Bedard:Patriots must solve puzzle on defense after frazzled game

[SVN]

Patriots' defense must adjust before NFL playoffs

 

[goheels22002]

Very encouraging piece about how the Patriots adjust to poor outings by the defense. I hope Bedard is right.

It makes sense to me that this defense can handle the challenges ahead - the talent is certainly there to keep opponents in the 16 - 20 point range if they attack the opposition properly.

I'd like to see the secondary play more aggressively. The bend don't break stuff allows too uncontested passes, and we definitely don't see enough safety or corner blitzes.

 

[aluminum seats]

Apart from the sad reminder about blowing a second round pick on Jordan Richards, I thought the most interesting bit was this:

You could make the case that only CB Malcolm Butler, LB Dont’a Hightower, DT Alan Branch and DE Trey Flowers have played consistently to their previous level or improved, while many others like Sheard (whose playing time has been drastically reduced), Collins (traded away), CB Logan Ryan, S Patrick Chung and DT Malcolm Brown have taken a step back.

Fans usually enter a season all thinking the same thing—everybody will play at a minimum as well as last year, or better. And for young guys, the assumption is better. With the exception of a few allowances for vets getting long in the tooth, fans always envision an upwards trajectory.

Which is of course nonsense, and one of the reasons that Belichick’s “shocking” moves aren’t really shocking at all most of the time (let’s not think about Collins just now.)

And on the defensive side of the ball, it’s hard to argue with Bedard’s assessment here. I think arguably McCourty has played to his previous level, but I don’t feel strongly about that. Who’s stepped up? Sheard, major disappointment. Ditto long. I fully expected Brown to take that big Year 2 step up...nope.

Not too late for a lot of this to change—sports are rarely a smooth trajectory, and if you’re going to struggle, do it midseason. Belichick and Patricia are pretty good. With health, this team is still going to the Super Bowl. But for now, not a lot of guys stepping up.

 

[Kontradiction]

He makes a very interesting, and potentially troubling, point about moving Hightower back to MLB full time if Roberts doesn't improve. That said, you can't close the book on Roberts by any stretch just yet. He is a rookie, playing in a game full time for the first time, and was unfairly handed the task of covering a RB who converted there from WR in college a lot of the time. Of course he wasn't going to look good.

 

[Kontradiction]

Apart from the sad reminder about blowing a second round pick on Jordan Richards

GOD awful pick. Most of us saw that one coming. I was surprised by how many in here tried to hype him up. That said, I also took an L on Harmon. He's ended up being much better than I thought he was going to be when he was drafted. So Harmon has been a hit thus far while Richards (to date) and Wilson have been horrific misses at the safety position when it comes to reaches. Hopefully Richards turns it around and proves me wrong like Harmon did. I love being wrong when it comes to this team.

 

[luuked]

GOD awful pick. Most of us saw that one coming. I was surprised by how many in here tried to hype him up. That said, I also took an L on Harmon. He's ended up being much better than I thought he was going to be when he was drafted. So Harmon has been a hit thus far while Richards (to date) and Wilson have been horrific misses at the safety position when it comes to reaches. Hopefully Richards turns it around and proves me wrong like Harmon did. I love being wrong when it comes to this team.

I am actually most surprised that Richards didn't at least turn into one of the better ST players. I honestly thought that being a pretty good, core ST player was his floor. Wonder if he is just mentally too slow to read situations correctly for the NFL.

 

[borg]

Without a pass rush, the physical limitations in the secondary become obvious. I saw members of the secondary unable to match the speed of Seattle's WRs resulting in more zone defense. And without a pass rush, zone eventually gets exploited as well. And remember, Seattle was an offensively challenged team prior to exploiting NE's bend and break.
Luckily, the Pats defense plays sucky offenses thru week 17 and only Oakland (offensively) would scare me in the playoffs.

 

[Jimke]

I am actually most surprised that Richards didn't at least turn into one of the better ST players. I honestly thought that being a pretty good, core ST player was his floor. Wonder if he is just mentally too slow to read situations correctly for the NFL.

I don't think the problem is mental. Richards was praised as being another coach on the field at
Stanford. He is just too slow and un-athletic to play pro football. Richards was described as
a smart safety who was projected as a 6-7 round choice because he lacked the speed and
instincts to stay with receivers.

 

[neuronet]

Our personnel demands zone, and in the world of BB that translates to bend but don't break. But ..rushing two? Dear Lord.

That said was it really our d? We had first and goal and couldn't get the 7!

 

[luuked]

I don't think the problem is mental. Richards was praised as being another coach on the field at
Stanford. He is just too slow and un-athletic to play pro football. Richards was described as
a smart safety who was projected as a 6-7 round choice because he lacked the speed and
instincts to stay with receivers.

Yes, he was that good in college but the pro level is considerably faster. I always thought at the very least he'd make a good ST coverage player with his instincts. But whatever..

 

[Kontradiction]

I am actually most surprised that Richards didn't at least turn into one of the better ST players. I honestly thought that being a pretty good, core ST player was his floor. Wonder if he is just mentally too slow to read situations correctly for the NFL.

Not sure about that. One of the more promising aspects of Richards as a player was his mental ability to breakdown what was in front of him and process information quickly while the knock was his athleticism. But who knows?