Defense steps up today

[Darolyn72]

I have been a HUGE critic of this defense all season.

Small picture: They played well yesterday. Can't debate it.

Big Picture: Sanchez was getting rid of the ball faster than I thought, especially early in the game. He was throwing 4 yard passes on 6 yards to 1st down.

Next Week: Bryant, Witten Austin
Steelers - Wallace, Ward, Miller and co.
Giants - Hicks, Cruz
Jets again on the road.

I still don't know why they don't take a flyer on Darren Sharper. He is a playmaker and he couldn't hurt. Chung as you saw yesterday is bad in coverage. Or I wonder if you could pry Dawkins at the trade deadline for like a 3rd rounder or 4th rounder. The Colts picked up Booger McFarlane in 2006 and he had the only good 10 games of the season. A vet Safety could be like a Ted Washington move. That being said, they won't do it. The like their undrafted bad safeties.

 

[RIpats88]

the defense stepped up in this game and gave brady/pats offense the opportunity to get back on the field.

this is what posters who arent the "naysayers" have been saying all along....that the defense WILL IMPROVE...theres still issues..but its also something to note that we're only 5games in and if we can become a decent defense we have a shot at winning some playoff games...because right now IMO we have the best offense in the league and are goign to score 30pts on anyone/anyway whether its passing the ball 40times, or running 30times...we just have to keep the opposing offense off the field

 

[Kontradiction]

Not only the lackluster safety play--the Jets safeties play a lot more effectively, and I'm not just saying that because Eric Smith is a State product--but the slowness of Spikes in covering ground during pass plays.

Guyton is a tremendous player in covering ground, but Spikes is a downhill thumper for the running game. He's a liability for a QB who can better exploit it, and the Jets did a little.

From what I was able to see on the TV angle, Spikes wasn't in a whole lot of man to man coverage. I saw him playing in zone a good amount of passing downs (granted, this is when I COULD see him clearly). The safety play is, unfortunately, going to be a problem for our defense this entire year until we see whether or not Ihedigo can continue the good play or if his good play was simply because he was playing the Jets.

With both Haynesworth and Wolfork in in the second half the Jets running game halted. But I can't believe how out of shape Haynesworth is. He had those muscle cramps when he had hardly played. I give him credit, though, he came back.

Brushci touched on this today stating that back injuries can be really tricky for defensive linemen to recover from. He followed that by saying that this is very well the reason why he was out of game shape.

We desperately need the Invincible Wolfork to have more rest. I was happy to see he had at least a few plays off in the second half.

Agreed, though I'm not sure how "desperate" it is. Wilfork seems to be in very good shape for his size. That said, I'm sure he will play less snaps when the defensive line is fully healthy.

And Carter is a notch above Tully. Anderson is a pass rushing specialist.

Agreed. They both benefitted enormously from Haynesworth and Wilfork eating up double teams in front of them yesterday.

Why didn't Fletcher play? He seems a better pass defender than Spikes but a better run defender than Guyton?

Not too sure. Personally, I would rather see Fletcher in there for Mayo instead of Guyton, though.