Reiss concerned about Cunningham

[mgcolby]

Vince Wilfork had a second year slump too.

His issue was with technique, they moved him back off the line a bit and that cleared it up. Hopefully it is a technique issue with Cunningham as well.

I know it is Reiss, so it holds more water than most, but he is the first person to report on this (as far as I have read), hopefully there is something going on that Mike is not aware of. Because Cunningham needs to be one of the big improvement guys.

With that said I wouldn't be shocked to see a lot of the 2nd year guys throughout the league take a step back early on in the season. I think the lockout affected them a lot, second only to the rookies.

 

[vyrago]

I love Mike Reiss when he focuses on reporting the facts. When it comes to actually offering his opinion, he tends to been more miss than hit. This is plainly evident in his draft reviews..

Agreed. The Patriots almost never pickup a FA he's pushing or take his draft choices. Good reporter, lousy prognosticator.

 

[Joker]

Oh by-the-way I am outspoken and bossy... I am a chick~

so what are you trying to say...you're NORMAL?

 

[BradyFTW!]

It's only the 1st week of practice. There were no OTA. No Mini Camps. No supervised training. To expect Cunningham to miraculously gain new pass rushing moves by Osmosis is really setting the expectations unrealistically.

Agreed- not surprising at all to learn that he didn't add any new moves over the offseason. Did anyone really expect that he would? Besides, getting to the QB wasn't the problem last year; bringing him down was. If he added a bit of strength, then he should be fine I would think.

 

[Synovia]

How does one have a second year slump if the first year wasn't impressive in the first place?

How does one make comments when they know nothing?


Cunningham was a starter by the end of the year. Thats a lot more than is expected for a 2nd round pick.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I'm sure BB doesn't mind Reiss lighting a bit of a fire under Cunningham.

He's got a great opportunity and he should be smart enough to take advantage of it

 

[TimU]

BB has signed two DE's in the last 48 hours : Reiss may be on the right track here.

 

[JackBauer]

BB has signed two DE's in the last 48 hours : Reiss may be on the right track here.

What track might that be? That Cunningham has underwhelmed at a position he doesn't play?

 

[strngplyr]

What track might that be? That Cunningham has underwhelmed at a position he doesn't play?

Cunningham was a DE in college and has been lining up at DE in the 43. He only played OLB last year in the 34.

 

[SteveTheCat]

so what are you trying to say...you're NORMAL?

HA HA HA you have met a normal woman? What's here name... this chick I have to meet...

Pardon my humor is a bit amped saw Lisa Lampanelli last night still have a laughbuzz...

I'm kind of a clown~ But a sweet clown not an evil one
:singing:

 

[JackBauer]

Cunningham was a DE in college and has been lining up at DE in the 43. He only played OLB last year in the 34.

I'm aware, but somehow I don't think Mark Anderson and Shaun Ellis are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to Cunningham's progress.

 

[SteveTheCat]

I know a lot of people want us to have a lights out Pass Rush.. Well, I get it Clay Mathews is amazing to watch... But, I really do not think its a BB thing. He has never been a pass rush enthusiast. Our focus seems to be placed on an accelerated pass advance (by this I mean)

We are not focusing on sacking the QB, but dismantling their play. We have an outstanding CB in McCourty that I would put up against any CB ever (yeah ever) We are not building a team just to beat the Jets, but win every single game we play.

Some may know me as a long time poster at Fox and ISW I am a huge proponent of how effective Bill Belichick is at creating defensive lines that are offensively significant...

Remember the Colts game last year that minutes to go pick off by our defense. That's what I'm talking about right there folks~

 

[Joker]

yeah...well...welcome to Pats fans, Stevie.

If you like talking strategy, formations, playcalling and everything in between you've landed in the right place...we have over 20K members...I'd say 3/4's are righteous Patriots fans...and 50% of the rest are little green rat trolls posing as Pats fans or just being outright Jet fan-like...which means obnoxious, completely uneducated, boorish wastes of DNA.

One word of caution...you may want to stay out of the way if a capology or contract fight breaks out....it's not a pretty sight...

 

[LesPaul]

I think once the Pats switched to the 3-4 the main theme of the defence was the pass rush which helped them win 2 Super Bowls. In 2003 the Pats were 6th in sacks and 2004 were tied for 3rd.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I know a lot of people want us to have a lights out Pass Rush.. Well, I get it Clay Mathews is amazing to watch... But, I really do not think its a BB thing. He has never been a pass rush enthusiast. Our focus seems to be placed on an accelerated pass advance (by this I mean)

Cat-man
I am not so sure of that. He sure seemed to love the pass rush when he had Lawrence Taylor and Leonard Marshall lined up on the right. And I suspect that he hure would like to have an highly-skilled pass-rushing OLB lined up behind Haynesworth but he does not have that guy. Bummer about whiffing on Carlos Dunlap to take Richie Cunningham but Dunlap must have seemed like a character risk at the time. Now I suspect that he is like a boy scout compared to Haynesworth. Double bummer. But BB knows best and maybe in the long-term Cunningham will have a better career.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Cat-man
I am not so sure of that. He sure seemed to love the pass rush when he had Lawrence Taylor and Leonard Marshall lined up on the right. And I suspect that he hure would like to have an highly-skilled pass-rushing OLB lined up behind Haynesworth but he does not have that guy. Bummer about whiffing on Carlos Dunlap to take Richie Cunningham but Dunlap must have seemed like a character risk at the time. Now I suspect that he is like a boy scout compared to Haynesworth. Double bummer. But BB knows best and maybe in the long-term Cunningham will have a better career.

I spoke with Dunlap about a month or so ago, and he was very polite and easy going. He had a bit of hand injury that he was nursing at the time, but I had a chance to sit with him, Spikes, Ingram, and Louis Murphy. Dunlap is deceptively big when he is sitting down and he has that whole baby face thing going for him. He's a beast though. I'm not too upset that BB chose Cunningham, though, as I feel he will eventually become the more well-rounded player.

 

[TheComeback]

Not all that concerned with Reiss's analysis. He also thought that Darius Butler was a superman in camp last year.

 

[Deus Irae]

I know a lot of people want us to have a lights out Pass Rush.. Well, I get it Clay Mathews is amazing to watch... But, I really do not think its a BB thing. He has never been a pass rush enthusiast. Our focus seems to be placed on an accelerated pass advance (by this I mean)

We are not focusing on sacking the QB, but dismantling their play. We have an outstanding CB in McCourty that I would put up against any CB ever (yeah ever) We are not building a team just to beat the Jets, but win every single game we play.

Some may know me as a long time poster at Fox and ISW I am a huge proponent of how effective Bill Belichick is at creating defensive lines that are offensively significant...

Remember the Colts game last year that minutes to go pick off by our defense. That's what I'm talking about right there folks~

Welcome to Patsfans.com, Steve. I hope you enjoy your time here.

As for the pass rush issue, however, it seems that, while sacks aren't the end all/be all, they are a good way to measure this team.

Year/Ranking/record/playoffs

00/25/5-11/None
01/15/11-5/SB win
02/20/9-7/None
03/6/14-2/SB win
04/5/14-2/SB win
05/23/10-6/Div loss
06/5/12-4/AFCCG loss
07/2/16-0/SB loss
08/15/11-5/None
09/24/10-6/WC loss
10/15/14-2/WC loss

The general rule is that when this team is at the top of the league in sacks, it's going deep into the playoffs, and when it's more towards the bottom of the league, it's missing the playoffs or going home early.

Top 10 in sacks 4 times. All 4 times led to the AFCCG or better
Top 15 in sacks 7 times. All 7 times let to 11 wins or more.
Bottom 17 in sacks 4 times. Never more than a 10 win season (10/10/9/5), 2 missed playoffs, 1 WC loss, 1 Div round loss

Sacks aren't a perfect measuring stick, but they certainly have a pretty good correlation for BB led Patriots teams.

 

[pdangle]

Not all that concerned with Reiss's analysis. He also thought that Darius Butler was a superman in camp last year.

No kidding. That psyched me out too. Wait a sec... maybe Darius was reading the proverbial press clippings? Ahh, no wonder he got out of the gate so slowly in 2010. Well there was that... that and the fact he played like donkey. Sadly, he never seemed to recover. Well 2011 is a new year for ol' Darius, and maybe this time, oppositely, Cunningham comes ready to play pumped after his perusal of his many put-downs in the papers.

 

[tombonneau]

Welcome to Patsfans.com, Steve. I hope you enjoy your time here.

As for the pass rush issue, however, it seems that, while sacks aren't the end all/be all, they are a good way to measure this team.

Year/Ranking/record/playoffs

00/25/5-11/None
01/15/11-5/SB win
02/20/9-7/None
03/6/14-2/SB win
04/5/14-2/SB win
05/23/10-6/Div loss
06/5/12-4/AFCCG loss
07/2/16-0/SB loss
08/15/11-5/None
09/24/10-6/WC loss
10/15/14-2/WC loss

The general rule is that when this team is at the top of the league in sacks, it's going deep into the playoffs, and when it's more towards the bottom of the league, it's missing the playoffs or going home early.

Top 10 in sacks 4 times. All 4 times led to the AFCCG or better
Top 15 in sacks 7 times. All 7 times let to 11 wins or more.
Bottom 17 in sacks 4 times. Never more than a 10 win season (10/10/9/5), 2 missed playoffs, 1 WC loss, 1 Div round loss

Sacks aren't a perfect measuring stick, but they certainly have a pretty good correlation for BB led Patriots teams.

Good posting. Correlation, causation, etc., but interesting trend nonetheless. Here's to a top 10 sack season!