R_T26 said:
When we had law the Pats could rely on one part of the field being shutdown, therefore were able to put more pressure.
That is selective memory. Bill Belichick has
never been a believer in blitz pressure as a base defense. If you watch his coaching carefully, his number one principle is to keep the play in front of the defense, prevent big plays, and force the other team to drive the length of the field, 10 yards at a time. The Pats have never been a big blitzing team. You are forgetting all the times Law bellyached about having to play zone coverage and not being allowed to freelance.
You are remembering big plays in particular down and distance situations and extrapolating those to the overall defensive scheme. But, that's just not the way it was. The 2001 Pats "bend but don't break" defense allowed teams to march up and down the field, almost at will. Inside the 20, you no longer have to protect against the deep ball, so Belichick would start bringing the heat. Those are the turnovers you remember. He still does that. You didn't see it against the Jets because they were almost never in the red zone.
Also, I have noticed that Belichick consistently starts seasons more conservatively on defense and turns up the heat as the season progresses and his defense can handle it. Perhaps the key to Belichick's coaching success is that he understands every year is a new team and every season a dynamic process starting in week one and
building to a championship contender team in December. Enjoy it as a process. As long as the Pats are winning games now (ugly, pretty, or in between), count your blessings. If we can split the next two games and finish the opening quarter of the season at 3-1, things will be looking good.
Pay more attention to the building blocks as they (hopefully) fall into place. For example, the ability of the Pats three-headed rotation to run the ball is a huge building block. Likewise, that three TE set with Graham, Watson, and Thomas is a building block. Getting Jackson involved in the passing game is a building block. Effective production from Seau is a building block. Show me a team that is a finished product in September and I'll show you team that is going nowhere in the playoffs.