The Safeties Have Never Been Good Enough

[All22PatsFan]

The Secondary was an elite unit, the Sehawks was the only one better and they benefited from there pass rush. The only thing the secondary needs to do is sign a #1 corner Talib, Grimes, Verner ect and maybe sign or draft a 5th corner, I wouldn't mess around with a unit that played so well last year. On the defense I would strictly focus on upgrading the pass rush.
The offense needs way more help a guard, TE and a WR. That is assuming Connolly gets moved back to center.

 

[mgteich]

Back to center?

Please remind me of how many years (games?) Connolly started at center for us.

The offense needs way more help a guard, TE and a WR. That is assuming Connolly gets moved back to center.

 

[mayoclinic]

Back to center?

Please remind me of how many years (games?) Connolly started at center for us.

Connolly was the starting center in 2011, when Brian Waters played RG. When Waters didn't come back, Connolly moved to RG and Wendell was promoted to center.

 

[Deus Irae]

If Connolly were cut today and no other transactions happened, after 4 PM Connolly would indeed be replaced on the 51 man cap list by a player who cost $495K.

If the Patriots were exactly at the cap, and they cut Connolly, they would be able to sign a player for up to $3 million dollars.

Why? Because it was $3 million that got freed up, not $2.5million.

 

[All22PatsFan]

Back to center?

Please remind me of how many years (games?) Connolly started at center for us.

I'm not sure, It was the year Koppen got injured in the first game but he was way better at center then guard and based on Wendells performance last year I doubt he resigns.

 

[All22PatsFan]

I'm not sure the Patriots could get a better Center then Connolly in FA or the draft, unless they went after Alex Mack and I'm sure they'd rather spend there money elsewhere.

 

[All22PatsFan]

Cleveland could have 45M(Corey Joel) in cap Mack and Ward will be back with the browns

 

[TriplecHamp]

I think the lack of physicality is a two pronged thing. Part of the problem is their size and lack of speed compared to Seattle. The other part is mental, our defenses always seem to be thinking way to much instead of forcing the issue. Seattle was their for almost every single crossing route and the flew foreword to make the play. Lord knows we would see nothing but space playing against those crossing routes. Seattle's and San Frans defenses dictate the game.

We need to get bigger and faster at every level of the defense if you want a result like Seattle's. Getting Mayo back will certainly help defensively. An upgrade at the safety position and a couple of athletic Linebacker/Defensive ends to go along with the inevitable DT position upgrade and we will see a big jump in the right direction. Philosophically, we need to be more aggressive and technically sound. There is no excuse to absolutely whiff on a jam or not break down at the QB, how many times did Seattle miss tackles?

 

[All22PatsFan]

I think the lack of physicality is a two pronged thing. Part of the problem is their size and lack of speed compared to Seattle. The other part is mental, our defenses always seem to be thinking way to much instead of forcing the issue. Seattle was their for almost every single crossing route and the flew foreword to make the play. Lord knows we would see nothing but space playing against those crossing routes. Seattle's and San Frans defenses dictate the game.

We need to get bigger and faster at every level of the defense if you want a result like Seattle's. Getting Mayo back will certainly help defensively. An upgrade at the safety position and a couple of athletic Linebacker/Defensive ends to go along with the inevitable DT position upgrade and we will see a big jump in the right direction. Philosophically, we need to be more aggressive and technically sound. There is no excuse to absolutely whiff on a jam or not break down at the QB, how many times did Seattle miss tackles?

All it takes to match Seattle is to upgrade the pass rush. Seattle's LB and DB units are comparable to NE.

 

[mayoclinic]

I think the lack of physicality is a two pronged thing. Part of the problem is their size and lack of speed compared to Seattle. The other part is mental, our defenses always seem to be thinking way to much instead of forcing the issue. Seattle was their for almost every single crossing route and the flew foreword to make the play. Lord knows we would see nothing but space playing against those crossing routes. Seattle's and San Frans defenses dictate the game.

We need to get bigger and faster at every level of the defense if you want a result like Seattle's. Getting Mayo back will certainly help defensively. An upgrade at the safety position and a couple of athletic Linebacker/Defensive ends to go along with the inevitable DT position upgrade and we will see a big jump in the right direction. Philosophically, we need to be more aggressive and technically sound. There is no excuse to absolutely whiff on a jam or not break down at the QB, how many times did Seattle miss tackles?

As I've posted elsewhere, some of that was by design. Seattle kept a simplified defensive approach so as to minimize mistakes and confusion and allow their players to execute decisively, and they used a "drop zone" approach of handing off receivers on crossing routes instead of trying to chase them through picks:

Seattle Seahawks walloped Denver Broncos with simple scheme - NFL.com

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Come on this is Patsfans. Either we have allpros every year at every position and are #1 at everything, or BB is either too stupid, stubborn, or arrogant to accept what a poster is trying to teach him about his decisions and how he could do the job as well as them.
Of course, the same people who make these comments will state that if you disagree that they are always 100% correct about their criticism of BB, then that means you are mindlessly endorsing everything BB does.
It really is a silly little characteristic about this board that at times makes it unreadable.

TBF most would accept if they merely had quality starters at backup positions.

 

[TriplecHamp]

All it takes to match Seattle is to upgrade the pass rush. Seattle's LB and DB units are comparable to NE.

Not even close.

No team has more speed at Linebacker than Seattle and no team is more physical in the secondary than seattle. Speed wise, our secondary can probably match theirs but we aren't matching the cohesion they have nor do we match their size. Im not going to go into everything they do better than us but we have good talent at the linebacker position and are a player a way (along with the maturation of Jamie Collins) from matching the talent they have. Long story short, Seattle's defense at every level is built for todays NFL. Every.Single.Player that plays snaps for them knows whats going on and where to be. There is a reason they don't move and match guys around like a lot of other teams do and its because they have trust and an expectation that every player they put on the field is capable of executing against his man within the parameters of the defense called. You cannot say the same for this team as it is built today.

 

[All22PatsFan]

Fast LBs and Tall CBs doesn't mean that they aren't comparable talent wise

 

[All22PatsFan]

I think Dmac and Thomas are the same, Sherman is better then Talib but Dennard is better then Seattle's #2 CB
Patriots have got 3 studs at LB. So it seems comparable to me

 

[makoute]

All it takes to match Seattle is to upgrade the pass rush. Seattle's LB and DB units are comparable to NE.

No they are not.

 

[Miguel]

Public Report - NFLPlayers.com

Hypothetical example

If on Monday Sopoaga is cut and the report says the Pats are under the cap by $4 million

There are no other transactions

When the report is update to reflect Sopoaga's release it will say that the Pats are under the cap by $6.005 million, not $6.5 million.

That is why I chose to use the cap savings that way.

 

[JackBauer]

I actually think Seattle's LBs are the most overrated part of their defense, though they are certainly coached very, very well. Others may disagree.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Fast LBs and Tall CBs doesn't mean that they aren't comparable talent wise

A lot of people didn't know too much about KJ Wright and Bobby Wagner but both of those guys are top 10 calibre linebackers talent wise. Jamie Collins flashed that type of talent but you can't throw him in the top 10 after about 3 games of high level play. I expect Mayo to return to form but lets be real here, he's the only linebacker we have that could start for Seattle.

You talk about the length of their corners as if its something thats insignificant to what they do as players. Im not going to use Sherman or Talib in this comparison but at the corner back position alone. Thurmond is just as good any other corner on our roster. Think about that for a second, essentially seattle's 4th corner is just as good as good as anybody we can trout out opposite of talib. Jeremy Lane will probably breakout next season if Browner doesn't come back and Walter Thurmond has probably the most underrated ball skills of any DB in the NFC. Dennard has pretty good ball skills but for what they're asked to do, and for what they've shown in the NFL, Maxwell is an upgrade over Dennard because of his length, hips and footwork.

Seattle has the by far the best prototypical SS and FS in the NFL (probably one of 2 teams that actually still abides by those position names). Both of those players would start over any players at their positions in the NFL. Talent wise, there is no comparison to be made there.

 

[TriplecHamp]

I actually think Seattle's LBs are the most overrated part of their defense, though they are certainly coached very, very well. Others may disagree.

what about their game is overrated? I'd say they are the most underrated part of their defense considering all everybody talks about when talking about the seahawks is their secondary and ability to pressure with 4.

 

[JackBauer]

what about their game is overrated? I'd say they are the most underrated part of their defense considering all everybody talks about when talking about the seahawks is their secondary and ability to pressure with 4.

I don't have anything quantitative; I just watch them and I don't see elite players, though Wagner is very good.

I think if you pair that defensive front with our LB unit, you'd see their play elevated as well.