Interception
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2010
- Messages
- 556
- Reaction score
- 221
I know it's still early on but...
I don't think our offense will have any problem. Blount will continue to rumble through defenders... it's not a great running game, but it's more than serviceable. With Edelman, Gronk, Chandler, and LaFell, we have a passing attack as potent as the 2010 days. That should be enough to get us through Brady's suspension no worse than 1-3 or 2-2, even with Jimmy G. at the helm. Considering we started 2-2 last year, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Now, the concern starts with the defense.
We have a decent front seven but there is still no pass rush. Chandler Jones is who he is and we can expect 10 sacks out of him. Ninko is about the same. Sheard is somewhat of an unknown on our defense. Hightower might step up and continue to improve at rushing the passer, but that is anything but a sure thing.
Our front seven is great, we have some playmakers... but as far as the pass rush alone is concerned, it's defintely not going to be one of the best in the league. Our interior DL has potential but they are just rookies (counting Easley as a rookie), and you can never be sure with rookies.
Our cornerbacks are barely better than they were in 2011. Past McCourty, we have no sure starters. Butler could step up and continue to improve. Logan Ryan could be serviceable as well. Neither one of those are safe bets.
There are a lot of "ifs" on this defense. What if the pass rush doesn't improve and remains about the same as it has? Our secondary will get shredded as it did in 2011. Sure, we made the superbowl in 2011 but I think we were lucky to have even made it that far. It was the result of playing in a weak conference.
So what do you think? How confident are you about a repeat performance?
I don't think our offense will have any problem. Blount will continue to rumble through defenders... it's not a great running game, but it's more than serviceable. With Edelman, Gronk, Chandler, and LaFell, we have a passing attack as potent as the 2010 days. That should be enough to get us through Brady's suspension no worse than 1-3 or 2-2, even with Jimmy G. at the helm. Considering we started 2-2 last year, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Now, the concern starts with the defense.
We have a decent front seven but there is still no pass rush. Chandler Jones is who he is and we can expect 10 sacks out of him. Ninko is about the same. Sheard is somewhat of an unknown on our defense. Hightower might step up and continue to improve at rushing the passer, but that is anything but a sure thing.
Our front seven is great, we have some playmakers... but as far as the pass rush alone is concerned, it's defintely not going to be one of the best in the league. Our interior DL has potential but they are just rookies (counting Easley as a rookie), and you can never be sure with rookies.
Our cornerbacks are barely better than they were in 2011. Past McCourty, we have no sure starters. Butler could step up and continue to improve. Logan Ryan could be serviceable as well. Neither one of those are safe bets.
There are a lot of "ifs" on this defense. What if the pass rush doesn't improve and remains about the same as it has? Our secondary will get shredded as it did in 2011. Sure, we made the superbowl in 2011 but I think we were lucky to have even made it that far. It was the result of playing in a weak conference.
So what do you think? How confident are you about a repeat performance?