I Am Concerned About Our Run Defense Now. Here's Why

[Jimke]

I'm not as concerned about our run defense as much as I am about

our porous pass defense. We may make Kyle Boller look like Peyton

Manning. The score of this game may be 49 to 42.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Moveable pieces are AD (ILB/OLB), Rodney (S/OLB?), and I'd like to know whether Meriweather can play FS or not.

If Meriweather can play FS and Sanders is at SS, then on running downs we could have Rodney as an OLB and AD at ILB, and on passing downs shift AD over to OLB and Rodney back to SS. I'd really like to keep the Bruschi/Seau rotation going, these guys are old and should stay fresh by playing part time.

since we haven't seen merriweather much i think this is highly unlikely. i think if wilson comes back you might see rodney at times at weakside lb like he has against witten and clark.

i think there will be alot of rotation and multiple packages. the key is keeping the guys fresh by rotating them. colvin is a big loss but this team has proven to overcome injuries.

 

[Snarf]

Yes, the Pats run defense sucks.

Time to panic.

They haven't lost a godamn game and you're panicing.

Dumbass.

 

[captain stone]

With Colvin going to IR, AD shifts to outside linebacker and we have Tedy and Junior in the middle, who are both average at this point and also injury risks.

Additionally, our 3rd-and-short and goal-line defense wasn't impressive even before Colvin went down. For some reason Mike Wright is in the short yardage packages, and I have noticed all season that teams run right at him and always pick up the 1st down or touchdown, he isn't stout at the point of attack.

I think our outside pressure and play will continue to be great, that Adalius will be a beast outside, but our inside linebacking corps just got worse, and we were never strong in short yardage defense in the first place. Chad Brown is not the answer in any way.

I think we'll be okay as long as we lead (which will be most of the time). But tough short yardage and inside running defense is our achilles heel now. Thoughts.. ?

I completely agree. Mike Wright was useless in the short-yardage package. He is a 3-4 DE, and a 4-3 DT in passing situations. And Chad Brown is only the answer to the question: who is the worst FA OLB on the street?

 

[maverick4]

Our Run D has some problems, not a big deal but noticeable enough if it comes down to it:
- Big Sey isn't the same player, he's getting blown off the ball, is he still hurt from last year?
- AD is a stud rusher, but maybe a little worse than Colvin covering the run from OLB.
- Mike Wright is still the weak link on 3rd and short and goal-line.
- Bruschi and Seau are average in the middle.

 

[maverick4]

I noticed that on a few runs by Parker or Davenport, they ran right at Bruschi and Rodney, who were both pushed out by blockers, and ended up going for 15+ yards.

Adalius is suspect, and the Bruschi/Rodney side is getting weak.