How concerned are you about the defense?

[Kontradiction]

The cornerbacks are definitely a concern as most of us that were honest with ourselves about that unit expected them to be. Unless there is a trade, coaching and scheming will have to cover for that. Why people are defending the pass defense's performance Thursday night is beyond me. They got shredded by a team missing two of their top players and are very lucky Heyward-Bey had zero awareness in the end zone.

 

[VrabelJr]

Our very poor first half defense is what forced the offense to have to be perfect in the 2nd half of a lot of games, including two of the biggest games of the year.

So long as Gronk and Edelman stay healthy, the Oline continues to progress, and LaFell comes back and plays at the same level as last year, we're all good.

It's almost like our team is like a team or something?

 

[aluminum seats]

The cornerbacks are definitely a concern as most of us that were honest with ourselves about that unit expected them to be. Unless there is a trade, coaching and scheming will have to cover for that. Why people are defending the pass defense's performance Thursday night is beyond me. They got shredded by a team missing two of their top players and are very lucky Heyward-Bey had zero awareness in the end zone.

Yeah, I don't really think there's anything mysterious going on here.

The issue with this defense has been recognized by everyone from the beginning: the second and third cornerbacks. So, it's a matter of:

1)the front seven doing as much as they can to mitigate that deficiency

2) the existing cornerbacks improving

3) keeping an eye out for a pick up or two throughout the season

Pretty straightforward. And even now, the defense is good enough to win.

 

[FourierSeries]

It's almost like our team is like a team or something?

Of course. That's why our defense doesn't need to be anywhere near elite. Because other areas of our team are.

It would be nice if we could be stacked on both sides of the ball year after year, but this isn't Madden, unfortunately.

 

[aluminum seats]

One more point, and again nothing really new, but I do think Easley could be a significant piece here. Having a wildcard sort of pass rusher can help free up other guys and just make the secondary's job so much easier. Giants in 2007 had a mediocre secondary, but who cared?

Easley could be that guy that I sort of hoped Jones would be. Which is why I suspect next year is Chandler's last with the Pats. And as a further digression, that's why losing the picks sucks, because for whatever misfires he may have Belichick is a smart and foreward thinking GM, and in so many cases we haven't been forced to break the bank for somebody maybe not quite worthy, because their successor had already arrived.

 

[tasmlab]

Giving the opposing offense lots of yards and few points seems to be a strategy BB has been using for years it seems.

They seem to give the offense one or two things that work all the way down the field and then manage to stop it in the RZ.

This probably gives the opposing OC and QB a sense that they are playing productive football. It removes their sense of urgency to change the approach until the last 10 minutes where they finally realize they are losing badly. Then they score too late.

I was looking at stats from last year and it seemed to kind of pattern. The Broncos game for example. 470 of total yards but only 7 pts in the first half.

Last week against Pitt was the same. 80% of their offense yardage was just a waste of time.

I don't know if this true. I'm just a guy watching the games on TV. Maybe the defense is bad. But 2014, for example, had the Patriots 8th in points allowed and 1st in point differential despite giving lots of teams 300 and 400 yard games.

 

[Tom_Montana12]

I have a question for some of you more knowledgeable football fans on this site:

What are your opinions on who was a better run defender LAST season, Chandler Jones or Ninkovich?

I think it was pretty apparent that Jones was the better run defender last Thursday, but last year I felt like Nink was the superior run defender. I just want to hear some opinions from others.

 

[Nunchucks]

Ninko has always been a look weak setting the edge...he is no Vrabel. Jones is stronger on the edge

 

[aluminum seats]

Giving the opposing offense lots of yards and few points seems to be a strategy BB has been using for years it seems.

They seem to give the offense one or two things that work all the way down the field and then manage to stop it in the RZ.

This probably gives the opposing OC and QB a sense that they are playing productive football. It removes their sense of urgency to change the approach until the last 10 minutes where they finally realize they are losing badly. Then they score too late.

I was looking at stats from last year and it seemed to kind of pattern. The Broncos game for example. 470 of total yards but only 7 pts in the first half.

Last week against Pitt was the same. 80% of their offense yardage was just a waste of time.

I don't know if this true. I'm just a guy watching the games on TV. Maybe the defense is bad. But 2014, for example, had the Patriots 8th in points allowed and 1st in point differential despite giving lots of teams 300 and 400 yard games.

Bend but don't break...

 

[meatface]

I never make a judgement after one week, we shall see how this develops

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Our defense is one of the most efficient in the League, in that we tend to give up yardage, but are still able to prevent other teams from scoring. And we've been doing that fairly consistently for the last 4 years.

Speaking as a fan however, it is frustrating and nerve-racking to see opposing teams tear up our secondary and march downfield with apparent ease.

It'd be more fun to watch our defense be stingy and aggressive up front. After all, other teams excel at making teams pay for every yard they gain. So why can't we?

 

[Kdo5]

I'm pretty concerned about the secondary. I think the front seven will get better as we go along but I feel uneasy about our CB situation...obviously. Little confidence in Bradley Fletcher. Gotta hope that we don't suffer any injuries back (such as McCourty or Butler) there or it could get ugly.

 

[turkeyneck]

Our defense is one of the most efficient in the League, in that we tend to give up yardage, but are still able to prevent other teams from scoring. And we've been doing that fairly consistently for the last 4 years.

Speaking as a fan however, it is frustrating and nerve-racking to see opposing teams tear up our secondary and march downfield with apparent ease.

It'd be more fun to watch our defense be stingy and aggressive up front. After all, other teams excel at making teams pay for every yard they gain. So why can't we?

BB's bend but don't break defense is designed to make the other team spend a lot of time scoring, to really work for their points.

I just looked at 2014 regular season statistics. The Pats averaged a tad over 1:14 minutes per point scored. The opponent averaged about 1:54. Pats are much more time efficient in their scoring. If we take the ratio of these times, Pats/Opp, the season average was 0.66. In the wins, it is 0.52. That is the Pats score nearly twice as fast per minute of possession as the opponent. In Pats losses it swings the other way to 1.52.

BB's strategy is to avoid the lightning strikes and make the other team run in sand.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

the secondary is very concerning...especially if a JAG like tyrod tears us up.

.

False start, 5 yards. Play doesn't start until tomorrow. Take a chill pill or beverage, and see how it goes.

I have a question for some of you more knowledgeable football fans on this site:

What are your opinions on who was a better run defender LAST season, Chandler Jones or Ninkovich?

I think it was pretty apparent that Jones was the better run defender last Thursday, but last year I felt like Nink was the superior run defender. I just want to hear some opinions from others.

I don't want to call myself knowledgeable in present company, but as I an opinionated, I'll confidently say Jones. Nink set the edge fine, but Jones did it closer to the play and disengaged better. What Nink did last week looked like a combination of scheme, pinching-down inside - perhaps to buttress the light inside defenders; an inability to get upfield to force the play; and some strategic holding.

 

[TommyD4207]

.

False start, 5 yards. Play doesn't start until tomorrow. Take a chill pill or beverage, and see how it goes.



I don't want to call myself knowledgeable in present company, but as I an opinionated, I'll confidently say Jones. Nink set the edge fine, but Jones did it closer to the play and disengaged better. What Nink did last week looked like a combination of scheme, pinching-down inside - perhaps to buttress the light inside defenders; an inability to get upfield to force the play; and some strategic holding.

What Ninkovich did last week was suck.

He was pushed around, couldn't set the edge, couldn't get off blocks, couldn't tackle, couldn't chip people out of the backfield.

The vast majority of Pittsburgh's running plays went to where he was, when they rolled out, it was to his side, and they adjusted protections to the other side, because Ninkovich was absolutely terrible. Worse than he was in the Ravens playoff game this past season.

He needs to figure it out, or Sheard needs to get that starting job. Either/or works for me. Ninkovich's play was completely unacceptable. He was a traffic cone. For a guy who got a $2 million raise in the offseason for no reason, he's got to do better than that.

 

[Oswlek]

I have a question for some of you more knowledgeable football fans on this site:

What are your opinions on who was a better run defender LAST season, Chandler Jones or Ninkovich?

I think it was pretty apparent that Jones was the better run defender last Thursday, but last year I felt like Nink was the superior run defender. I just want to hear some opinions from others.

Nink was awful last Thursday, but he was the better run defender last year. Part of Jones' struggles were due to the team playing him out of position at times, but he regressed somewhat from the prior seasons.

All that said, I wouldn't expect this defense to look very good for at least a month... and I wouldn't be overly concerned if they look actively bad during that time. They start slow in the best of times, and this squad isn't the best of times. But give them a few months for Mad Bill to figure out what he has and they'll be no worse than competent by the time December rolls around.

 

[VrabelJr]

How the hell are people in here re-writing history to say that Chandler Jones is better at setting the edge than Rob Ninkovich? I'm baffled.

 

[TommyD4207]

How the hell are people in here re-writing history to say that Chandler Jones is better at setting the edge than Rob Ninkovich? I'm baffled.

Did you watch the game last week?

 

[VrabelJr]

Did you watch the game last week?

Ninkovich has one bad game, where he was mostly held because it never got called, and all of a sudden that undoes 3-4 seasons of him completely outplaying Chandler Jones and just about every LDE in the NFL at run defense?

 

[mgteich]

How the hell are people in here re-writing history to say that Chandler Jones is better at setting the edge than Rob Ninkovich? I'm baffled.

All it takes is one game where Ninkovich has trouble setting the edge. Of course, much of the problem would not even have been perceived if more holding calls were made.