Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

I thought this left with Pees. BB's rely's on undrafted free agents and guys contemplating retirement for his pass-rush then has the CB's line 10 yards off. That's a recipe to be picked apart. I know it's preseason but I have to believe a move is coming. Playing o's like the Packers, Colts, Chargers, Vikings etc. Could be really ugly. Teams have driven on the pats all 3 games.

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

My only guess is that they don't want to risk getting burnt for a long TD when they blitz.

And we have to blitz, out 4 man rush won't get there.

Good thing we have a lot to be optimistic about on the offensive side of the ball.

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

I know its our style but I hate the bend don't break defense. The defense we showed vs the Saints was far better. Perhaps we were just playing vanilla this week

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

I hope this was just one of those "let's remind ourselves how dumb this strategy is." I thought we played better when our CBs were more aggressive and played closer to the LOS in the two previous games.

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

At least some here will now realize whose decision running this coverage is. Bill was also playing this game more like week 1 or week 4 with lots of testing personnel groupings going on, and as a result there was zero cohesion on defense on a night when they appeared to come out flat to begin with.

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

Read-and-react/contain defense is not as fun to watch as a high-pressure attack-style defense like the Green Beans have. Has BB ever explained his choice of this philosophy for layman's understanding?

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

Hate to look back, but we were on the verge of drafting Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie. We had worked him out privately the Thursday before the draft, Michael Smith on ESPN felt like DRC was their guy, their pick.

BB decided to pass and chose Mayo instead. Right now, DRC, is a lock-down, shut-down corner who locks down one half of the football field and doesn't give any cushions, plays tight, up in your mug, man-to-man coverage for 60 minutes. He's a Pro Bowler right now. Team don't even look to throw to his side of the field.

A guy like this would have done so much for our defense.

I've watched Mayo since day one. Looked promising his rookie year, but hasn't done anything noteworthy for about 2 years now. Bradford was abusing Mayo underneath often in the inner part of the field, his coverage skills are really weak. His run recoginition and ability to shed guards in the interior were very concerning last year, and still look to be concerning this year. Right now Spikes is a better football player between the two. I really hope things change, because the more I watch DRC, the more I wonder, wow, what if ?

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

Idiot. You do realize Mayo was hurt pretty much all of last year right? DRC although an athletic freak is NOT a lock down shut down half of the field CB. Not saying he cant become that great in the coming years, it just hasnt happened so far.

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

While I agree with you that Mayo is the most overrated Pats player, he made some nice stops closer to the LOS last night.

As far as DRC is concerned, what makes you think that Belichick would let him play closer to the LOS and man-up? If you look at our CBs now (Butler, Bodden, and McCourty), they play way better when playing aggressive and close to the LOS, yet we will still employ the 'large cushion' strategy. It's not the CBs, but the strategy they're asked to play.

Re: Return of the 10 yard cushion...
 

Let's question Belichick's defensive strategy, and while we're at it, let's also question his drafting of the NFL's defensive rookie of the year!!!

:bricks: