Can We Settle Down Regarding The Defense?

[mgteich]

The defense has a long way to go. The season has a long way to go. As always, we will have players coming in and out because of health issues. However, it does seem that we should expect improvement in all units as the season progresses.

DL
There is an issue at DT. For now, we seem to have only Brown and Guy. Four is usually the "right" number. Perhaps Branch will improve. Perhaps, Valentine will be back. Perhaps, we'll add a backup player.
DE is fine with Flowers, Wise, Marsh, and occasionally Hightower, with Grissom as an emergency backup. Guy also plays some 3-4 DE.

LB
It is good to see Hightower back at LB for most downs. We usually have two linebackers: Hightower and Van Noy. We also have Roberts on running downs. We have Marquise Flowers as an emergency backup. Perhaps, McClellan will be back. In any case, I could see us adding a LB to replace Harris, or perhaps belichick sees something that we don't in Harris, and is keeping him out because he is simply at the end of the depth chart.

DB
It seems that Patricia is getting this worked out. We may not be able to identify all the formations, but we can see that the secondary is under better control. Gilmore indicated that he covered one player for most of the game. Some said that Butler did also. The rest played zone. We may see something new each week. However, we have seven defensive backs that we can count on (when Rowe is healthy), plus some STers (Ebner, King, Richards and Bademosi).

BOTTOM LINE
Branch and Harris are question marks. I would think that they will improve or be replaced. The defense should be average in a few weeks, and better than that for the end of the season and playoffs.

 

[archstanton543]

Nope. Not until they show sustained improvement. One slightly not completely terrible defensive effort is not enough for me to settle down about it.

 

[Deus Irae]

Can We Settle Down Regarding The Defense?

The defense has been, arguably, the worst in the league, to this point. While I'm not surprised to see struggles, particularly given the injury to Hightower and whatever the hell is going on with Branch, not being "settled down" seems like a reasonable position for people to take under the circumstances. As long as people don't go full Dilfer, I don't see why they shouldn't show real concern, especially if they think the problems are inherent rather than fixable.

 

[NYPatsFan]

Umm... no.

 

[bormio]

If Valentine can come back, I think that is a no-brainer, unless we make a trade or bring someone in. Then it might come down to Mitchell vs McClellin. I could see us not bringing Mitchell back - as tough as that would be.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Need more consistency from our defense. Let's see how they do the next 3 games before the bye with the falcons being the biggest challenge of them all.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

If Valentine can come back, I think that is a no-brainer, unless we make a trade or bring someone in. Then it might come down to Mitchell vs McClellin. I could see us not bringing Mitchell back - as tough as that would be.

I was hoping Dorsett would do a little more but he hasn't.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Need more consistency from our defense. Let's see how they do the next 3 games before the bye with the falcons being the biggest challenge of them all.

At least that's at home

Road games in Mexico, Denver, and Pittsburgh (all in close succession) are the biggest challenges awaiting this team as a whole.

That's the defining period for this team.... can't wait to see how they respond!

 

[mgteich]

I was hoping Dorsett would do a little more but he hasn't.

I'm not at all surprised. Our offense is really difficult to learn. Brady wants to throw before the WR makes a cut, and that's after they both made the same read of the defense. Dorsett is an OK #4 WR, a 6th or 7th receiving option. We are fine depending on Cooks, Hogan, Amendola, Gronkowski and White. That's 5. We usually have only 4 receiving options on the field at a time, often fewer.

In a pinch, we might get some receptions from Develin, Gillislie, Lewis, Burkhead, Hollister, Allan or Dorsett.

 

[Ring 6]

The defense has been, arguably, the worst in the league, to this point. While I'm not surprised to see struggles, particularly given the injury to Hightower and whatever the hell is going on with Branch, not being "settled down" seems like a reasonable position for people to take under the circumstances. As long as people don't go full Dilfer, I don't see why they shouldn't show real concern, especially if they think the problems are inherent rather than fixable.

There is a huge difference between showing concern and declaring the season a failure.
Discussion is one thing.
Gloom and doom and writing off any chance of improvement is something else.
I think both extremes don't add much to the discussion.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I don't think the OP is wrong to feel a little optimism.... I still have major concerns for this team as a whole. But the defense passed the eye test on Thursday and stats back that up. As pointed out by Evan Lazar:

• The Bucs had 7 points, 180 total yards of offense, and averaged 4.3 yards per play in the first 3 quarters. Pretty remarkable turnaround for Patriots defense on a short week.
• Patriots defense held the Bucs to zero points off of the two turnovers. really good job seeing they had good field position in the both situations.

Beneath the breakdowns and missed tackles, there's potential and toughness to this defense... if they learn to execute and DO THEIR JOB!!!!

 

[Tony2046]

The defense has a long way to go. The season has a long way to go. As always, we will have players coming in and out because of health issues. However, it does seem that we should expect improvement in all units as the season progresses.

DL
There is an issue at DT. For now, we seem to have only Brown and Guy. Four is usually the "right" number. Perhaps Branch will improve. Perhaps, Valentine will be back. Perhaps, we'll add a backup player.
DE is fine with Flowers, Wise, Marsh, and occasionally Hightower, with Grissom as an emergency backup. Guy also plays some 3-4 DE.

LB
It is good to see Hightower back at LB for most downs. We usually have two linebackers: Hightower and Van Noy. We also have Roberts on running downs. We have Marquise Flowers as an emergency backup. Perhaps, McClellan will be back. In any case, I could see us adding a LB to replace Harris, or perhaps belichick sees something that we don't in Harris, and is keeping him out because he is simply at the end of the depth chart.

DB
It seems that Patricia is getting this worked out. We may not be able to identify all the formations, but we can see that the secondary is under better control. Gilmore indicated that he covered one player for most of the game. Some said that Butler did also. The rest played zone. We may see something new each week. However, we have seven defensive backs that we can count on (when Rowe is healthy), plus some STers (Ebner, King, Richards and Bademosi).

BOTTOM LINE
Branch and Harris are question marks. I would think that they will improve or be replaced. The defense should be average in a few weeks, and better than that for the end of the season and playoffs.

Hopefully Branch gets back on board with things. That would be a huge boost for the front 7.

 

[DarrylS]

From my big comfy couch the Defensive play on Thursday nite, was leaps and bounds better than the defense we saw the first 4 weeks.. we did not see a lot of the backs of Bucs numbers being chased by the D Backs..

Need for improvement, but I felt optimistic.. late in the game the Pats had held the Bucs to 0 3 point conversions, 4 of 13 3rd down conversions in total.. what overshadowed a lot of the defensive effort were stupid penalties..

 

[maineman209]

I was hoping Dorsett would do a little more but he hasn't.

Dorsett is currently the #4 WR for 2017:
... averaging one target per game
... 23.5% of offensive snaps
... 80% catch rate
... 21.25 ypc


Amendola was the #4 WR for 2016:
... averaged 1.8 tgts/game (regular season)
... 23.8% of offensive snaps
... 79.3% catch rate
... 10.6 ypc

Even with no OTAs or training camp with the Pats, Dorsett has been an adequate #4 so far.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Dorsett is currently the #4 WR for 2017:
... averaging one target per game
... 23.5% of offensive snaps
... 80% catch rate
... 21.25 ypc


Amendola was the #4 WR for 2016:
... averaged 1.8 tgts/game (regular season)
... 23.8% of offensive snaps
... 79.3% catch rate
... 10.6 ypc

Even with no OTAs or training camp with the Pats, Dorsett has been an adequate #4 so far.

Is he injured? Ever since New Orleans, he seems to be doing less and less.

 

[maineman209]

Is he injured? Ever since New Orleans, he seems to be doing less and less.

Dorsett's snap percentages, tgts/rec so far this season:
... KCY, 22% ... 1/0
... NOL, 42% ... 3/3, 68 yds (Amendola OUT)
... HOU, 11% ... 0/0 (Dorsett, QUESTIONABLE, knee)
... CAR, 13% ... 1/1, 17 yds
... TBY, 27% ... 0/0 (Gronk OUT)

 

[Ring 6]

I don't think the OP is wrong to feel a little optimism.... I still have major concerns for this team as a whole. But the defense passed the eye test on Thursday and stats back that up. As pointed out by Evan Lazar:

• The Bucs had 7 points, 180 total yards of offense, and averaged 4.3 yards per play in the first 3 quarters. Pretty remarkable turnaround for Patriots defense on a short week.
• Patriots defense held the Bucs to zero points off of the two turnovers. really good job seeing they had good field position in the both situations.

Beneath the breakdowns and missed tackles, there's potential and toughness to this defense... if they learn to execute and DO THEIR JOB!!!!

Let's put it this way.
The first 3 quarters was terrific defense.
The 4th quarter was gritting out a win.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Loved Doug Kyed's analysis

Patriots-Buccaneers Film Review: How New England Fixed Defensive Issues

• The Patriots let up just 104 yards through the air and 76 on the ground for the first three quarters while holding the Buccaneers to seven points. They allowed 215 yards passing, 14 yards rushing and seven more points in the fourth quarter as they moved to off-man coverages to prevent big plays and long touchdowns.

• So, what happened? First, the Patriots fixed the communication issues in their secondary by having cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who was in the middle of many of those problems, shadow Bucs top receiver Mike Evans. It worked. There were no blatant communication issues, and Evans only caught five passes on eight targets for 49 yards.

• Many of the Patriots’ Week 3 issues came against bunch formations, when two defensive backs would cover one receiver, leaving another wide open for a big play. The Buccaneers also came out in a bunch early in the fourth quarter. Gilmore lined up across from Evans, who was in the bunch, this time. Gilmore, Chung and Devin McCourty didn’t swap receivers post-snap and correctly covered their side of the field.

• The Patriots showed enough faith in their secondary to mix different coverages. They used Cover-1 man, 2-man, Cover-3, Cover-2 and quarters. Until Gilmore is entirely acclimated, expect the Patriots to try to avoid using him against bunch formations. When he does have to guard a receiver in a bunch, it might be smart to avoid swapping receivers post-snap.

• Dont’a Hightower moved back to inside linebacker in certain situations. He almost exclusively played as an edge defender in Weeks 1 and 4 while sitting out with an injury in Weeks 2 and 3. The Patriots’ run defense was far from perfect, but having Hightower back in the middle seemed to help.

• Defensive tackles Malcom Brown and Lawrence Guy have been a steady presence in the middle of the Patriots’ defense. If the Patriots’ linebackers were playing better, their run defense would probably be solid.

Other adjustments....

• For McCourty, according to analytics website Pro Football Focus, this meant being used as a more traditional free safety as opposed to an in-box player. While he lined up in the box on 45.6% of his snaps entering week five, the 30-year old played that role to on only 21.9% of snaps on Thursday. Overall, McCourty played a season-high 43 snaps as a deep safety.

 

[VectorPrime]

I won't be giving the defense a break until we see how they do against Atlanta.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

I won't be giving the defense a break until we see how they do against Atlanta.

Well that will be the next high powered offense we will see. Matt Ryan's different from Winston that's for sure. Have Gilmore on Jones.