Defense - upside is there, but needs to improve in 2014

[sb1]

Maybe it's just me...

We all think our defense has some upside...but watching that NFC Championship game was an eye opener... it seems that this defense really does has a long way to go to get to where it needs to be to win a title.

Watching those two defenses and this one was like night and day.

It's now been 9 seasons since the Pats won a title...and exactly 9 seasons since the Pats had a defense that was more than adequate. Coincidence?

I hope other teams and their fans start talking about this team's defense with fear and respect again in the coming years, like they used to when the Pats were winning titles....

 

[Sciz]

The Pats seemed to be on their way to having a top defense this season. I'm not sure the 49ers or Seahawks could do much better than the Pats if you take away 3 of their top 4 defenders plus two other starters.

 

[Joey007]

I'll echo what one or two forum members said last year (remind me whoever said this)- more speed, and more badass. Those are the two things we need most. I think this is the most talented defense we've had since those SB days, but it still needsalot more added to it. To put it simply- we need more Jamie Collins type players.

 

[TonyTucker]

Really, you just watch them compared to those two, and it's embarrassing. Their pressure, if you can even call it that, was laughable. Nobody can win a matchup in the trenches? Not one? I'd still like to know what the gameplan was. No pressure, can't stop the pass, can't stop the run, no turnovers, can't even stop them when the Broncos coasted at the end. What were you planning for?

 

[Joey007]

The day we put together a true dominant defense is the day we win the Super Bowl, I'll bet my house on that.*


*as long as Brady and Belichick are here of course

 

[hwc]

Yes. I think the Pats had the makings of a very good defense derailed by season ending injuries to the entire middle of the front seven -- both starting DTs and the starting MLB. They were trying to patch it with duct tape and bailing wire after that.

Defense wasn't the problem today. They held Manning to under 30 points, which is about all you can hope for. Scoring 16 points doesn't cut it.

 

[BradyToAmendola]

Yes. I think the Pats had the makings of a very good defense derailed by season ending injuries to the entire middle of the front seven -- both starting DTs and the starting MLB. They were trying to patch it with duct tape and bailing wire after that.

Defense wasn't the problem today. They held Manning to under 30 points, which is about all you can hope for. Scoring 16 points doesn't cut it.

The Patriots only had 7 real drives (not counting the one before the end of the half with 25 seconds left)

16 points on 7 drives is pretty decent for this team, that's an average of 2.28 points per drive.

During the season they averaged 2.2 points per drive. So really they performed to the level that they have all year.

The bottom line for me at least, is that we need more than 7 drives. If we got 10-11 drives like normal we probably put up 27-33 points. The game came down to our defense just being terrible and giving up long drives ending in TDs or FGs.

 

[pheenix11]

The pass rush was nonexistent today, was Manning knocked down even once?

Having said that I thought the defense did well in holding the Broncos to field goals a few times. Allowing 26 points to the highest scoring offense of all time isn't too bad.

Scoring 16 points on offense was pathetic.

 

[BKBroiler]

This loss is not on the defense today. They held Denver under 30 with their best CB out for half of the game.

No way was scoring 16 points going to be enough. They went basically went three and out their first two drives. And both had third and short's that weren't converted. How is that the defenses fault?

The only critique I have on the defense was the lack of pressure (rushing three was a terrible gameplan). You may not want to blitz Manning, but sending five once in a while would've gotten the ball out quicker. Manning actually threw two wobbly passes that could've been picked off when they didn't sit back and only rush three or four.

 

[Deus Irae]

Assuming a return to health

Jones
Wilfork
Kelly

Mayo

Talib
Dennard
McCourty

Is a starting 7 that can compete with any in the league. I just wish Jones had more lead in his ass so this team could go back to the 3-4. Then again, I've been wishing the team would go back to the 3-4 for a couple of years.

 

[Peachhead]

I'd love to see us get a stud Strong Safety. A real headhunter. I think that and getting back the guys on IR (minus Spikes who I think is gone in free agency) would have a major impact. Trans-formative. Steve Gregory just doesn't scare anyone.

We need a guy like Rodney H back there. To give opposing WRs alligator arms when they hear him coming. And just set the tone and bring an attitude to the D. Finding one in the draft is hit and miss so I wouldn't mind splurging a little in Free Agency if someone of that description is available.

 

[Sciz]

This loss is not on the defense today. They held Denver under 30 with their best CB out for half of the game.

No way was scoring 16 points going to be enough. They went basically went three and out their first two drives. And both had third and short's that weren't converted. How is that the defenses fault?

As pointed out above, this game featured a ridiculously low amount of drives. The Pats' offense was slightly below average but not awful given the number of drives, while the defense let the Broncos score around their season average, and that's not nearly good enough when you realize how easily Manning shredded most of those defenses during the regular season.

 

[Joey007]

I'd love to see us get a stud Strong Safety. A real headhunter. I think that and getting back the guys on IR (minus Spikes who I think is gone in free agency) would have a major impact. Trans-formative. Steve Gregory just doesn't scare anyone.

We need a guy like Rodney H back there. To give opposing WRs alligator arms when they hear him coming. And just set the tone and bring an attitude to the D. Finding one in the draft is hit and miss so I wouldn't mind splurging a little in Free Agency if someone of that description is available.

I know there's a bit of a bitterness towards the guy, but I'd love TJ Ward on our roster.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Defense

We've been saying that the defense is a year away for like 5 years now. I'll believe it when I see it. Seems like we lose an impact player for every one we gain, and players plateauing before their third season is starting to look like an issue. As promising as Dennard, Jones, and Hightower were as rookies, did any of them improve significantly this year?

 

[patsfan-1982]

the defense was up and down all year because of injuries they were just bad today but even with that said I don't see the Seahawks holding Peyton to 26 points

 

[Deus Irae]

We've been saying that the defense is a year away for like 5 years now. I'll believe it when I see it. Seems like we lose an impact player for every one we gain.

Instead of wasting the Tavon Wilson pick:

Zach Brown
Lavonte David
Demarrio Davis


were available at a defensive position of need, and that would have meant that this year could have gone to shoring up the safety position. There's more to say on this, but I'll leave it here in a (likely to fail) attempt to avoid rehashing of old arguments.

 

[supafly]

The defense wasn't terrible, but they weren't good either. I'd have to see that even mediocre may be giving them the benefit of the doubt, considering that they gave up the highest yardage total in ANY game (reg season or postseason) in the history of the Belichick era here.

The fact that Manning and DEN's offense are so stacked made things seem worse, but you're not going to go into DEN and allow 6 straight scoring drives and expect to win.

We need to address the DT, and SS positions in the draft/free agency. That's a given. You may even have a debate to add the position of CB too, since no team can ever have enough depth and talent there too.

 

[supafly]

the defense was up and down all year because of injuries they were just bad today but even with that said I don't see the Seahawks holding Peyton to 26 points

I can see SEA holding them to around the same point total or better. I just have a hard time seeing SEA score enough themselves. I could envision one of those 27-17 kind of games.

 

[TonyTucker]

Tavon Wilson and Jake Bequette will become great players soon, that ole Bill knows how to pick em

 

[supafly]

Tavon Wilson and Jake Bequette will become great players soon, that ole Bill knows how to pick em

Keep in mind that we've totally rebuilt our entire defense on the fly, along with our offense too. All without missing a beat whatsoever.

Belichick realizes that the draft is a crapshoot, which is one of the reasons why he likes to improve his odds by having more picks than most other teams.

You can't just focus in on the bad picks. There have been many that were very good just the same.

Mayo, Hightower, Spikes, Collins, Dennard, Ryan, McCourty, Wilfork, Chandler Jones---those are just on defense, and those are just lately.

Gronk, Hernandez (when playing), Solder, Vollmer, Cannon, Mankins, Vereen, Ridley, Edelman, etc---on offense.

There have been many good picks recently. Choosing a couple of players who aren't as good as the starters, haven't seen the field, or just haven't panned out for whatever reason (possibly that they suck) would be kind of unfair in the big picture.