Is that it?

[Richard Camembert]

:horn: Welcome to the roller coaster ride of 2010, he's Coach Belichick, he'll be in charge of the safety brakes for this ride - you really don't want to ride without a seatbelt. :woohoo:

This qquote sums it up IMO. The sky is not falling, and most of my points have been discussed elsewhere, but...

1. IMO we need three beasts up front to play 3-4, and we have one beast up front. Last year one spot was manned (generally ineffectively) by Wright/Green, we lost Green, and now we also have to replace Ty. To me Brace/Prior/Deaderick/Love have to show something to prove they can play at this level, let alone prove they are more than JAG. Fingers crossed for that.

2. The secondary, which already looked vulnerable at CB, looks even weaker without Bodden. We're probably gonna have Butler, McCourty, and Wheatley in nickel. All I can say at this point is, yikes. More physical? Bodden was very physical, Butler can be a little too physical, I just worry if they can stay with a guy. OK, Chung will be better than McGowan in coverage, and S isn't overall too much of a concern. But I also anticipate less of a pass rush this year than last year, and that means this unit is going to be exposed time to time. McCourty is getting thrown to the wolves, I hope he can handle it.

3. I'm not as concerned about OLB as many are, since they had Afalius there last year, and JAGs like Murrell or Nink or Cunningham should be able to equal, at least, what he did. Still this unit is also not scary.

4. ILB looks like a work in progress. Others have posted about the necessity for Mayo and Spikes to work together and they aren't there yet. Individually they have looked okay so far, but they clearly are going to take this season to develop the heart of the D.

5. On a larger level, NE is crying for some kind of defensive playmaker. Bruschi, Vrabel, Willie Mac, Rodney, and Seymour aren't walking through that door and I understand that those special days are over. But somebody needs to step up and make some stops or we're gonna see a bunch of those nauseating, soul-crushing 14-play, 9 minute drives.

6. I do trust in BB, his ethos, his system, and his coaching. This is obviously an almost completely rebuilt D and I think it'll be exciting to watch this group gel, and I look forward to the season. Hang on to your hats!

 

[RayClay]

Don't forget hitting the outside of the tube with hammers so you'll enjoy the wait.

Well, they do have to make it look official. Ever had one? It's fun for claustrophobics. I believe they have open ones now.

But to clarify, a high ankle sprain is a different injury to different ligaments. Definitely would want to know if that's what's in play, treatment wise.

 

[Patspsycho]

Well, they do have to make it look official. Ever had one? It's fun for claustrophobics. I believe they have open ones now.

But to clarify, a high ankle sprain is a different injury to different ligaments. Definitely would want to know if that's what's in play, treatment wise.

I have had a high ankle sprain from when I used to play hoops and it can be nasty. You have to respect that kind of thing and take care of it or it'll linger all season long.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I have my reservations about this starting 'D'.

The only reservations you should have about this starting 'D' should be airfare to Dallas and hotel accommodations in Dallas for the weekend of Feb 6th.

GO PATRIOTS!!!!

 

[PatsBoy12]

This qquote sums it up IMO. The sky is not falling, and most of my points have been discussed elsewhere, but...

1. IMO we need three beasts up front to play 3-4, and we have one beast up front. Last year one spot was manned (generally ineffectively) by Wright/Green, we lost Green, and now we also have to replace Ty. To me Brace/Prior/Deaderick/Love have to show something to prove they can play at this level, let alone prove they are more than JAG. Fingers crossed for that.

2. The secondary, which already looked vulnerable at CB, looks even weaker without Bodden. We're probably gonna have Butler, McCourty, and Wheatley in nickel. All I can say at this point is, yikes. More physical? Bodden was very physical, Butler can be a little too physical, I just worry if they can stay with a guy. OK, Chung will be better than McGowan in coverage, and S isn't overall too much of a concern. But I also anticipate less of a pass rush this year than last year, and that means this unit is going to be exposed time to time. McCourty is getting thrown to the wolves, I hope he can handle it.

3. I'm not as concerned about OLB as many are, since they had Afalius there last year, and JAGs like Murrell or Nink or Cunningham should be able to equal, at least, what he did. Still this unit is also not scary.

4. ILB looks like a work in progress. Others have posted about the necessity for Mayo and Spikes to work together and they aren't there yet. Individually they have looked okay so far, but they clearly are going to take this season to develop the heart of the D.

5. On a larger level, NE is crying for some kind of defensive playmaker. Bruschi, Vrabel, Willie Mac, Rodney, and Seymour aren't walking through that door and I understand that those special days are over. But somebody needs to step up and make some stops or we're gonna see a bunch of those nauseating, soul-crushing 14-play, 9 minute drives.

6. I do trust in BB, his ethos, his system, and his coaching. This is obviously an almost completely rebuilt D and I think it'll be exciting to watch this group gel, and I look forward to the season. Hang on to your hats!

I'm certainly not flaming here or trying to call you out so don't go getting too defensive, but the two statements in red seem to be contradictory to some degree. I know pressure and pass rush don't only come from the edge, but they mostly do . . . so I don't know how you can say you see less of a pass rush in the upcoming season while not being concerned with with/for the positions where said pass rush primarily comes from.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Well, they do have to make it look official. Ever had one? It's fun for claustrophobics. I believe they have open ones now.

But to clarify, a high ankle sprain is a different injury to different ligaments. Definitely would want to know if that's what's in play, treatment wise.

Several, and the open ones do little to relieve claustrophobia, nor are they any quieter.

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

The only reservations you should have about this starting 'D' should be airfare to Dallas and hotel accommodations in Dallas for the weekend of Feb 6th.

GO PATRIOTS!!!!

I like how you are thinking. I agree. But as another poster said, I don't want to see those long, clock eating drives by other team offenses. The defense, as it currently looks does not give a lot of confidence that they are going to get off of the field in 3rd and long situations (especially when TBC gets a roughing the passer penalty).

 

[Betterthanmost]

I am not concerned at all. What exactly did we lose on this defense? AD and Burgess both of who were terrible off the edge. We have McCourty and Butler at cornerbacks and while Bodden is a loss at one end, the other end is an upgrade no matter how you put it, because last year we either had Wilhite or Springs there.

Patspsycho, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes I wonder if you have it in you to see any negative in this team if indeed there was one.
I have learned so much from your post and always look out for your post in depressing threads to get a lifts up, but sometimes I just wonder...

 

[WhiZa]

I don't expect improvement from last year's D, but I am more looking forward to watching the growth of the young players on the team. If these guys are our future they need to step up. If not, I may start having a drinking problem

 

[Patspsycho]

Patspsycho, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes I wonder if you have it in you to see any negative in this team if indeed there was one.
I have learned so much from your post and always look out for your post in depressing threads to get a lifts up, but sometimes I just wonder...

That's because I don't have very high expectations. I don't expect us to go 16-0 and I don't expect 14-2. I think 12-4 is realistic from where we are at in this stage of rebuilding.

That being said, we were 10-6, and a total of 5 points from being 13-3 last year IIRC.

The one big problem I believe that we have carrying over from last year is the youth and inexperience of our D corp. Communication is pretty poor, and assigments get dropped and mixed up, especially the handoffs. Satz pointed out that this has contributed to their tendency to default into the base cover 2 (where you see the hated cushions) every time they see someone flex out, ghost, or split wide. The DBs have to learn to talk every time they see a stack, trips, or bunch.

The bottom line is that the faults that I see with this team are easily correctable. They are not talent-related, and now, they are no longer work related.

If you thought I was generally optimistic. It's a good thing you didn't see me in '90!

 

[Richard Camembert]

I'm certainly not flaming here or trying to call you out so don't go getting too defensive, but the two statements in red seem to be contradictory to some degree. I know pressure and pass rush don't only come from the edge, but they mostly do . . . so I don't know how you can say you see less of a pass rush in the upcoming season while not being concerned with with/for the positions where said pass rush primarily comes from.

No offense taken, I'm here to learn. IMO the pass rush will be weaker due in part to releasing Burgess, who was second in sacks and tied for first in pressures on the team. Shocked? I was. Who's going to replace that production? Idk. Yet he wasn't an OLB for us either, technically. I didn't address him in my post and I know a lot of folks were not displeased to see him go, but the numbers say he made plays more often than the rest.

 

[cupofjoe1962]

I hear Slater won the Jim Koch home brew contest.

So you can pony up $7.50 at the games to drink the suds that
Slater brewed up in the Pats rehab tub during training camp.

 

[PatsBoy12]

No offense taken, I'm here to learn. IMO the pass rush will be weaker due in part to releasing Burgess, who was second in sacks and tied for first in pressures on the team. Shocked? I was. Who's going to replace that production? Idk. Yet he wasn't an OLB for us either, technically. I didn't address him in my post and I know a lot of folks were not displeased to see him go, but the numbers say he made plays more often than the rest.

I hear you. I'm among the surprised crowd, as I thought he'd make the team for sure. I don't know yet if I'm disappointed or not, though. I guess part of me realized he did absolutely nothing in the preseason, but the other part of me felt like those games were his training camp since he missed the real training camp. I think the move would have surprised me less if Cunningham had played and showed potential.