Colvin is sorely missed, whats the answer?

[BlitzFritz]

Our pass rush is weaker than most past years, it looks.

Colvin was a beast when he played last year, tremendous quickness.
I understand why we didnt resign him given his foot injury
But he was THE guy. (Like Willie was for years)

Do you agree that Colvin is huge missing piece?

How does this get fixed? Is Crable the answer? Or do we hope that AD and Vrabel will do what they do?

 

[Kontradiction]

You're on a thread posting spree aren't you? I'd really love to see Crable in the line-up giving Vrabel breathers sometime within the next couple of games. He's a beast in the pass rush from what I saw in the pre-season and in his college career.

 

[BlitzFritz]

slow rainy day, many cycles devoted to PATS instead of work!

 

[JMarr]

Our pass rush is weaker than most past years, it looks.

Colvin was a beast when he played last year, tremendous quickness.
I understand why we didnt resign him given his foot injury
But he was THE guy. (Like Willie was for years)

Do you agree that Colvin is huge missing piece?

How does this get fixed? Is Crable the answer? Or do we hope that AD and Vrabel will do what they do?

There's no one on this team that can get to the QB like Colvin did. Just a fact. I love AD and Vrable but both are obviously not as quick as Colvin was. The answer to whether or not we can get a better pass rush might come when Dean Pees is fired and Capers takes over as the DC.

 

[Disco Volante]

Answer: More booing.

 

[Nunchucks]

I believe Colvin is out on the street after being cu by Housten. I like the OLBs we have a whole bunch

 

[Ring 6]

I think Colvin was BY FAR the 3rd best our 3 OLBs.
A beast? What were you watching?
He was OK, but a beast?
Vrabel had a lot more sacks and pressure, and Thomas will destroy Colivns 07 production this year.

 

[DarrylS]

I think Colvin was BY FAR the 3rd best our 3 OLBs.
A beast? What were you watching?
He was OK, but a beast?
Vrabel had a lot more sacks and pressure, and Thomas will destroy Colivns 07 production this year.

Had to think about this for a minute, but he did not play all that well last year.. injuries were a factor, but imo he never lived up to the hype.. he knew and played well in the system, but not outstanding..

 

[SoCal Pmen]

If he was a beast he wouldn't have got cut by a ****ty team like Houston. If he can't crack the Houston line up he's not going to crack the Pats line up.

 

[Jimke]

You're on a thread posting spree aren't you? I'd really love to see Crable in the line-up giving Vrabel breathers sometime within the next couple of games. He's a beast in the pass rush from what I saw in the pre-season and in his college career.

In the past, the Pats had good luck rotating their linebackers.

I'm disappointed seeing Crable as an inactive each week especially

since he looked good during the preseason.

 

[BionicPatriot]

colvin wouldn't make any difference this year.

 

[dtbrks]

Does anyone have the splits from when he was playing last year vs when he was out late in the season?

My "memory" thinks the pats played better D when he was in the lineup vs not.

As for being cut, the poor guy has been hurt so much and been through so much getting back on the field, it's just to bad he can't do it anymore, but don't say he never had it.

 

[BlitzFritz]

wow, some very selective memory on this board. anyway, my opinion of colvin is this

1. he was a great speed rusher on the outside, which we dont have any of right now. in 2006 he had 8.5 sacks and led the team.

2. he got injured, which is why he didnt make houston. hes washed up now, im not saying bring him back, just that we never really replaced him.

3. he probably wasnt a beast against the run.

PS our pass rush is weak so far

 

[Bostonian1962]

I think Colvin was BY FAR the 3rd best our 3 OLBs.
A beast? What were you watching?
He was OK, but a beast?
Vrabel had a lot more sacks and pressure, and Thomas will destroy Colivns 07 production this year.

No offense to the orginal poster, but AJ you are correct. Colvin was so overrated by so many hometown fans. Watch the film. He usually was not a factor. I've seem so many similar comments and just scratch my head.

I bet if I looked hard enough I could find the occasional "the Pats will regret letting Colvin go" comments, but I'm not going to do so.

If BB wanted him, he could probably get him for the veteran minimum right now, so I suppose every other team in the league is as excited about Colvin as I am.

 

[Bostonian1962]

No offense to the orginal poster, but AJ you are correct. Colvin was so overrated by so many hometown fans. Watch the film. He usually was not a factor. I've seem so many similar comments and just scratch my head.

I bet if I looked hard enough I could find the occasional "the Pats will regret letting Colvin go" comments, but I'm not going to do so.

If BB wanted him, he could probably get him for the veteran minimum right now, so I suppose every other team in the league is as excited about Colvin as I am.

I meant to mention that I too, would not mind seeing Crable getting some time. I'm quite sure we could at LEAST get the 4 sacks, 27 total tackles, and 2 passes defended that we got from Colvin last year.

 

[Rob0729]

Vrabel got two sacks week one. Thomas got sacks in each of the first two weeks. The Pats sacked the QB 4 times in week one against the Chiefs. Favre was sacked twice in week 2 and pressured a number of times.

Yes, the pass rush sucked against the Dolphins, but it was one game out of three where it was the case. Once again, this is a perception is reality and reality is ignored scenario. The pass rush hasn't been bad this year other than one game and the OLB spot hasn't been the problem except maybe in coverage and that wasn't Colvin's strength either.

 

[cstjohn17]

I don't know if Colvin has anything left but as much as I like AD on the outside the defense was better when he was on the inside.

2007 key stats - games with Colvin vs. games without
PPG Against - 16.8 with, 17.8 without
Rushing YPG Against - 86 before - 124 without
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pXWJyKsM-8kvWJW3RwajPLg&hl=en

Currently the Pats have serious issues at ILB, Bruschi (father time) and Mayo (learning on the job) cannot cover worth a lick and are slow to fill the hole, even when they do fill the gap they are a little undersized. My ideal situation would be to use Thomas all over the field with at least 50% of his snaps coming inside with Mayo (this includes all 3rd downs and passing situations). Thomas offers the potential of an inside blitz and is the best coverage LB they have. The rub is that if Thomas moves inside they need a capable end rusher, Colvin filled that role and also brought a little swagger. To this point neither Woods or Crable have proven they can get to the QB. As the season progresses the Pats can't continue to have Bruschi, Mayo, Harrison and Merriweather all on the field at once. They are either too slow or too lost to stop the pass.

 

[dtbrks]

I don't know if Colvin has anything left but as much as I like AD on the outside the defense was better when he was on the inside.

2007 key stats - games with Colvin vs. games without
PPG Against - 16.8 with, 17.8 without
Rushing YPG Against - 86 before - 124 without
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pXWJyKsM-8kvWJW3RwajPLg&hl=en

Currently the Pats have serious issues at ILB, Bruschi (father time) and Mayo (learning on the job) cannot cover worth a lick and are slow to fill the hole, even when they do fill the gap they are a little undersized. My ideal situation would be to use Thomas all over the field with at least 50% of his snaps coming inside with Mayo (this includes all 3rd downs and passing situations). Thomas offers the potential of an inside blitz and is the best coverage LB they have. The rub is that if Thomas moves inside they need a capable end rusher, Colvin filled that role and also brought a little swagger. To this point neither Woods or Crable have proven they can get to the QB. As the season progresses the Pats can't continue to have Bruschi, Mayo, Harrison and Merriweather all on the field at once. They are either too slow or too lost to stop the pass.

Thanks. What I remember of Colvin is him setting the edge well on running plays. I also remember Reiss bringing this up after colvin went down (running D got worse)

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I agree with the author. The defense was better last year with a healthy Colvin starting. Statistics may or may not be misleading. He did not sack the QB every time but he did create pressure; pressure that might have got to Eli during the final drive of the Super Bowl. Is it a coincidence that the defense looked vulnerable when Colvin went to the DL?

Having wrote all of that, I doubt he can help us this year unless he is 100% healed.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

I agree with the author. The defense was better last year with a healthy Colvin starting. Statistics may or may not be misleading. He did not sack the QB every time but he did create pressure; pressure that might have got to Eli during the final drive of the Super Bowl. Is it a coincidence that the defense looked vulnerable when Colvin went to the DL?

Having wrote all of that, I doubt he can help us this year unless he is 100% healed.

They looked better last year because the team was up by three touchdowns every game and it made the opposing team's offense one dimensional and easier to dissect.