coltsfan said:
Thanks for the link, that's just what I was looking for!
I'm surprised you say that about the Monday Night game(I'm assuming you're talking about the Colts game.
) He made a great play shooting the gap on the Colts' first play, but I don't remember him doing much besides that. I thought Saturday handled him fairly well, which was the reason the Colts were able to run the ball well in short yardage.
Wilfork does seem to be playing better now. What do you attribute that to? Is it possible that he maybe got into better shape as the season went on? One thing not helping his cause is the Pats don't have a backup nose tackle to give him a rest.
There are a number of things contributing to his improvement, I'll note them in a sec...Vince's play against the Colts was poor, but when you've been watching him for seven games at that point in the season, you could see little things that spoke to his understanding of what he should be doing.
It's the instructor in me, 'he stinks' doesn't mean hopeless, you drill them on fundamentals until it becomes second nature and you put them in situations where they are forced to think, or show themselves to be complete morons. Once you have them demonstrating the fundamentals in their responses, you just sit and wait, they get smoother, quicker to react with the right combination, and slowly they start recognizing things faster and faster and faster until they start to see each choreographed step six steps ahead of the action. Feeling smug, you then sign on as a consultant for Bud Light commercials.
Okay, what he is doing now:
All of the DLs are now playing further back off the line of scrimmage. Vince is back the farthest, usually 3-4 feet off the ball - he used to be curled up almost over the ball. This step back forces the Center to take a step to reach him, which allows Vince to get his hands up. This also means the Guard double-teaming him needs to take two steps to get into him, giving Vince time to read and set himself for the contact. Third, he gets a better view of the backfield, not the same one the ILBs 5 yds behind him have, but one with a wider scope then Saturday's mouth guard - truly disgusting, yech!
He may have played himself into better shape, can't say for sure.
Finally, Vince is a second year man, he's been learning how to be a two-gap defensive lineman. You can see him pushing less to chase the RB, and working more to mind HIS resposibilities which include both 'a' gaps and sucking up as many blockers as he can.
He's still vulnerable to a cut block and Nalen belly flopped him several times in week six. I expect him to be significantly stronger against the run in this game, and Nalen is going to have to break a sweat. :singing:
