I think Bill blew it with these cornerback signings

[condon84]

I think Collins would struggle lined up in a DE position one on one with a T.
I think he has tremendous value, though as a blitzer.
Very different skillset to be a down lineman rushing and the 5th or 6th rusher on a blitz.

I think he'll be an upgrade over Nink as an edge rusher on obvious passing downs.

 

[Ring 6]

I think he'll be an upgrade over Nink as an edge rusher on obvious passing downs.

I don't see it. Wish I did, but I love him in the LB where he is good both in coverage and as a blitzer.

 

[condon84]

I don't see it. Wish I did, but I love him in the LB where he is good both in coverage and as a blitzer.

Sure, ideally he stays in that position. My original point was that we need a more consistent pass rush. Chandler ran out of gas towards the end of the season and the only pressure we did end up creating was from a blitz. That also opens up holes in our secondary.

I don't know what BB is planning, but based on a lot of comments that we're building our own "Legion of Boom" from posters, that can only happen if we have the same pressure that the Hawks front 4 generate that allows their secondary to be as aggressive as they are.

I project from our current lineup of Nink, Jones/Kelly/Wilfork and Jones as our pass rushers on obvious passing situations. These guys are good in their own right, but falls short of the kind of upfield pressure the Hawks front 4 put forth on an every down basis.

Again, the signings are great. I just hope we also address our pass rush.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Just saw "A Football Life" again (the Bill edition.) I forgot about the part where he was saying "some people can't do math, some people have trouble with the English language" when he was talking about players. Specifically, it was right where he was talking about how Randy Moss was the smartest receiver he ever coached.

I guess I bring it up because of the intangibles factor - what they see and what they don't, that sort of thing.

 

[JMC00]

People really think Seattle's secondary success was because of their pass rush? It was the other way around. Guys didn't get open as quickly which gives the DL more time to get pressure.

With Revis and Browner the hope is those 1st and 2nd options won't be open which makes the QB go to the 3rd and 4th option. Which means more time holding the ball.

If Chandler Jones had 2-3 more seconds on certain plays this past season he would have been a 16-18 sack guy.

 

[strngplyr]

The Broncos face the NFC West and the AFC East this year, and the Patriots get them at home. If there's a playoff rematch, I'm praying it's in a windy, cold Gillette stadium.

Wow, Manning a year older, lost one of his biggest RZ targets, 2 (maybe 3?) OL that haven't been replaced yet, and he's facing the NFCW defenses, all 4 of which are pretty physical in their own rights, the Jets can't cover anyone but their DL can create havoc, and hopefully our secondary is as good and physical as we're hoping for...

Manning may have a rough year. A very rough year.

 

[Danger Zone]

People really think Seattle's secondary success was because of their pass rush? It was the other way around. Guys didn't get open as quickly which gives the DL more time to get pressure.

With Revis and Browner the hope is those 1st and 2nd options won't be open which makes the QB go to the 3rd and 4th option. Which means more time holding the ball.

If Chandler Jones had 2-3 more seconds on certain plays this past season he would have been a 16-18 sack guy.

Its all very Chicken and the Egg. Both are probably viable alternatives to each other (but still would rather have shutdown corners).

What gets me is that people are so rigid in their thinking about it that they can actually feel justified in criticizing Belichick for bringing in Revis and Browner.

 

[PATS16N0]

Shut down corners counter Peyton's quick release arguably more than an elite pass rush. Peyton doesn't handle adversity well either, so this is good. We should be able to give him plenty of adversity now. He didn't move the ball well against us in week #12 and that was with us having Talib and him having Decker. Now we have Revis and Browner and he has Sanders.

 

[supafly]

Wow, Manning a year older, lost one of his biggest RZ targets, 2 (maybe 3?) OL that haven't been replaced yet, and he's facing the NFCW defenses, all 4 of which are pretty physical in their own rights, the Jets can't cover anyone but their DL can create havoc, and hopefully our secondary is as good and physical as we're hoping for...

Manning may have a rough year. A very rough year.

With all due respect, I think some of this is just "hope" from Patriot fans.

Consider some of the following:

--Manning has always had one of the lowest sack totals in the NFL in every single season. He probably has the quickest release time of all QBs. Let's not act like Denver is suddenly losing all kinds of important players, because it's just not true. Zack Beadles can be replaced at the position of guard. I highly doubt anyone is losing sleep over it.

--They are in heavy pursuit of Washington's starting Center of the past few years, where they would move Ramirez over to the position of LG to fill the hole left by Beadles. It's his natural position anyway. That fills their hole right there.

--They played the entire 2013 season without their stud LT Ryan Clady, who is coming back for this year. If anything, their OL could very well be improved.

--Manning played with 3 or 4 starting centers since he's been there. None of them were all that special. If they end up getting Montgomery, there is a very good chance that they'll have improved their OL, not made it worse.

This is a major misconception based on the fact that SEA was pumped up and rode their momentum from the 2nd quarter on in the SB. Denver will be just fine no matter what. I think we need to worry about our own team. Just my opinion.

 

[supafly]

Shut down corners counter Peyton's quick release arguably more than an elite pass rush. Peyton doesn't handle adversity well either, so this is good. We should be able to give him plenty of adversity now. He didn't move the ball well against us in week #12 and that was with us having Talib and him having Decker. Now we have Revis and Browner and he has Sanders.

I agree with your thoughts that our improved secondary should put us in better position to handle Peyton Manning, but I also feel as though the wind played a huge role in our week 12 victory just the same.

Manning's lack of strength into the wind had a dramatic effect, and Belichick's use of putting the wind in his face in 3/5 quarters took its toll in that regard.

I'm glad we improved the secondary though, b/c I think that will obviously help a lot. Hopefully we can add a couple of players on the DL as well through the draft. That would enable us to address both DL + Secondary, where we could see major improvements.

 

[supafly]

Again, the signings are great. I just hope we also address our pass rush.

I think it's much easier to address the position of DL in the draft, than it is for the secondary.

We should be able to make an improvement in one/two areas of the front seven through the draft, along with the possibility of a cap casualty during the spring/summer.

Finding viable candidates for CB and S would have been much harder, although I still wouldn't be surprised in the least if they took a safety in the top 3 rounds again.

 

[captain stone]

The unfortunate matter is, the draft this year absolutely sucks for pass-rushing DEs.

Bill needs to cut Wilfork today, and sign Jared Allen tomorrow.

 

[Froob]

This has to be one of the more ridiculous threads of all time.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Speaking of Borges, has anyone seen how he is losing it on his Twitter account this week. He is even more douchey than usually is:

https://twitter.com/RonBorges

Man, why is he even on Twitter? Every tweet that he responds to is just Pats fans who know more about the team than he does calling him out on being a complete ******* idiot. He doesn't really stand to gain anything by engaging directly with the community.

 

[The Scrizz]

Its all very Chicken and the Egg. Both are probably viable alternatives to each other (but still would rather have shutdown corners).

What gets me is that people are so rigid in their thinking about it that they can actually feel justified in criticizing Belichick for bringing in Revis and Browner.

How many times has Jones been a second from getting to the QB? Seems it happens a lot. Revis and Browner get you that second.

 

[ensoul]

I am not going to go through 14 pages of posts but I do understand his gripes about this. The pass rush and the corner backs both sucked last season so overall the pass defense was awful.

This is a passing league and the new rules heavily favor the receivers. It seems like it is easier to get a guy or two that can rush the passer vs a guy that can be a solid corner. My guess is that is BB thinking as well so that is why he signed Revis and Browner.