Ryan's timing. The two biggest concerns in this game are Julio Jones wherever he is on the field and Gonzalez in the red zone.

KontradictioN said:

Julio Jones is one of the top wideouts in the NFL, but he's the kind of receiver that Talib usually has solid games against. It's the little speedsters like DeSean Jackson that he struggles with. Put him on Julio and give him help over the top, single Roddy White with Dennard (as Roddy is hobbled), and single Arrington with Harry Douglas and the secondary should be able to slow the Falcons down enough for the offense to put up some points and win the game.

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Yeah, Talib loves to go against those big, phyiscal WRs. He beat up Vincent Jackson pretty good last week.

Talib has only faced Jones once, but Jones got the best of the Bucs that game with 6 catches for 115 yards in 2011, but I am not sure if Talib was matched up against him.

DarrylS said:

Talib is beginning to be one of my faves... hope he stays out of trouble.

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Ditto. Considering what he put up with in Tampa, I wonder if Abe he would be amenable to a team friendly deal rather thango back to a bad situation somewhere else...here is hoping it will happen....

Patsfanin Philly said:

Ditto. Considering what he put up with in Tampa, I wonder if Abe he would be amenable to a team friendly deal rather thango back to a bad situation somewhere else...here is hoping it will happen....

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I wish, but how many high-end corners are willing to do that? Corner is now so hard to play well, and has helped us so much on defense to have someone good, I think we should give him a decent payday. Not Revis money, but don't Welker him out of here either!

For a 4th rounder. He has been great for us. Was a very big move last year then flew under the radar in the NFL

why are people forgetting about Gonzalez?

xlcjw72 said:

why are people forgetting about Gonzalez?

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most dangerous receiver on the falcons.

xlcjw72 said:

why are people forgetting about Gonzalez?

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I don't think the hardcore followers are, especially since we generally did fairly well vs the opposition's WR1 and WR2 last season. It was the TE, RB, and WR3 matchups that gutted them down the middle a lot of the times, at least judging by the statistical analysis of last season.

I don't know what the specific plan will be, whether it will involve playing more 3 CB/1 S sets again, using a guy like Gregory, Wilson, or Harmon vs Gonzalez; or just hoping that Hightower can try to hold him up a bit in combination with a 5th DB? Any way you look at it, I can guarantee you that Belichick won't be forgetting about Gonzalez no matter what, and that's what is important. Even if he comes out on fire against us, there will be some adjustments trying to combat that on some level.

That's a great Belichickism. 'Whatever the plan is, that's the plan'. Love it.

“Whatever the plan is, that’s the plan” can be translated to: "We play to win the game!"

Bravo777 said:

“Whatever the plan is, that’s the plan” can be translated to: "We play to win the game!"

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Dude, where'd you learn engrish? It's just a restatement of the ultimate Belichickism, "it is what it is". "Whatever it is, that's what it is."

Actually, it would be a fun game for the players to play a game where they just replace 'it' with whatever the reporter is asking about.

"Tom, how do you feel about going against Matt Ryan tomorrow?"

"Well, whatever Matt Ryan is, that's what he is. Should be a good game!"

KontradictioN said:

Julio Jones is one of the top wideouts in the NFL, but he's the kind of receiver that Talib usually has solid games against. It's the little speedsters like DeSean Jackson that he struggles with. Put him on Julio and give him help over the top, single Roddy White with Dennard (as Roddy is hobbled), and single Arrington with Harry Douglas and the secondary should be able to slow the Falcons down enough for the offense to put up some points and win the game.

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I am not sure Roddy is as hurt as most people think. He is getting better and better

Now if Roddy was 100% with Julio...i may just stick my head in a pillow for 3 hours. Those are two #1 Wrs on the same team. When healhy not even the best Ds can stop them unless they get pressure on Ryan

Reminds me of Artrell Hawkins who saved our bacon in 2005? When we had something like19 defensive backs on the IR. He was a CB we switched to safety and, apparently, not one to take on a lot of stress during a game.

Some reporter asked him what defense he intended to play on such short notice. He said they were going to play the cat defense. What's that? "You take that cat and I'll take this one" Beautiful.