Hightower: Flores’ defense, simpler, faster & more aggressive

[patsinthesnow]

"Matty P and Flo are somewhat the same, but a little different at the same time. With the playcalling we've gotten so far, I definitely feel like we're going to be more aggressive," he said. "Things are a little bit more simple, but it's still a little bit different, and guys are learning bits and pieces of the defense. But so far, so good. A lot of guys that have come in from different organizations, like AC [Adrian Clayborn], he's picked it up and we're able to run with it and we're able to play a lot faster."

 

[jah]

Very curious to see how the defense is this year. This article reminds me that there IS a new guy running it, so things could change more than we think despite not much (but definitely some) roster improvement. Maybe worse, maybe better, maybe the same. But I think the season could swing on how Flores handles his new duties.

 

[patriot1136]

I would imagine that BB is keeping a close eye on Flores and the whole defense though. That reassures me.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

If I recall, Flores mostly installed red zone defense previously, and the team performed much better (perhaps helped by the constricted space). That bodes well for this transition, although I expect BB to still put his stylistic stamp on the team.

 

[maust]

As a rule it's much easier to be aggressive with a full magazine than when you are down to your last couple of rounds.

 

[Nunchucks]

I hope so, but I've seen the Patriots play attacking defense in the preseason, only to turn into a more passive defense once the season began.

 

[Steve102]

I like the sounds of this. I know it's only June, but still. I'd be happy if they stopped playing bend don't break.

 

[fair catch fryar]

I hope so, but I've seen the Patriots play attacking defense in the preseason, only to turn into a more passive defense once the season began.

No doubt. I often wondered if this had more to do with BB pulling up the reins once the season got started and decided to be more conservative. Just once, I would love to see a Pats D be an absolute menace at the same time Brady is still their QB. I loved the Bruschi/McGinest D's of the early 2000s, but I never felt they were dominating as much as they were as effective. I know I'm hoping for a lot, but just once, it would be a sight to see.

 

[Kontradiction]

I hope so, but I've seen the Patriots play attacking defense in the preseason, only to turn into a more passive defense once the season began.

When? Preseason defenses are usually very vanilla for this team. Not saying you’re wrong, just that I personally can’t remember them being exotic in their playcalls and blitz packages on defense during the preseason.

 

[tasmlab]

When? Preseason defenses are usually very vanilla for this team. Not saying you’re wrong, just that I personally can’t remember them being exotic in their playcalls and blitz packages on defense during the preseason.

Agree. The pre-season vanilla defense sometimes seems to last until early-mid October.

 

[Mark.]

I like the sounds of this. I know it's only June, but still. I'd be happy if they stopped playing bend don't break.

I'd be happy to never see bend don't break ever again after last year.

 

[Love The Drake]

Do we have the personal for a attacking defense?
Can we pin our ears back and go after the QB without giving up huge holes in the secondary or have our linebackers picked about in coverage.
Honestly the thought of any defense where Richards is in coverage scares the heck out of me.
I imagine the QB looks for him or Rowe's number every play and just delivers a dagger.

 

[Nunchucks]

When? Preseason defenses are usually very vanilla for this team. Not saying you’re wrong, just that I personally can’t remember them being exotic in their playcalls and blitz packages on defense during the preseason.

They played the Bucs in preseason one year, maybe the third game and absolutely pulled out all the stops, it was phenomenal. I forget the exact year, pretty sure it was in the Mayo years. We all got super hyped and then meh.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

An aggressive defense means nothing if your defensive line cannot overpower the opposition's offensive line.... its always going to be the case no matter who the DC is ...with that being said,losing Patricia was more of a matter of continuity lost than it was with big coaching talent IMO

 

[MUFC7]

I like the sounds of this. I know it's only June, but still. I'd be happy if they stopped playing bend don't break.

Bend but don't break defense just makes up for the lack of talent and is kinda like damage control IMO. No D goes on the field and says yeah we're going to allow them as much yards as they want but once they are close to FG range we start trying.

In the end you need talent ,the right coaching and none of the bend but don't break D happens. If you just have the right coaching you'll get exposed against the best offenses like the last SB.

 

[luuked]

Given what MattyP's education was I can completely see that he "over-engineered" his defense to the point where it became a bit too complex just so he could cover how to defend more specific things. As with most things in life if you generalize instead of specializing things will become simpler but the results might be a bit worse.

There is a healthy balance somewhere in between generalization and specialization because while the latter will lead to be better prepared for many situations it also means that there are more calls and more moving parts so there is also a bigger chance of failure.

I am cautiously optimistic about Flores maybe hitting that balance a bit better than Patricia did.

 

[Kontradiction]

They played the Bucs in preseason one year, maybe the third game and absolutely pulled out all the stops, it was phenomenal. I forget the exact year, pretty sure it was in the Mayo years. We all got super hyped and then meh.

2013?

 

[Patjew]

When? Preseason defenses are usually very vanilla for this team. Not saying you’re wrong, just that I personally can’t remember them being exotic in their playcalls and blitz packages on defense during the preseason.

2011. Andre Carter was super aggressive.

 

[Nikolai]

2011. Andre Carter was super aggressive.

Yep, that was also the year of the no-huddle offense drawing complaints from the same Tampa team mentioned above.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Yep, that was also the year of the no-huddle offense drawing complaints from the same Tampa team mentioned above.

"Excuse me, Mr. Brady, can we please line up"?