Can We Settle Down Regarding The Defense?

[Tony2046]

Agree about McClellin. The LB corps has been suffering from lack of bodies with the appropriate skill sets as much as the DL has.

Van Noy played 100% of the defensive snaps for the first four games with Roberts chipping in about 50% and no other LB getting more than about 25%. Chung played more LB than everybody besides VN and Roberts.

IMHO, VN and Roberts seem best-suited for ILB roles, as is Harris. That leaves HT and Marquis Flowers to handle OLB roles and there really hasn't been anybody to rotate in.

Meanwhile, the pass offense really hasn't been hurting. As "invisible" as Dorsett has seemed, he's actually contributed as many receptions and yards as a #4 WR on the Pats typically would have.

And, with Branch underperforming to the degree that he's actually been a liability, the defense could certainly benefit from having another interior DL.

So, my preferences for the two IR-return players would definitely be McClellin and Valentine.

I agree with this even if Branch returns to his 2016 self.

 

[Huckleberry1]

He's either a troll or the most negative Pats fan I've ever seen.

He’s right there with Captain Stone, Triumph, Avacado Uce Cream and the others who pretend to be Patriot fans while shredding Belichick because they have only won over 75% of their games, 7 Conference Championships, and 5 Super Bowls during his tenure. Imo they are trolls.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

Not sure you can settle down when you have the 32nd ranked defense in the NFL until you start to see some clear improvement.

When they start playing to their potential then people will settle down, when you write down the names the defense doesn't seem that bad but games are playing on the field and it's been horrible so far.

I'm still expecting it to get better than what it has been though cause there's zero chance this team does anything if the defense is going to play at week 1-5 level.

 

[Uptown]

Seems like it’s gonna be VV & Shea Butter.

 

[maineman209]

Not sure you can settle down when you have the 32nd ranked defense in the NFL until you start to see some clear improvement.

When they start playing to their potential then people will settle down, when you write down the names the defense doesn't seem that bad but games are playing on the field and it's been horrible so far.

I'm still expecting it to get better than what it has been though cause there's zero chance this team does anything if the defense is going to play at week 1-5 level.

OTOH, even though these first five games were supposed to be a relatively manageable start to the season, it turns out that the Pats have lost to (now) 5-0 KCY with the #3 overall offense, and to 4-2 CAR with the #4 overall offense. Even the Texans (at 2-3) are #9.

So, while the defense has been playing poorly and DOES need to improve (and quickly), some credit should be given to the offenses they've faced. They weren't exactly creampuffs as it's turned out so far.

 

[Tony2046]

He’s right there with Captain Stone, Triumph, Avacado Uce Cream and the others who pretend to be Patriot fans while shredding Belichick because they have only won over 75% of their games, 7 Conference Championships, and 5 Super Bowls during his tenure. Imo they are trolls.

I agree but I put Captain Stone in his own group. He'll give an informed opinion of why he thinks what he does. I rarely agree but at least I know where he's coming from.

The others just throw out vomited hot takes that have zero substance which equate to nothing more than, "This Sucks" "Whaaa" "We're gonna lose" "Bigly" "Whaaa" .

 

[PittPatriot]

I'm inspired by the 2006 Colts defense. They finished in the bottom 1/3 of the league.... But somehow got it together to make a playoff run giving up only 14 points total in the wildcard in divisional round. And somehow stopping the patriots ( aside from overheating the RCA dome and pumping in fake crowd noise).
They basically carried a lame Peyton Manning to his first Super Bowl victory.

 

[borg]

No question the Pats defense has rarely looked so disorganized...but....as I posted before...and Chatham is hinting at now, the presence of a mobile QB forces a BB defense into contain mode rather than attack mode.....thus....these QBs have extra time in the pocket to exploit the disorganized secondary.

Questions:
Will Harris get more PT now that the mobile QB threat is over for now?
Will Harris get to prove himself vs his ex-team?
Is BB second guessing his willingness to let veteran Branch skip offseason practice?

 

[Tony2046]

OTOH, even though these first five games were supposed to be a relatively manageable start to the season, it turns out that the Pats have lost to (now) 5-0 KCY with the #3 overall offense, and to 4-2 CAR with the #4 overall offense. Even the Texans (at 2-3) are #9.

So, while the defense has been playing poorly and DOES need to improve (and quickly), some credit should be given to the offenses they've faced. They weren't exactly creampuffs as it's turned out so far.

Right now Football Outsiders has the Pats Defensive Strength of Schedule ranked as #1.

Edit: Forgot link.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2017 DEFENSE EFFICIENCY RATINGS

 

[Tony2046]

No question the Pats defense has rarely looked so disorganized...but....as I posted before...and Chatham is hinting at now, the presence of a mobile QB forces a BB defense into contain mode rather than attack mode.....thus....these QBs have extra time in the pocket to exploit the disorganized secondary.

Questions:
Will Harris get more PT now that the mobile QB threat is over for now?
Will Harris get to prove himself vs his ex-team?
Is BB second guessing his willingness to let veteran Branch skip offseason practice?

I'd like to see Harris play if just to see what he can do.

Branch - If he is now motivated to contribute and is working to get back to his 2016 self I guess the one blessing is that his old ass might be a little bit less worn by the end of the season. Silver lining?

 

[maineman209]

I agree but I put Captain Stone in his own group. He'll give an informed opinion of why he thinks what he does. I rarely agree but at least I know where he's coming from.

The others just throw out vomited hot takes that have zero substance which equate to nothing more than, "This Sucks" "Whaaa" "We're gonna lose" "Bigly" "Whaaa" .

Agree.

Captain Stone may be cynical and a contrarian, but he DOES know something about football and players, AND, most important, he WILL change his mind when he's respectfully presented with good, solid, useful evidence.

These other guys are mostly fantasy-footballers who don't know squat and don't really want to.

Or they're just trolls.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Let's see what they can hold this potent Jets offense to.

The defense has been god awful! Missed assignments, blown coverages and they flat out gave up late in the KC game.

Some of it, is lack of communication/concentration. Some of it is a lack of talent in the front seven. Hightower is the only real playmaker that the Pats have on defense.

 

[borg]

Worrisome to me:
-Chiefs committed 15 penalties / 138 yds and still blew out NE
-loss of 1 key player on offense Gronk and 1 key player on defense Hightower completely immobilized the Pats (outscored 21-0 in 4th qtr). KCs loss of Berry had zero impact
-Patriots won the turnover battle (at home) vs Carolina 2-0 yet the previously anemic Carolina offense managed 33 pts
-Mindless NE penalties each week (roughing punter twice, hands to face, encroachment on punt, etc)

Encouraging to me:
-Brady's still standing
-Hogan was a great last round fantasy pick
-Ghost is looking good
- If and when NE plays KC in the AFC Championship game at Arrowhead, BB will have seen 17 weeks of KC tape...and....Gronk must be healthy. Without Gronk (4th qtr vs KC / vs Tampa) NE has shown their offense is average at best.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I agree but I put Captain Stone in his own group. He'll give an informed opinion of why he thinks what he does. I rarely agree but at least I know where he's coming from.

The others just throw out vomited hot takes that have zero substance which equate to nothing more than, "This Sucks" "Whaaa" "We're gonna lose" "Bigly" "Whaaa" .

I don’t give Captain Stone any pass at all, he’s been at the forefront of the “Belichick Sucks” narrative for years and years. I don’t believe he’s a Patriot fan as I have never seen him enjoy any of their success, and I don’t believe anyone who is actually a fan would ignore their success completely while trashing every decision they make that doesn’t fit into their fantasy GM pretense.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Of course they do.

Agree.

Wow. Take a game that has 16 data-sets... all of which have a low number of data points... then declare subsets to have no validity.,. That’ll really help us understand!
Football is like a story, not a spreadsheet. Solutions/enhancements fail or succeed, but not in a vacuum. Every game counts (w-l) and every .
chapter counts. You can’t watch the final game (we hope a SB) and discount the rest because they did not resemble it...

I think some of that sort of thinking goes into the “this game doesn’t matter” frame of mind.

We know that end-season product will be different. Early games are just as important, even if you assume we will get to a preferred destination. The journey’s underway, we’re putting the writing on the wall now, or rather the Pats are.

Ok too much said on something so self evident.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

A need to "settle down" implies running around, ranting and raving.
I'm neither ranting nor raving and am sitting down as I write this.
But, I'll feel a lot better when this Defense starts playing like the Defense we "thought" we had.
Holding the Jetes under 20 points at Home today would be a good place to start.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

Nah i'm not settling down this defense is HORRIBLE at times.

Worst in the league right now and zero chance to win anything unless it improves out of sight, there's no excuse for the defense to start games this sloppy with the talent available.

 

[Pats1989]

What was that you were saying about the D again???

 

[Ring 6]

What was that you were saying about the D again???

That it had allowed 15.5 ppg the last 2 games.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Seems like giving up two quick TDs to the Jets finally woke the Pats up. No doubt they realized heads were going to roll if they didn't start producing.

There IS a point to be made that Belichick/Patricia tend to tinker with their D early in a season, and would rather lose a few games and get the right guys playing the right roles so they can peak in the playoffs

But up until the 2nd quarter they had truly been the WORST defense in the game and you can't spin that in a good way.

Hopefully they turned a corner in this game. We shall see.

Between injuries and players taking some time to get into the system, all that really matters is that they make the playoffs and they've got their starters and backup rotation buying in to the roles they're all supposed to play for a healthy playoff run.