Interesting insider thoughts on D: Ty, Mayo, D-Mac

[long distance]

I guess its time to turn the D debate away from talent and the past and turn to the next two months with what we have. First, I do believe there is enough talent on this D - most people here were very excited about the same personnel (minus Collins) not so long ago. Second, there's no significant talent coming in so its kind of futile at this point. Third, makes no sense to overplay talent in ultimate team sport (look no further than Pats OL, RB)

While it was painful to see CJ Prosise - who looked like a poor man's J White up until this game - running and receiving at will .. and Wilson walking through the 20's in a blink of an eye .. and SEA OL that was a joke of the league looking like pro bowl etc .. and while it is still unfortunate to follow the CB carousel where nothing outside Butler sticks .. I believe there is enough time to fix this unit, find some spark and consistency which might be all that's missing to become a solid, good enough unit to support the great O.

Here are some good points from Pats D players of the BB era:

The Chalkboard: Jerod Mayo on some of the Patriots defensive struggles
The Chalkboard: Jerod Mayo on some of the Patriots defensive struggles

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I think what Ty Law says is particularly interesting. The big plays bring the energy and MP's job should be to put his players in more opportunities to make big plays. There was a lot of energy in this unit in the preseason and even in first games .. maybe also because this same players people are questioning their talent now simply were put in more opportunities. But its not only on coaches - and thats a great point Ty is making - the D players need to get their pride back - one way or the other. The OL and RB did a great job in getting their pride back. Its the D turn now.

 

[luuked]

I guess this 3 game stretch with preseason caliber opponents is just the thing the doctor ordered then.

@49ers, @Jets and vs. Rams should be a good jump starter to rebuilt confidence and work on deficiencies. Then we increase the level of difficulty to "medium" against the Ravens, and have our final test before playoffs @Denver.

We should have a good idea if the team trends into the right direction in about a month.

 

[slash83]

If Mayo is confident the defense will get better I tend to trust his experience and word.

Couldn't agree more with Law. Man I miss seeing him Rodney, Bruschi and co play defense.

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[Sicilian]

Does that graphic say 28 points per game allowed since trading Jamie Collins? I think it's 31 ppg, because they've only played ONE GAME SINCE TRADING HIM. 1) Who thinks it's a good idea to flash a "per game" stat after one game, and 2) What math genius thinks 31 divided by 1 is 28!?

It's too early for this man. I apologize.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Thanks for a very even post, OP...not too high or low. The board needed it.

 

[Ross12]

Does that graphic say 28 points per game allowed since trading Jamie Collins? I think it's 31 ppg, because they've only played ONE GAME SINCE TRADING HIM. 1) Who thinks it's a good idea to flash a "per game" stat after one game, and 2) What math genius thinks 31 divided by 1 is 28!?

It's too early for this man. I apologize.

It's that Common Core, man.

 

[jimnance]

Ty Law is damn right!

 

[Joey007]

Does that graphic say 28 points per game allowed since trading Jamie Collins? I think it's 31 ppg, because they've only played ONE GAME SINCE TRADING HIM. 1) Who thinks it's a good idea to flash a "per game" stat after one game, and 2) What math genius thinks 31 divided by 1 is 28!?

It's too early for this man. I apologize.

Must've thought he was traded before Buffalo game

Gotta love Ty. I miss having turnover machines like him on this defense. McCourty was that his rookie year. Wish he'd get back to that.

 

[long distance]

One thing that will be interesting to monitor is how they evaluated Roberts as one-man sub for Collins and McClellin as passing down LB. On occasion they both looked out of place (though they were not the only ones), McC much more than Roberts.

I guess the extensive use of Roberts was not only the “next man up“ thing or that they would really believe he can completely replace Collins .. might've been more like combination of lets see what he can do in a circumstance where they don't have better trust in McClellin and Mingo and Van Noy would not be on the same page yet.

I posted before that I expected Roberts and McClellin to be the first options for SEA game. Since it didin't work out that well now it will be interesting what will they do with the rotation at LB? Will Mingo finally get more chance? How ready (and capable) is Van Noy? What to do with McClellin who is on 9M contract (half of that already guaranteed)? Is Ninkovich joining the corps more?

If we forget about talent and execution debate for a moment one thing that was visibly lacking on the D was the speed. In my opinion this D needs more speed and now Id like to see in the next couple of games if Mingo and Van Noy can bring that without sacrificing the don't brake thing. The other thing that might turn on the speed is the exotic D looks with lighter personnel on passing downs. We saw a lot of that in the preseason and were excited (and Mingo showed there that he can be very efficient in this kinds of situations) so maybe its time for some of that as well.

 

[TomPatriot]

I think the answer is "do your job." Good example: Wilson's TD pass to Baldwin in the red zone. Logan Ryan looked like he was either surprised Baldwin was running a go or thought he had help over the top even though there was a 5 man rush. Or maybe there wasn't supposed to be a 5 man rush. Any way you look at it someone missed his assignment: TD Seattle. There was too much of this nonsense on Sunday night.