Defense keeps playing with fire
 

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/f...63#articleFull

another felger article..somehow he keeps saying the same thing week in week out. what does he want the pats to do ? draft and make trades now ? . We have won with what we have. and he keeps prefacing all the sentences with "we" as if he is speaking for all of us.

Re: Defense keeps playing with fire
 

This was Felger's FIRST observation from the field right after the game on FSNE's post game show. The guy is a weenie who thinks he's some football guru. Greg Dickerson and Christian Fauria has this 'what is your problem oh whiney one' look on their faces as they listened to this dweeb.
This is a bend don't break defense similar to what we had back in '01. They ain't pretty and they give up a lots of yards but they make big plays when they need to. Keep in mind the Jags scored six points in the second half. 6!!
Six in the entire second half and only scored 13 after their 1st possession at the beginning of the game. This Patriot team shut down the Jags running game, shut down their ability to chew up the clock with that running game, and forced Garrard to win it with his arm. He couldn't! Welcome to the Patriots blueprint. Disrupt what the other team does best and make them beat you in other ways. The Jags couldn't.
What I don't like about a guy like Felger is he takes the teams defensive approach with one team (the Jags) and tries to apply that same game plan against another opponent (The Colts) as if the Patriots D will focus and approach both games the same way. They won't. The Patriots defensive schemes vary from team to team based on the strengths of that team.

Re: Defense keeps playing with fire
 

I am not going to say it was not frustrating at times watching the Defense play last night, but let's not forget that the Jags Offense was #6 in scoring in the league this year.

If you take the last 10 meaningful games the Jags played, they were averaging 32.4 points a game. They also scored at least 24 point in everyone of there last 11 games.

1. The Patriots held the Jags to 12.4 below their average.
2. Made great halftime adjustements as the Jags only scored 6 points in the second half.
3. Held Jones-Drew and Taylor to 66 rushing yards. The Jags had the #2 rushing offense in the league averaging almost 150 yards a game.
4. The Patriots played a softer zone D that emphasized stopping the run not the pass. You have to give up something if you are going to take away the run like they did.
5. Gerard had a good game and was very accurate.

The Patriots D is not what it used to be, but I think people are over reacting a bit once you take a look what actually went on last night.

Re: Defense keeps playing with fire
 

I dont know what his deal is. He needs to step back and acknowledge the philosophical approach this defense takes to it's opponents. Sure, in the 1st 1/2 the D could have tackled a bit better or played the coverage a little tighter (I thought that they respected the Jag's WRs a bit too much, but that is their strategy- no big pass plays). But their strategy as mentioned was to contain the run and let Garrard beat them. Taylor and Drew had a couple plays here and there but in the end, the D did the job.

In his analysis ( if you want to call it that) Felger needs to take into account that BB couldn't care less about yards. All that matters is points against and 3rd down defense. Keep in mind, this was a hot offense comming in with in the last 8 games of the year, they were ave. about 30 a game. They were rolling and the Pats D did a decent job. They forced a couple of TOs and cam away with the W.

Survive and advance. Style points no longer count.

Re: Defense keeps playing with fire
 

I was concerned and frustrated at times too. The bottom line in the big boys' league is to be able to say, "at times". They limited a high scoring offense to 6 frickin points at crunch time.

Re: Defense keeps playing with fire
 

All of this combined with the BB philosophy to take away the strength of the opposing team.. the Jags are a rushing juggernaut.. take it away something else has to give.. it is what it is a very good win.. Felger can go suck..ss

Re: Defense keeps playing with fire
 

Makes him just like a lot of the fan base around here these days...

I guesss that's why he's still employed here. His appeal is to the self absorbed weenies among us who believe they too are football guru's. Just a lonely voice of nega...I mean objectivity intent on ruin...I mean keeping it real for the koolaid swillers among us who just want to enjoy the journey warts and all.

Shame on the rest of us dimwit homers for not grasping that a win is not a win unless you dominate in all phases of every game, and your achievements therefore are less satisfying and leave some feeling incomplete. We should probably return the last 3 Lombardi's since we barely won them by 3 when we not only had defensive lapses but an offense that could barely keep pace with those lapses... Until we can win convincingly and complete the little Felger that exists in so many on the bandwaggon, what will we ever have truly accomplished...

Del Rio, like the coaches before him who took the nothing to lose approach against us down the stretch, gambled on this matchup and focused on it for 3 weeks (and perhaps parts of 2 offseasons...). He knew our AARP contingent would focus on taking away the run, and I'll be dammed if they didn't - 2 headed monster and all. Like Cowher in 2005, he prepared for teams to put the ball in his QB's hands and it almost worked against a secondary playing without <arguably> it's best cover corner. Hat's off to him, and Garrard. They played their best game of the season, and still lost. And by 11 that should by all rights been 14 but for a missed chip shot or 17-21 but for the rarest of the rare, a Welker drop.

Screw all the Felger's - wins complete me.