Why is the defense soooo much better this year?

[Get it shawtaay]

Tommy Kelly has been our best defensive lineman this season.

He is giving us the 2 or 3 extra pocket collapses per game that every team always seems to get except us.

Wonderful pickup, and he and Vince were playing off one another perfectly before they got hurt.

 

[Kontradiction]

Do you think Dennard is too small to be a #1 though? Say lining up on jones or Johnson..fitz ect

Because I am with you now...Talib is 100% gone this year to a HUGE deal

The Bengals didn't even throw Dennard's way. Further, he's only an inch shorter than Ty Law was.

Why are you ruling out the franchise tag? Sure it's expensive but he's the perfect combo of bad character/position need to use it on.

I wasn't ruling it out. It's possible that they franchise him. I just wasn't taking it into account for this post.

 

[JackBauer]

First and foremost it's that our defensive backs no longer suck.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

They've been better going back to the Talib trade and emergence of Dennard, which solved the main problems at CB1/2 and allowed DMB to move to FS. Ever since then the only bad performances have been SF and AFCC vs. Baltimore - games where one or both were injured. Other than that, check the game log and you'll see that since the 2nd half of Talib's first appearance against Indy, they've been a top 10 caliber defense.

Tommy Kelly and a healthy Chandler Jones improved it even more to start this season, but of course Vince's loss is going to hurt.

 

[condon84]

Talib and Dennard.

With both being good, it pushes McCourty to plug the hole at FS.

It pushes Arrington inside where he is better (we got a glimpse of Arrington on the outside yesterday and it wasn't pretty)

QBs have to hold on to the ball a little longer giving our pass rush time to get there.

If frees up Gregory to support the run (he's having a pretty good year doing this).

 

[Tunescribe]

It's better because it HAS to be.

 

[juny]

talib island

 

[manxman2601]

The Bengals didn't even throw Dennard's way. Further, he's only an inch shorter than Ty Law was.



I wasn't ruling it out. It's possible that they franchise him. I just wasn't taking it into account for this post.

To be fair, Dennard is getting somewhat protected with Talib taking on the big hitters. I like Dennard but I don't think we see a thread like this if Dennard was going one on one with the likes of Green, Jackson, Jones.


Just on the whole Talib-franchise thing. I'd want to keep him but do people think a tag and trade possibility is there with Talib?

 

[manxman2601]

He no longer visits us, but can I just point out that Mayoclinic was heavily onto the Talib trade before it happened last year. Inspired.

He also really liked Armond Armstead. Let's hope he's just as right on him as he was Talib.

 

[patsfan-1982]

inside pass rush is much better and not just talib but the #3 and #4 CB's are playing much better

 

[JackBauer]

Just on the whole Talib-franchise thing. I'd want to keep him but do people think a tag and trade possibility is there with Talib?

Maybe, but BB would be incredibly foolish to let Talib go.

 

[Get it shawtaay]

He no longer visits us, but can I just point out that Mayoclinic was heavily onto the Talib trade before it happened last year. Inspired.

He also really liked Armond Armstead. Let's hope he's just as right on him as he was Talib.

Mayoclinic had been pounding the table for AA since the kid was a sophomore in college.

 

[Ozymandias]

Interior push from the D-Line.

DBs actually turning and looking for the ball.

 

[crypto]

mostly just time/experience. points against for the last six games of the 2012 regular season: 19, 16, 14, 41 :eat2:, 16, 0.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Curious to what you guys think the main reasons are. Pretty much the same crew + Tommy Kelly. Even without Wilfork still a really good defense. Talib seems to have gone from pretty good to elite.

Belichick has been rebuilding this Defense for 4 years. He has been adding talent at every level DE, LB, CB and Safety. Although we don't see it yet, the DTs are being upgraded, despite the loss of Vince. Kelly is a great older addition, and Armsted, Velano look to be additions with more experience. Even if it turns out that they are only reserves ultimately, they will be better than Love and Deadrick.

There is also the need to let them simply play together and experiment with more complex calls that couldn't be done before all were comfortable with each other. This Defense came together late last year, and the additions made it even better and deeper.

BB was so comfortable that he has addressed the Offense the last couple of years. We have new bookend tackles, deep RBBCS, and now the WRS too.We had superior Tes too but Gronk was hurt and APerp has his own stupidity problems.

 

[mr53k]

And maybe defense could be better, with this guy
Chiefs rookie cornerback Marcus Cooper rises to the occasion against Giants - KansasCity.com
Better than Cole
I was so pissed on BB that he didnt get drafted.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...rising-rookies-tavon-austin-off-to-slow-start

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

If they can hold the Saints under 20 then whether we will or lose, I'll be satisfy. the last time we played them we gave up too many big plays, it was embarrassing. I say we limit the big play, we give ourself a chance.

 

[Kdo5]

I've been extremely cautiously optimistic about the defense. If they are very good (even w/injuries) then we will truly find out Sunday.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Put me down for continuity and players starting to hit their prime. If they can hold onto Talib this defense should continue to get better for at least a few more years before some decline and attrition requires some reshuffling.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Talib is healthy, McCourty is hitting his prime as a safety, Hightower and Jones both have made sophomore year leaps, Mayo and Ninkovich are in their primes, Dennard and Gregory have both been pretty good, and Kelly's been excellent. Just a shame about Wilfork. The defense finally solidifies around him and he goes down.