Positives = New folks getting experience

[b72s]

By the end of the season the secondary should improve Butler, Wilhite, Merriweather etc,

I was hoping LB situation can but I am doubtful Burgess seems lost, Guyton good in coverage...Tully is ok.

Defensive line we need Warren, Green Wright to step up pressure as everyone double teaming Wilfork. Pryor I do not know maybe a Brace experiment????

In summary in this order we get better defensively

1. Secondary
2. D-line
3. LBs

O Line just needs to get healthy as well plus a fresh pair of RBs Morris and Taylor would be nice.

 

[upstater1]

I always agreed with people that we can't write off our 1st and 2nd year players off so quickly...

But I am definitely ready to write off one of the kids.

Wilhite doesn't seem to possess the natural ball skills that are necessary at his position. He fooled people for awhile because he has good instincts, good hips, OK speed, and can stay with WRs. But he has no presence out there, and does not tackle well.

 

[satz]

whilite is playing this year .Last year he was in and out but never got a chance to play everyweek.ALL of us see different stuff i see a corner who is with the WR and just 1/2 step from making a play. He has excellent position and is on the WR hip.Needs that 1/2 step that will come with experience. With experience he will regonize the route faster and that 1/2 step will come.
another 1/2 step he would have knocked alot of balls.He will be very good.

butler is a speedster but whilite plays with better technique.Butler needs to develop technique and regonizing skills.

Mayo and Guyton are having a good season.I would think we need another ILB giving the flexability to use guyton on the outside in coverage/passrush similar to his 4-3 OLB he played in colleage.

Next draft i would like to see a high pick wr.olb and a low pick one too.
2 WR and 2 OLB.

 

[MrTibbs]

The Patriots right now are so bad off and lack any sort of play makers on defense and are totaly one dimensional on offense that they have a LONG LONG ways to go. Add in subpar cordinators on both sides of the ball and your talking a team that really isn't much better then say the Packers or Texans.

The Patriots got annihilated by the Saints. How is it the Jets, RAMS....THE freakin RAMS! along with the Panthers, Falcons and Phins who were destroying them could put up a better fight then the Patriots. There is one thing all those teams have in common, they can run the dang football consistantly. I thought the Patriots did ok early on but Maroney got two carries in the second half. That my friends is piss poor game management and panic set in early.

When the Redskins give them a better game then the Patriots we will hear all the excuses about "oh the Saints are burned out from the Patriots game". Let's face it, the defense is god awful and lacks talent. Are you prepared for another offseason of them trading out of the first round into the late 2nd looking for scrubs...errr I mean value?

 

[JFK]

Wilhite is shows potential but he always gets schooled. He should learn how to make plays on the ball. he never does.I think he tackles ok for a CB...
No one really knows how Butler would end up but we hope for the best.

Hopefully Crable is not a total waste. His first two years were wastes and I know he wasn't really injured. He just needed to add weight to play his position.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Wilhite is shows potential but he always gets schooled. He should learn how to make plays on the ball. he never does.I think he tackles ok for a CB...
No one really knows how Butler would end up but we hope for the best.

Hopefully Crable is not a total waste. His first two years were wastes and I know he wasn't really injured. He just needed to add weight to play his position.

I thought that also. I noticed that he seemed faster this preseason than his first. He will probably be jacked next year after completing his 2year binge exercising routine.

 

[Schmo]

The fact that Wilhite has impressed the coaching staff enough to be in the position to start is way more than anyone expected of him when he was drafted. I agree that he has been behind on plays quite often, but I'm not going to get down on him just because of how much he has improved. If he continues to improve, we will not be dissatisfied with his play come this time next year.

I guess we could throw Wheatley out there and expect him to shut down recievers.

 

[mgteich]

Perhaps we should consider Belichick's evaluation that Hobbs was so bad that he would rather depend on both Wilhite and Wheatley. Never mind seeing whether Hobbs was better than Wilhite as a starter. Apparently, Hobbs wasn't good enough to bring back as a dime back and returner. This is how much confidence Belichick has in Wilhite and Wheatley. Are we saying that belichick, after all these years, is incapable of evaluating talent in the secondary? We know he has trouble evaluating receivers and tight ends, but defenseive players should be another story entirely.

Many of us didn't like the idea of Hobbs starting. We considered him a nickel or dime back, and an excellent returner. We thought that this was a valuable position on the team. Other said that he failed as a started so he should be cut. That is sort of like wanting to cut Aiken if he started as the #1 receiver and didn't look good. The issue is that we need a better starter than Hobbs.

The fact that Wilhite has impressed the coaching staff enough to be in the position to start is way more than anyone expected of him when he was drafted. I agree that he has been behind on plays quite often, but I'm not going to get down on him just because of how much he has improved. If he continues to improve, we will not be dissatisfied with his play come this time next year.

I guess we could throw Wheatley out there and expect him to shut down recievers.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Perhaps we should consider Belichick's evaluation that Hobbs was so bad that he would rather depend on both Wilhite and Wheatley. Never mind seeing whether Hobbs was better than Wilhite as a starter. Apparently, Hobbs wasn't good enough to bring back as a dime back and returner. This is how much confidence Belichick has in Wilhite and Wheatley. Are we saying that belichick, after all these years, is incapable of evaluating talent in the secondary? We know he has trouble evaluating receivers and tight ends, but defenseive players should be another story entirely.

You're projecting here a bit: Belichick decided that two fifth-round picks—which he turned into Rich Ohrnberger and Jake Ingram, IIRC—were better than keeping Hobbs around at his fifth-year salary of $2.5M+.

 

[NickOGS20]

The Patriots got annihilated by the Saints. How is it the Jets, RAMS....THE freakin RAMS! along with the Panthers, Falcons and Phins who were destroying them could put up a better fight then the Patriots.

Erm, that's incredibly simplistic. Being undefeated takes it out of a team, it's no surprise the Saints maybe eased off the gas, or got a bit complacent, against lesser teams like the Rams. They've upped their game against the bigger/better teams all season (check their results against the Giants and Eagles for starters) and they did that again on Monday, in a big nationally televised prime-time home game against one of the league's elite teams (in terms of reputation at least).

 

[emoney_33]

The Patriots right now are so bad off and lack any sort of play makers on defense and are totaly one dimensional on offense that they have a LONG LONG ways to go. Add in subpar cordinators on both sides of the ball and your talking a team that really isn't much better then say the Packers or Texans.

The Patriots got annihilated by the Saints. How is it the Jets, RAMS....THE freakin RAMS! along with the Panthers, Falcons and Phins who were destroying them could put up a better fight then the Patriots. There is one thing all those teams have in common, they can run the dang football consistantly. I thought the Patriots did ok early on but Maroney got two carries in the second half. That my friends is piss poor game management and panic set in early.

When the Redskins give them a better game then the Patriots we will hear all the excuses about "oh the Saints are burned out from the Patriots game". Let's face it, the defense is god awful and lacks talent. Are you prepared for another offseason of them trading out of the first round into the late 2nd looking for scrubs...errr I mean value?

We beat the Falcons, Phins and Jets, but your point is.... wait what's your point again?

 

[upstater1]

Perhaps we should consider Belichick's evaluation that Hobbs was so bad that he would rather depend on both Wilhite and Wheatley. Never mind seeing whether Hobbs was better than Wilhite as a starter. Apparently, Hobbs wasn't good enough to bring back as a dime back and returner. This is how much confidence Belichick has in Wilhite and Wheatley. Are we saying that belichick, after all these years, is incapable of evaluating talent in the secondary? We know he has trouble evaluating receivers and tight ends, but defenseive players should be another story entirely.

Many of us didn't like the idea of Hobbs starting. We considered him a nickel or dime back, and an excellent returner. We thought that this was a valuable position on the team. Other said that he failed as a started so he should be cut. That is sort of like wanting to cut Aiken if he started as the #1 receiver and didn't look good. The issue is that we need a better starter than Hobbs.

Well, BB isn't infallible. Brock Williams, Starks, etc. I do have faith in him but he can't hit on each player. A lot of times, in practice or judging in drills, you look at a player's physical capabilities and instincts, and Wilhite certainly fills the bill there. But once you get to the games you need the ball skills as well.

Put it this way: after the first series of the second half, Butler took over.

 

[b72s]

Crable

I was hoping more from him...

We have been horrible drafting LBs and worse in Free Agency???

I hope for something to happen there in offseason for a better edge and pass rush

 

[BradysBunch12]

There are no moral victories with a team that has Tom Brady in his prime. Anything less than a championship is unacceptable. Save the "defense is getting more experience" for Detroit.

 

[Bill B.]

There are no moral victories with a team that has Tom Brady in his prime. Anything less than a championship is unacceptable. Save the "defense is getting more experience" for Detroit.

Just to put things in perspective, Joe Montana played 16 years and won 4 Super Bowls. That's 12 years that he played when he did not win Championships.

 

[Satchboogie3]

Positives? Really? Positives after getting blown out by the Saints and still being winless on the road when it's already December? Yeah, I don't see any positives here...

 

[muzz]

I think the order is incorrect, Monday Night we got annihilated in the TRENCHES, we couldn't get pressure, and we couldn't stop them from crowding Tom.

The Trenches are where we need help IMHO, Neal can't stay healthy, Kazcur seems to have that Turnstyle Imitation down pat, Light is mediocre.

DL?
Don't make me laugh, we haven't been able to get pressure in years with our front, and we really only have Mayo for LBS, and he's probably not healthy as he hasn't done JACK ,Guyton is still unproven, TBC is OK- but he's no star player- he's JAG.

I think the secondary problem is second to the Lines Problem, that'd be BOTH Lines.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I am so sick and tired of watching other teams collapse our pocket like we had 2nd graders in there, and they were stealing our lunch $, yet our DL look like the 2nd graders trying to get on a ride at the park, only to stand next to the line and get told they are too short to get on.

Win and Lose in the Trenches