Good analysis of the Sunday's Defense by Reiss

[DefenseRules]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/

October 23, 2007
Defensive look
By Mike Reiss, Globe Staff
From time to time, we'll take a look at the snaps played by defensive players. Some of these numbers might be slightly off, as charting the defense is more challenging than the offense because there are more players and combinations to account for. But the numbers can sometimes provide a general idea of a trend or theme.

From Sunday's game against the Dolphins, here is a breakdown of snaps played by defenders:

CB Ellis Hobbs -- 70 of 70 snaps
S James Sanders -- 68 of 70
OLB Rosevelt Colvin -- 63 of 70
S Rodney Harrison -- 59 of 70
OLB Mike Vrabel -- 58 of 70
ILB Adalius Thomas -- 58 of 70
CB Asante Samuel -- 57 of 70
DE Ty Warren -- 52 of 70
ILB Tedy Bruschi -- 44 of 70
DE Jarvis Green -- 44 of 70
ILB Junior Seau -- 38 of 70
NT Vince Wilfork -- 37 of 70
CB Randall Gay -- 32 of 70
S Brandon Meriweather -- 27 of 70
S Eugene Wilson -- 21 of 70
OLB Pierre Woods -- 15 of 70
DL Le Kevin Smith -- 14 of 70
DL Santonio Thomas -- 4 of 70

ANALYSIS: Eugene Wilson's numbers are a bit surprising -- he has been replaced by James Sanders as a starter but was the first defensive back in when the Patriots went to the nickel. Wilson's play-time numbers are a bit skewed based on the score. Rookie Brandon Meriweather got most of his time on the final three drives, a time in which Wilson probably would have been on the field if the score was closer. ... Playing with the lead, the Patriots went mostly with their nickel and dime packages in the second half, which helps explain some of the Dolphins' success in the running game. The Patriots were in a defense generally reserved for passing and the Dolphins were running. ... CB Asante Samuel missed eight plays in the first half after he was banged up making a tackle, then took a brief rest in the second half. ... Although only on the field for four snaps, DL Santonio Thomas drew a holding penalty. ... OLB Mike Vrabel continues to be a workhorse for the defense, and one switch was him lining up more on the defensive right instead of his regular position on the left. It looked like the Patriots felt the Dolphins would run more behind left tackle Vernon Carey, so they put Vrabel -- their best outside linebacker -- on that side.

I thought it was a good read. I'll be keeping an eye on the safety position in the future. If this trend continues, say goodbye to Eugene Wilson, IMO.

 

[BadMoFo]

I haven't heard anything about how Sanders do in the game. Did he look good out there?

 

[PatsRI]

Explains some of the run defense problems when you have Green, Tedy, Seau Wilfork and Warren playing only alittle over half the snaps.

 

[desi-patsfan]

wow i didnt Seau and Vince (mostly) played so little in that game. Big Vince has a way of killing the run game.

 

[aluminum seats]

wow i didnt Seau and Vince (mostly) played so little in that game. Big Vince has a way of killing the run game.

I plead ignorance on that, too. Makes me feel better about the D (not that I felt bad about it)--would seem that there's an effort to keep guys fresh, which is smart.

Actually, anybody know what percentage of plays a guy like Wilfork would normally play over the course of the season?

 

[Rob0729]

In hindsight, it isn't surprising that Vince didn't play so much considering they were in a nickel or dime package. He typically doesn't play on those downs. It also explains why we had problems against the run.

 

[BrianPat]

I say we backed off the old guys because of the heat ! Although, I hope someone is watching the temp in the dome, so when the Pats come into town, any abnormal rise in temperature will be documented.

If the Colts can't slowdown our pass attack, it'll be ugly ! From what I saw last night, I'm not sure they can.

 

[BelichickFan]

Actually, anybody know what percentage of plays a guy like Wilfork would normally play over the course of the season?

Against the Browns Vince played in 50 of 68. 74% vs. this week's 53%.

 

[patsox23]

I agree that this is good perspective to have, but the D does still need to tighten up the tackling. It's been poor. No reason to panic. I expect it will be much better this week.

 

[PatsRI]

Just for comparisons sake, and the fact that there is only one home game in a month and a half so I'm going insane, here are the snaps for some of the other games:

Bills:
CB Ellis Hobbs -- 50 of 50
LB Mike Vrabel -- 50 of 50
S James Sanders -- 44 of 50
CB Asante Samuel -- 42 of 50
DE Jarvis Green -- 41 of 50
ILB Adalius Thomas -- 41 of 50
OLB Rosevelt Colvin -- 39 of 50
NT Vince Wilfork -- 38 of 50
S Eugene Wilson -- 37 of 50
DE Ty Warren -- 34 of 50
ILB Junior Seau -- 32 of 50
CB Randall Gay -- 27 of 50
ILB Tedy Bruschi -- 22 of 50
S Rashad Baker -- 13 of 50
S Brandon Meriweather -- 13 of 50
NT Le Kevin Smith -- 10 of 50
DE Santonio Thomas -- 7 of 50
OLB Pierre Woods -- 7 of 50
ILB Eric Alexander -- 5 of 50

Browns:
S Eugene Wilson 68 of 68 snaps
CB Ellis Hobbs 67 of 68
OLB Mike Vrabel 66 of 68
CB Asante Samuel 63 of 68
OLB Rosevelt Colvin 55 of 68
DE Ty Warren 51 of 68
NT Vince Wilfork 50 of 68
ILB Junior Seau 49 of 68
ILB Tedy Bruschi 47 of 68
S James Sanders 47 of 68
DL Jarvis Green 46 of 68
CB Randall Gay 43 of 68
ILB Adalius Thomas 42 of 68
S Rodney Harrison 32 of 68
DL Mike Wright 17 of 68
S Brandon Meriweather 2 of 68

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I remember seeing the Pats use a lot of Jarvis Green on the nose as the lone DL, with Colvin and Vrabel lining up as the DEs and a big nickel/dime package behind them. The Pats jumped out to such a big early lead that they could freelance quite a bit in their defensive playcalling.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Fencer]

I find it interesting that snaps aren't more balanced among Hobbs/Samuel vs. Gay.

It seems as if he's never rotated in to give one of them a blow, unless they're a big banged up or something. Rather, he gets all his snaps in multi-DB sets.

And yeah -- of the three major FA DBs, I think Wilson is least likely to be re-signed.