Good stuff... here's some quick replies....
Running game. Seems more explosive than we have had in years. Ridley is a power back that hits the hole extremely fast and can break a few tackles. His game reminds me a lot of a slightly slower thomas jones. Hope that paints a good picture in your mind. Danny Woodhead is basically our darren sproles. We don't always stick to the run but it seems like we are going to try to this year.
We did a decent job bottling up Marshawn Lynch last game (20 carries, 85 yars). I know Ridley had a great game last week, so we'll see who wins that battle.
Oline. Tackles are new and a little shaky but did a decent job last week. Guards and center are pretty solid. The entire line in general is very mobile and make great blocks in the screen game. I know darnell docket is capable of having a monster game, but if he rushes out of control there will be a massive amount of successful screens.
Dockett is a beast capable of making big plays, but he also understands a big part of his role in this defense is to be in the right place at the right time. He whiffed on a few big sack/tackles for losses last game, but generally did a great job consistently being in the backfield and being where he was supposed to be to prevent a few big runs by Russell Wilson when the play broke down. Dockett is now the kind of guy who has a very big game in part by enabling other guys to make plays.
Dline. Our primary focus every game is to stop the run. Wilfork is a beast at stopping the run. Hes not really a pass rusher but he will overpower guys and he doesnt wear down throughout the game. Kyle love is the dt next to wilfork and the dude is pretty active. Love flashes from time to time. Chandler jones is our new beast at rde. He physically looks like Jpp but not as fast but maybe has a little more power. He has long arms and shows quite a few moves. He doesnt really run the arc but kinda just powers his way through guys and now in then throws in a great dip. Since the preseason, we have had cunningham, a backup de, play dt in a four man front to bring more of a pass rush and seems to be working so far.
As I noted earlier, our run game was totally ineffective against Seattle and given New England's gameplan I expect more of the same. Chandler Jones is definitely a threat against our inexperienced tackles. Wouldn't be surprised to see him get to the QB multiple times.
Secondary. We seem to have better safety play this year but you will make plays if your oline holds up. In years past we have made garbage qbs look like all pros. Some things you should expect to see is us completely take away your tight end with jams at the line of scrimmage and there is always open spots in our zone coverage about 20 yards down the field. Your qb just has to sling it in there. And for some reason slants seem very effective against us.
We have the weapons on offense, but trick will be to give our QB enough time and hope he doesn't make too many mistakes. The supporting cast (Roberts, Doucet, Floyd, Heap, King, Housler) need to step up and help Larry. Our RBs are a decent threat to catch the ball out of the back field, but for some reason we have never been able to run a screen for the life of us.
Special teams. You can probably forget about big plays here for your guys. Gostoski can kick the ball out of the endzone even before they moved the kickoff spot. So if you scare us once, you won't get another returnable kick and we have many special team specialists. We seem to take special teams more serious than most teams. Matt Slater #18 constantly forces fair catches on punts. We are not a threat to take back a kickoff but julian edelman is our hester when it comes to returning punts. look him up on youtube.
Don't forget there is more to special teams than returning kicks/punts. We have guys extremely capable of blocking punts/field goals and we are going to get several this year (Campbell blocked another FG in the opener). Justin Bethel (#31) is a guy to watch coming off the edge on FGs and punts, and Patrick Peterson is on the other edge for FG blocks.
I honestly feel like we are going to win, but if you guys abandon the run all together it will make the game interesting if you can avoid throwing picks. Also, you guys should probably just blitz nonstop and ignore our run game. We use so much playaction its not even funny and teams seem to always fall for it. God forbid we lose, but I feel your only hope is if dockett plays lights out.
You guys are the clear and deserved favorite coming in. We will blitz a lot and from all directions. Dockett is capable of having a big game, but don't be surprised if his name isn't being called a lot but we still have pretty good success on defense - the reason might be in part to Dockett doing his job in this 3-4 defense.
