Alfonzo Dennard not expected to play against Broncos, maybe longer

[Sivy]

nnamdi asomugha

 

[IllegalContact]

I don't get the despair

as a point of reference, people were generally expecting anywhere from 10-6 to 12-4 at the beginning of the season.......seems like the pats are still right there.

statistically, even with the injuries, the defense is better than it was last year.

right now, it appears that the secondary next sunday night is going to be arrington, harmon, mccourty, and ryan...while I'm not jumping for joy, none of these guys have done anything that would make you say 'they suck'

they may get abused a bit, but I think that was going to happen anyway.

the way I see it moving forward is that the pats have to keep working on their offense now that it is about as complete as its going to be, and defensively shut down the run. The equation will come down to the pats balanced offense versus their liabilities on pass defense. the pats aren't facing any more QB's like newton in the regular season or even the AFC playoffs, and if they face the panthers again, I love the pats chances.......there's not much the panthers could do to improve, and the pats just need to copy and paste the offensive game plan from the 2nd half as it would score on anyone

 

[juny]

Going to be scary if Talib is out. Arrington, Ryan, Cole vs Thomas, Decker, Welker???

Hope they get the ground game going and shorten the game.

 

[BelichickFan]

Going to be scary if Talib is out. Arrington, Ryan, Cole vs Thomas, Decker, Welker???

It would likely be McCourty, Arrington, Ryan if Talib is also out. With Harmon and Gregory (he'd have to be back) at Safety.

 

[Sicilian]

It would likely be McCourty, Arrington, Ryan if Talib is also out. With Harmon and Gregory (he'd have to be back) at Safety.

Still a daunting possibility... in that scenario, I'm putting McCourty on Thomas with a safety shading to that side, Ryan on Decker, and Arrington on Welker with someone like Fletcher zoned inside to assist. I don't love any of those matchups on their own, but I can't come up with a better base plan given the available personnel.

And of course that doesn't even account for Julius Thomas if he ends up playing.

 

[PatsFan2]

Still a daunting possibility... in that scenario, I'm putting McCourty on Thomas with a safety shading to that side, Ryan on Decker, and Arrington on Welker with someone like Fletcher zoned inside to assist. I don't love any of those matchups on their own, but I can't come up with a better base plan given the available personnel.

And of course that doesn't even account for Julius Thomas if he ends up playing.

Who covers TE Julius Thomas he's pretty good himself too.:scared:

 

[juny]

so dennard just had a procedure done on the knee, but is a participant in practice today?

 

[Uncle Rico]

so dennard just had a procedure done on the knee, but is a participant in practice today?

Hah --apparently. Gregory and Talib practiced as well.

Alfonzo Dennard, Steve Gregory Make Surprise Appearance at Patriots Practice, Michael Hoomanawanui Missing | New England Patriots | NESN.com

 

[DefenseRules]

Hah --apparently. Gregory and Talib practiced as well.

Alfonzo Dennard, Steve Gregory Make Surprise Appearance at Patriots Practice, Michael Hoomanawanui Missing | New England Patriots | NESN.com

He probably worked with the training staff. I can't believe that he's been cleared to practice.

 

[Ivan]

Come ****** on. Does denver even have one major injury?

Their OL is in bad shape with Clady and their first 2 center's out, Rahim Moore is out, Welker is questionable. The Bronco's definitely have some injuries as does pretty much every team in football. The Patriots seem to have more than their share of serious losses but the season is a grind and every team has to overcome them to win a championship. Regardless of what happens this week the Patriots are in decent shape overall heading down the homestretch, they should continue to get players back over the next few weeks and as long as they don't have too many more significant injuries i like their chances when the play-offs roll around.

 

[Sicilian]

Who covers TE Julius Thomas he's pretty good himself too.:scared:

I'm guessing some form of combo coverage between Ninkovich (or another LB) and Gregory. Again, another matchup that isn't ideal, plus it means taking another asset away from the pass rush.

Basically, they're going to need the D-Line to step WAY up in this scenario, because you can't ask the coverage to maintain for more than 2 or 3 seconds with this group.

Now, if Talib plays (and can be effective), Welker fails his baseline and J Thomas can't go, the possibilities open up a lot more. But the worst case scenario is a major uphill climb.

 

[Ring 6]

I think we will play a lot of zone. Denvers offense live and dies with the short pass and run. I dont care if we give up 2-3 30-40 yarders if we are taking away the YAC, because they will get them anyway.
3 short passes with YAC to go 40 yards is really the same thing as one 40 yard pass.
I think this is where defenses have misplayed Denver (KC kind of got it, but thats just because their scheme and talent sort of fit). Because its Manning defenses are worrying deep to short, and he is carving them up in the weak short area. That negates the weakness of his OL because he basically reads the coverage, picks the receiver and throws out of the cut (or off the pick) and ignores the fact that his arm strength is not what it used to be.
Dare Manning to beat you deep. He will get some, but not nearly enough.
I think you put a LB on Welker to beat the crap out of him every snap, jam Thomas with a safety over the top, and focus the LBs on the short stuff.

 

[dannydyn]

I think we will play a lot of zone. Denvers offense live and dies with the short pass and run. I dont care if we give up 2-3 30-40 yarders if we are taking away the YAC, because they will get them anyway.
3 short passes with YAC to go 40 yards is really the same thing as one 40 yard pass.
I think this is where defenses have misplayed Denver (KC kind of got it, but thats just because their scheme and talent sort of fit). Because its Manning defenses are worrying deep to short, and he is carving them up in the weak short area. That negates the weakness of his OL because he basically reads the coverage, picks the receiver and throws out of the cut (or off the pick) and ignores the fact that his arm strength is not what it used to be.
Dare Manning to beat you deep. He will get some, but not nearly enough.
I think you put a LB on Welker to beat the crap out of him every snap, jam Thomas with a safety over the top, and focus the LBs on the short stuff.

Chiefs went zone against them this past Sunday, and Manning shredded them.

...and put a LB on Welker? one of the fastest receivers in the league? Are you out of your mind?!?!? Who's going to hang with Welker? Spikes? Hightower? Welker will be doing circles around them.

 

[BelichickFan]

...and put a LB on Welker? one of the fastest receivers in the league? Are you out of your mind?!?!? Who's going to hang with Welker? Spikes? Hightower? Welker will be doing circles around them.

He didn't say a LB man to man. He said a LB to jam him at the line and a zone behind it.

 

[BradyManny]

Chiefs went zone against them this past Sunday, and Manning shredded them.

I thought KC played a lot of man and it was actually working OK until Demaryius destroyed their rookie CB. There's logic to playing man under. Originally I thought man would be the way to go against Denver, but seeing how much of their damage is done on pick plays and running guys off one another, it seems too dangerous to play man. And without the healthy bodies in our DB, it seems like suicide. I agree with AndyJohnson's take.

I'll echo AJ's plan, I think he's spot on - zone, flood the middle, dare Manning to beat you deep. Meaning McCourty as the lone deep safety, IMO. Let Gregory &/or Harmon come up and play that robber coverage. It's the middle of the field with crossing routes, slants, pick plays, and the like that Denver is killing right now.

I'd again stress having your pass rushers get their hands up and in passing lanes. I'd have Jones and Ninko line up real outside in the hopes they can snag a pick off of one of Manning's quick tosses. Have them ready for that quick throw. I'd even have them drop into short zones to take away slants a few times - we saw KC do this down in the red zone and a guy came close to a pick (turned into a Julius Thomas TD, but it could've been 6 the other way).

Basically, I'd almost concede pass rush at the expense of getting guys in coverage, and specifically into coverage in the shallow areas. Hightower, Ninko, these guys are going to have opportunities to make plays.

No one gets to Manning, he gets rid of it too quick and that OL is too solid, why bother? Sacks will come only when the play breaks down or late in the game when the OL tires.

Yesterday I thought Denver would put up 50 on us given our health situation. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that Peyton Manning - as great as he is - has limitations, and that no team has tried earnestly to exploit that until KC. Belichick will not be a knucklehead about it either. He'll put the guys in the best position to compete.

 

[Ring 6]

Chiefs went zone against them this past Sunday, and Manning shredded them.

I'll have to score you 0-2 here.
First the Chiefs played mostly man.
Second Denver scored the fewest points they have all season, Manning had his 2nde lowest completion percentage (by less than 1%), his fewest TD passes, his 2nd lowest qb rating (interesting aside: his worst 4 ratings have come in the last 5 games) and his 3rd fewest yards. Not sure what game you watched but neither happened.

...and put a LB on Welker? one of the fastest receivers in the league? Are you out of your mind?!?!? Who's going to hang with Welker? Spikes? Hightower? Welker will be doing circles around them.

Huh? Since when does jamming a receiver with a LB constitute covering them one on one with a LB?
Remember the Faulk treatment in SB XXXVI? Same basic concept.
Whichever side Welker is on, flex out the LB and have him jam Welker before taking his normal drop. If its man, jam him with Welkers man behind him, then blitz or pick up the back coming his way. Throw off the timing, throw off Manning. Take away the short pass, take away what has made Denver special this year.

 

[coolguy]

The chiefs did everything possible to defeat peyton except put up enough points.

The chiefs gameplan was flawless on the defensive side, but you can't expect to beat peyton scoring less than 28 points.

 

[Sicilian]

The chiefs did everything possible to defeat peyton except put up enough points.

The chiefs gameplan was flawless on the defensive side, but you can't expect to beat peyton scoring less than 28 points.

And worse than that, the defense made a ton of plays to keep KC in the game, and the offense could never take advantage. Worst offense was the fumble they got (which was kind of a gift) and the offense gives it right back on the first play. Then there was the stretch in the 3rd/4th quarter where Peyton went three and out like three straight times, and the KC offense did NOTHING.

If the offense had even managed a few sustained drives, even without scoring or settling for FGs, maybe the defense has enough gas left to avoid that inevitable Manning rhythm that happens at the end of all of these games.

 

[Patjew]

Am I an idiot (yes) for hoping Dennard plays this week? Maybe there's a chance.

 

[Kontradiction]

Am I an idiot (yes) for hoping Dennard plays this week? Maybe there's a chance.