Patriots D in 2008 - IMPROVED

[Wildo7]

Has anyone mentioned Pierre Woods yet? I feel like he could become a big factor this year same as Merriweather.

 

[Relentless649]

THe D will definately be better that last year

 

[cstjohn17]

Great statements, but they lead me to the opposite conclusion

Interesting choice of words that I put in bold. Your thinking is solid...Pats score 30 ppg and allow 17 ppg, they should win most of them. I think Belichick looks for consistency in situations, not averaged across games. Red zone, 3rd/4th down, 2 minute. The defense was fairly inconsistent in these situations. Averaged over a year, the stats look very good. But when it is one-n-done, that inconsistency can be a killer. As we are all painfully aware.

Your opening is the essence of internet debate... I guess that is what makes it interesting.

I believe your final paragraph is referring to the Superbowl, even when every miracle broke the Giants way the defense still only allowed 17 points. It was the offense that fell 21 points below their average.

I stand by my belief, the defense will be good in 08 but not as good in 07. The main reason, the 07 defense was damn good. If they didn't have hands of stone we would be talking about the best team of all time.

 

[FootballFanetic]

Have to disagree here:

1. Downgrade in the secondary--loss of Samuel, Gay and Ellis as safety depth is not made up for by Bryant, Webster (who will be lucky to stay healthy through Week 4) and a 2nd round draft pick most thought was a big reach. Meriweather having an extra year may help, but Rodney is another year older, which won't;

2. Mayo swaps in for Colvin (a loss for at least the first half of the year until Mayo gets his NFL feet under him)--then you've got Bruschi, Vrabel and Thomas (and Seau if he's back) all a year older. Those first two especially. Crable won't contribute much this year most likely.

3. The front 3 will be as good or better with Seymour healthy all year.

I'd say that 2 of your three areas will likely see a drop off, meaning the D itself will likely see a drop off. This also assumes that you have good injury luck like last year (what was it, only losing Colvin the last few games and Seymour the first part of the year), which isn't a given. It's a good thing your O still has Brady and Moss.....

 

[Metaphors]

I believe your final paragraph is referring to the Superbowl, even when every miracle broke the Giants way the defense still only allowed 17 points. It was the offense that fell 21 points below their average.

I stand by my belief, the defense will be good in 08 but not as good in 07. The main reason, the 07 defense was damn good. If they didn't have hands of stone we would be talking about the best team of all time.

I was actually referring to the playoffs in general. The '06 and '07 teams were the best in the NFL and didn't close the deal. Placing the blame on the defense in '06 or the offense in '07 really isn't overly productive. Belichick knew his offense was good enough to win it all in '06 but he knew changes were needed to get back to that level in '07. Same for the defense in '07.

Your beliefs are entirely reasonable and I agree that the '07 defense (including the coaches) was exceptional. Plenty talented enough to win the championship. They did have a fundamental flaw and that can be fatal in the playoffs. The '08 defense doesn't have to be statistically as good to be an improvement over '07. They just need to close up the hole in the middle of the field and force QBs to make decisions a little faster. I'm hopeful that the additions to the defense can do just that.

 

[Deus Irae]

Every team is sure they've improved in the offseason. It's going to be tough to improve on the #5 defense in the league. If the Patriots can do it, we just might be talking about another undefeated season.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Every team is sure they've improved in the offseason. It's going to be tough to improve on the #5 defense in the league. If the Patriots can do it, we just might be talking about another undefeated season.

True - but indeed if what you say is true about our Defense rolling out to support Samuel instead of Hobbs is true (that's not something that jumped out at me but I'll take your word for it) we could be better off going back to the intended defensive scheme.

It rings true that Samuel was jumping routes to go for the INT given his contract status - he wanted big stats in a big season and a big payday. That's a liability in our system and it would make sense that the defense would adjust.

Sure the team's INTs might be down next season as a result, but I've always been happy with a bend but don't break defense... and in a bend but don't break defense we could slip in terms of yards allowed, but as long as we remain solid in points allowed, I think we'd all be happy with that.