What, you expect US to do it?
I was expecting pages of your keen analysis, and you just dropped it in our laps?!?
First, it's kind of depressing. I vote we all look back at this in the late evening of February 5th, and laugh.
Second, there are some bright spots, and Bill and Matt need to just turn these guys in the right direction and I believe this can work.
Third, I'd do exactly as you did. Hey, I know how to delegate authority. Plus, I tire easily.
I tend to look at it from the other direction.
Despite whatever people want to call problems, the defense has been tremendous at keeping points off the board, which absolutely is job 1.
Rather than calling 8-2, with the 3rd fewest points allowed, a defense that has played so well that the best defense in the history of all football would have one more win, a failure, the conversation should really be about the real issue, which is despite the defense getting the job done almost entirely people are afraid it won't continue.
To really discuss it you have to realize that this defense is unlike any other in the NFL. It is first and foremost about preventing big plays, being consistent and playing team defense. It is not about taking excessive risks to make big plays, primarily because if there are no big plays on either side (Patriot D vs opponent O) the Patriots are going to win. It is not worth risking it becoming big play vs big play because that only helps the underdog. If we stunk, BB would be the most aggressive coach in the NFL, but when you have a better team, the odds favor playing conservative.
This defense is not about individuals. Lesser players who have the correct strengths do better for this defense than better players who do not. (ie a Vrabel or Ninkovich vs a Freeney).
Player wise, the concern about corners, IMO, is overblown. That is the NFL in 2016. Offenses typically complete 20+ passes for 250+ yards game in and game out. To think a corner allowing a handful of those sucks is to not be paying attention. To think a corner allowing more than a handful of those playing a scheme that says whatever you do, don't get beaten deep sucks is really not understanding how the game is played.
LB is a concern, because its Hightower and ?. However, we have become a 2 LB 5 DB base defense, so to be an effective team defense we need to just mix and match a bunch of guys into that one role, many of which were at least at one point highly regarded. Finding what a #1 pick who has lost his shine can contribute to a rotation seems like a decent problem to have.
DL is a mixed bag. As a unit, I would say they have been very good against the run, considering they are doing it from a nickel base with DBs playing take the big play away as first priority.
The pass rush could be better, but this is a heavily overblown issue. Offense in the NFL has become about making sure you get rid of the ball before the defender can get to your QB even if the block is missed. Probably 80% of pass plays negate the rush with the design of the play. Here, mobile QBs negate the rush as well because the philosophy of not allowing the big play says rush conservatively and do leave escape lanes to create big plays.
Certainly though there are times when pass rush is key, but it is a lot less frequent than people want to think. If there is a concern with this team, it is that if a good pocket QB wants to sit back there (particularly 2 minute drill times) and run complex slow developing routes, the individual pass rushing skills of our DL are not great.
Overall what matters is team defense and allowing one less point than you score. Which means what is most important is not the average stats of 1000 plays over the course of a season, but what the unit does when the game is on the line. We really have no way of knowing how that will go until it happens.
