I posted a thread earlier in the season on Ninkovich, and "doing his job." He has been a very nice find, and a guy who plays with a lot of heart on this team.
Hopefully he steps it up again tomorrow, and we see the continued progression into a damn good football player at a very important time of the yr.
For us supposedly having so many "LB issues," the emergence of Ninkovich, Fletcher, Mayo, Spikes etc have proven to be an extremely formidable unit at times throughout the yr.
While I agree that we certainly could use that one last 'beastly' DE/OLB coming off the edge and drawing doubles like Big Sey did, these guys have done a good job playing both fronts this yr, and should be applauded.
The front 7 has NOT let us down as much as people tried to make out before the season started...maybe Belichick knew what he was doing after all?
That said, I have a strong feeling that we see that youth infusion via the draft this yr, even if it's not the best yr for that position. There's only so many positions that can be addressed. Belichick will have no other choice in my opinion, and we will see some kind of pick(s) in rounds 1-3 this yr.
When that happens (depending on the status of Anderson/Carter) we will have a much more experienced and deeper front 7, and the defense will take major strides into the season again. I just don't see any reason to believe otherwise.