Runs to the edge

[sb1]

The Falcons and Chiefs had their way attacking the defense like this the last 2 games. Isn't defending these kinds of runs exactly the same problem the 2002 Pats had? I remember Holmes, Tomlinson and Ricky Williams in particular shredded us doing the same thing.

That was a talent issue, hopefully what we are seeing now is more fixable in season than that was.

 

[BradyFTW!]

It was definitely an issue last night, I think stemming from the lack of experience in this system at DE. Flowers was fine, Guy made a couple nice plays, but overall it was inconsistent at best. Hightower looked particularly bad at setting the edge when he lined up at DE, which kinda makes sense since he's had so few game speed reps with that responsibility.

It's definitely a problem--talent and depth at DE is a real problem in general--but this specific issue should be improved with time. I could see Wise developing pretty quickly into an asset in this area, he has the talent to excel at it. Hope we don't end up in a place where we don't have to lean on him too much, I'm not a huge fan of relying on rookie DEs in this defense.

 

[Ring 6]

The Falcons and Chiefs had their way attacking the defense like this the last 2 games. Isn't defending these kinds of runs exactly the same problem the 2002 Pats had? I remember Holmes, Tomlinson and Ricky Williams in particular shredded us doing the same thing.

That was a talent issue, hopefully what we are seeing now is more fixable in season than that was.

2002 we got destroyed right up the gut after bruschi was injured.

Last night? I don't know how you expect to stop a run to the edge when you have flowers on the Ot and only 2 safeties beyond that.

 

[Schmo]

The option shouldn't work in the NFL, period. Watching a BB team fail so miserably at setting the edge was a little mind blowing.

I would have understood if we were only overpowered up the middle, but with 8 safeties on the field, I would expect quicker help to the outside. Seems like the defense isn't gaining any advantage going smaller, while only getting overpowered in the running game.

I'm optimistic that the D will get much better against the pass, but honestly don't know if we have enough big bodies to consistently stop the run. It's definitely going to be an interesting season.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

It was definitely an issue last night, I think stemming from the lack of experience in this system at DE. Flowers was fine, Guy made a couple nice plays, but overall it was inconsistent at best. Hightower looked particularly bad at setting the edge when he lined up at DE, which kinda makes sense since he's had so few game speed reps with that responsibility.

It's definitely a problem--talent and depth at DE is a real problem in general--but this specific issue should be improved with time. I could see Wise developing pretty quickly into an asset in this area, he has the talent to excel at it. Hope we don't end up in a place where we don't have to lean on him too much, I'm not a huge fan of relying on rookie DEs in this defense.

I really like wise. He needs to get more reps! I

 

[Ring 6]

The option shouldn't work in the NFL, period. Watching a BB team fail so miserably at setting the edge was a little mind blowing.

I would have understood if we were only overpowered up the middle, but with 8 safeties on the field, I would expect quicker help to the outside. Seems like the defense isn't gaining any advantage going smaller, while only getting overpowered in the running game.

I'm optimistic that the D will get much better against the pass, but honestly don't know if we have enough big bodies to consistently stop the run. It's definitely going to be an interesting season.

The safeties were the edge. How do you expect a 215 LB safety to set the edge against a 300 LB pulling g?

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

The option shouldn't work in the NFL, period. Watching a BB team fail so miserably at setting the edge was a little mind blowing.

I would have understood if we were only overpowered up the middle, but with 8 safeties on the field, I would expect quicker help to the outside. Seems like the defense isn't gaining any advantage going smaller, while only getting overpowered in the running game.

I'm optimistic that the D will get much better against the pass, but honestly don't know if we have enough big bodies to consistently stop the run. It's definitely going to be an interesting season.

The DL should be better and i expect it to better. No excuses for this run defense to allowed almost 200 yards rushing. I trust that it will improve. Valentine wasn't there as well

 

[BradyFTW!]

I really like wise. He needs to get more reps! I

Based on some things draftees have said in the past, it seems like Belichick's strategy for integrating rookies is to start them off with just a couple responsibilities, and once they've demonstrated that they know those inside and out their role gets expanded. It's a shame that he got hurt in the preseason since that likely cut into his development time, but not a huge deal in the long view of things. My guess is that at this point Wise is still learning the ropes. Probably has a fairly limited role that he's comfortable with, and as the season goes on maybe we'll see him doing more things in more formations and personnel packages. I don't expect we'll see him getting starter-level snaps this year, or if we do I think it'll be more out of necessity. I agree that he looks promising though, I really like what he showed last night.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The DL should be better and i expect it to better. No excuses for this run defense to allowed almost 200 yards rushing. I trust that it will improve. Valentine wasn't there as well

Agreed on Valentine. On one hand, when he's healthy I like him a lot and think he could be the solution to a lot of the problems we saw last night. OTOH he does seem to have trouble getting and staying healthy. I hope this doesn't turn into another Ron Brace situation--promising when healthy but never healthy--because I think he has a bright future if he can stay on the field.

 

[Schmo]

The safeties were the edge. How do you expect a 215 LB safety to set the edge against a 300 LB pulling g?

Absolutely. Apparently the strategy last night was to have safeties set the edge and DEs cover RBs 40 yards downfield. That's how completely backwards the coaching and matchups were last night.

My optimism lies in my faith that the coaching staff has the ability fix a lot of these problems.

My pessimism lies in the possibility that we simply don't have the personnel to do it.

I'm more optimistic though.