Discuss the defense

[Ring 6]

Nice observations, thanks for sharing them. I also noticed the shift to strength. Given that you and I feel we played the same exact scheme this week as last, I sent a question to Tedy Bruschi asking if he noticed any differences in scheme. I hope he will answer because to my eyes we did the exact same things, just with better execution.

EDIT: Bruschi didn't answer my question but he did note that he feels the ideal front for this defense will be a 4 man front once Easley progresses a little bit more.

Another 'change' was health, so that Easley, Silinga and ChrisJ got reps instead of Vellano.

 

[PromoTheRobot]

Bills fan here. Just wanted to say thanks for Brandon Spikes. No idea why you let him go but the guy has been a rock against the run for the Bills in two games.

 

[DarrylS]

The Defensive Snaps according to Reiss.. a lot of guys got some game time reps in this game.

NSIDE LINEBACKER
Jerod Mayo -- 68 of 68
Dont'a Hightower -- 68 of 68
Deontae Skinner -- 21 of 68

DEFENSIVE END/OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Rob Ninkovich -- 68 of 68
Chandler Jones -- 68 of 68

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Sealver Siliga -- 40 of 68
Vince Wilfork -- 39 of 68
Dominique Easley -- 29 of 68
Chris Jones -- 16 of 68
Joe Vellano -- 2 of 68

CORNERBACK
Logan Ryan -- 68 of 68
Darrelle Revis -- 60 of 68
Kyle Arrington -- 45 of 68
Malcolm Butler -- 8 of 68

SAFETY
Devin McCourty -- 60 of 68
Patrick Chung -- 37 of 68
Duron Harmon -- 25 of 68
Tavon Wilson -- 13 of 68
Nate Ebner -- 13 of 68

 

[DarrylS]

Bills fan here. Just wanted to say thanks for Brandon Spikes. No idea why you let him go but the guy has been a rock against the run for the Bills in two games.

We did not let him go, the Bills paid him more..

 

[VrabelJr]

Another 'change' was health, so that Easley, Silinga and ChrisJ got reps instead of Vellano.

Yup. There's a huge talent drop off from Easley, Siliga and Chris Jones to Joe Vellano. I'm looking forward to Siliga getting healthy and Easley and Chris Jones knocking off rust. I'll be even happier when Buchanan is healthy so we can scratch Vellano and have 3 DEs on game day instead of just Chandler and Ninkovich.

Having 4-5 DTs active on game day is such an advantage. Last year we sometimes had as little as two DTs active on game day. Having 7 healthy, talented defensive linemen to rotate and keep fresh is hugely important to being a top defense.

 

[VrabelJr]

The Defensive Snaps according to Reiss.. a lot of guys got some game time reps in this game.

NSIDE LINEBACKER
Jerod Mayo -- 68 of 68
Dont'a Hightower -- 68 of 68
Deontae Skinner -- 21 of 68

DEFENSIVE END/OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Rob Ninkovich -- 68 of 68
Chandler Jones -- 68 of 68

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Sealver Siliga -- 40 of 68
Vince Wilfork -- 39 of 68
Dominique Easley -- 29 of 68
Chris Jones -- 16 of 68
Joe Vellano -- 2 of 68

CORNERBACK
Logan Ryan -- 68 of 68
Darrelle Revis -- 60 of 68
Kyle Arrington -- 45 of 68
Malcolm Butler -- 8 of 68

SAFETY
Devin McCourty -- 60 of 68
Patrick Chung -- 37 of 68
Duron Harmon -- 25 of 68
Tavon Wilson -- 13 of 68
Nate Ebner -- 13 of 68

I love the way we're managing Wilfork's snaps. I'm looking forward to Buchanan getting healthy so we can do the same for Chandler Jones. I think Ninkovich will play a lot versus some opponents and against others he will be taken out in the nickel for Hightower. A large part of NInkovich playing a lot yesterday was probably related to Collins being out and Hightower playing his position.

 

[JMC00]

The interceptions were due to great coverage by our secondary, and Cassel trying to force the ball into good coverage.

Yep let's break them down

McCourty reads the play and comes over to make a play
Revis being elite beats Jennings to his mark
Ryan in blanket coverage against Patterson
Easley just read and reacting.

Easley's was really the only unforced error turnover.

 

[mayoclinic]

Yup. There's a huge talent drop off from Easley, Siliga and Chris Jones to Joe Vellano.

I'm still hoping to see Kelcy Quarles bump Vellano off the roster. Quarles was absent part of last week, but as far as I can tell he's still on the PS. Not that I expect much from him, but he has to be an upgrade over Vellano.

 

[Ring 6]

I love the way we're managing Wilfork's snaps. I'm looking forward to Buchanan getting healthy so we can do the same for Chandler Jones. I think Ninkovich will play a lot versus some opponents and against others he will be taken out in the nickel for Hightower. A large part of NInkovich playing a lot yesterday was probably related to Collins being out and Hightower playing his position.

I think Nink is Hightower and Jones backup in nickel and dime if Collins is healthy.

 

[mayoclinic]

Some of Tedy Bruschi's chat discussion, FWIW:

Jack (Western Mass):
If Easley continue to improve, do you foresee a 4-3 defense with Jones and Ninkovich at end, Wilfork and Easley at tackle and Hightower, Collins and Mayo at linebacker? To me, that's the ideal front seven.

Tedy (11:06 AM):
That's what I think would be best. They still tried to implement some 3-4 against the Vikings and there were some major problems with it on the first drive of the game, especially versus play-action. Luckily the Vikings couldn't maintain that type of efficiency. The turnovers ultimately determined the game.

Tron (Waltham, MA):
Hey Tedy, Defense looked like how we all hoped it would look with Revis getting a pick and Jones making plays all over the field. However, stats don't always tell the story. How did you think they played from a 'technique' standpoint as that was the key word throughout preparations all last weak? Also, how do you see them getting Easley, Jones, Hightower, Mayo, Collins and Nink all on the field at the same time?

Tedy (11:11 AM):
Once again, I'd like to see them in a 4-3 front consistently. If Easley and Wilfork can hold up in there, with Ninkovich and Jones on the end. Then there's Mayo, Hightower and Collins at linebacker. ... They didn't have Collins yesterday and Deontae Skinner was in there. From what I saw, he had obvious problems diagnosing plays. The first drive of the Vikings exposed weaknesses within that defense. Misdirection play-action -- the defense was one step behind.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/51121

 

[goheels22002]

Bills fan here. Just wanted to say thanks for Brandon Spikes. No idea why you let him go but the guy has been a rock against the run for the Bills in two games.

The Bills stepped up and paid him what he was looking for. Good luck with Spikes. He can be inconsistent. He's a good run-stopper, can really bring the lumber, but will be targeted by good OCs looking to pick apart the middle of a defense. The Pats will probably throw his way a lot when they play one another.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Bills fan here. Just wanted to say thanks for Brandon Spikes. No idea why you let him go but the guy has been a rock against the run for the Bills in two games.

He's as good a runstopping LB as there is in the league, he's a beast in that regard, but he is as bad in coverage as he is good against the run, and he's also about as undisciplined a player as they get and is always at risk of doing something really stupid. They let him go because he wanted 3 down money and he's really a role player. They will miss him against the run but at least they will be able to stop other teams in 3rd down passing situations, where he was a massive liability.

The bottom line was that Spikes wasn't coming back anyways, he hated playing for Belichick and made it clear he wanted out.

 

[VrabelJr]

I think Nink is Hightower and Jones backup in nickel and dime if Collins is healthy.

That's a good point. Lots of versatility between those 4 players.

 

[varjao]

Chandler Jones and Ninkovich played 68/68 snaps. We still need some rotation.

 

[Ring 6]

Chandler Jones and Ninkovich played 68/68 snaps. We still need some rotation.

That's because Collins and Buchanan were out. Nink sat out all sub packages last week

 

[mayoclinic]

Chandler Jones and Ninkovich played 68/68 snaps. We still need some rotation.

That was because Jamie Collins was out.

Assume that you need 2 "heavies" on your DL, and that Wilfork, Siliga, Easley and Chris Jones share reps for those 2 spots for now (with Easley hopefully getting more and more time as he develops). Assume also that Mayo is going to be an "iron man" as the defensive signal caller and captain, as long as he is healthy. That leaves 3 spots in sub and 4 in base to be shared among Jones, Collins, Hightower and Ninkovich. Since we spend about 2/3 of our time in sub, there ought to be some ability to rotate those guys and get their snap counts down a bit. Each of those 4 guys should be able to average roughly 80% of the defensive snaps, not including substitution from lesser players. How much each plays in an individual game will depend on injuries to the others and scheme. Obviously, if Michael Buchanan could step up it will help even more.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

Going into week 3 we are 1st in takeaways (7), 1st in INTs (5), 4th in sacks (7), 4th in fumble recoveries (2). Pretty good considering we haven't been to Gillette yet.

We have a great ball hawking secondary, but I don't exactly like our D line against offensive lines.

I guess if we pretend second half in MIA is a fluke we can say our defense has given up 17 points in 6 quarters. I just think our offense needs to stop punting and start producing to help them out.

 

[FourierSeries]

Going into week 3 we are 1st in takeaways (7), 1st in INTs (5), 4th in sacks (7), 4th in fumble recoveries (2). Pretty good considering we haven't been to Gillette yet.

We have a great ball hawking secondary, but I don't exactly like our D line against offensive lines.

I guess if we pretend second half in MIA is a fluke we can say our defense has given up 17 points in 6 quarters. I just think our offense needs to stop punting and start producing to help them out.

Don't forget 4th in total yards allowed per game and 4th in passing yards allowed per game. After the Oakland game we will likely be top 10 in points.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Chandler Jones and Ninkovich played 68/68 snaps. We still need some rotation.

Buchanan the reserve DE was down. Zack is still too raw. It will improve.

 

[hwc]

The thing about turnovers is that you are relying on someone else to make a mistake. That works if your opponents are careless with the ball, but it is not a good way to make a living. The yardage and first down stats from yesterday looked pretty even, but Cassel threw three bad balls and had one unlucky bounce. It is seldom that turnovers can be considered the lifeblood of a defense, unless you can bring the pressure and force them. The Pats have a hard time with that unless their offense is dominating. I'm not taking anything away from their playmakers on D, and they have several of them, but they've got a long way to go yet.

Credit where credit is due. The Patriots have invested heavily in a deep and talented secondary. One of the things you should see when the secondary is a team-priority is interceptions.