Do The Ends Justify The Means

[shirtsleeve]

I have been pondering this as of late. We have seen the defense for the last couple of seasons struggle, and not improve enough by the end of the season to make the impact they did in the SB years.

I have noticed too, a maddening trend that the team does not make the same adjustments we have been accustomed to. I still boil this down to coaching. I am not convinced of our defensive coaching staff's capabilities. Since the Rat left town, there seems to have been a brain drain in the defensive staff. JMHO

 

[RayClay]

Re: Do The Ends Justfy The Means

Well, let's look at 2010 so far. In games 1 and 3 the defense held well enough to win. In game 2, the offense got shut out in the second half and gave no help to the defense. A Pats score or two and/or fewer 3 and outs in that game would have made the defense look alot better.

So sure, the D doesn't look great right now, but it has generally been effective enough this year to keep the team winning/competing.

You don't understand. We weren't playing well enough on defense and getting old, so we needed to have two great drafts with extra picks.

You get three weeks. Now they are all busts and need to be traded for new draft picks. I don't know why you can't understand that.

 

[dhamz]

Re: Do The Ends Justfy The Means

Well, let's look at 2010 so far. In games 1 and 3 the defense held well enough to win. In game 2, the offense got shut out in the second half and gave no help to the defense. A Pats score or two and/or fewer 3 and outs in that game would have made the defense look alot better.

So sure, the D doesn't look great right now, but it has generally been effective enough this year to keep the team winning/competing.

Agreed. So far this year the defense has been effective enough this year for the Pats to win when the offense puts up 30+.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

What's wrong with that?

I agree the run D should have been better.
But the D got 2 Int in 3 4th quarter drives. How would that qualify as not stopping anything?

Nothing wrong with it, but I think we were fortunate it was Fitzpatrick back there. I think a decent QB throws those away or takes the sack. Both picks came on 1st and 10 on the Patriots half of the field, and a better QB would understand that situation. But the defense certainly deserves credit for pressuring Fitzpatrick into bad decisions.

And the defense was so awful in the first half, it kind of skewed my perception of the second half. Upon review, they only gave up one scoring drive in the second half (though there was a long FG miss), with the other score on the Spiller kickoff run-back. And for what seems like the first time in a long time, the defense performed better in the second half, hopefully a sign that the kids are picking up the adjustments better.

But I don't think we actually took anything away from them until the second half, when we began to clamp down a bit on the run. Even then, it's not that impressive, as the Bills ran only 5 times for 30 yards, with 17 of those coming on 1 run from Lynch.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

These discussions will continue until the fan base comes to some sense of reality.

The league and it's rules have changed since 2003/4. Look at the yardage totals. Teams now regulary put up 500+ yards offense and 400 yards is normal.

Any defense that starts 3 rookies and 3 second year players will make mistakes and give up yardage. The criteria for a young athletic defense should be:

Red zone because it limits points and a compressed field allows athletism show.

Turnovers because it shows recognition and athletism. You have chances you need to convert. There is nothing more stupid than saying an interception was "just a bad throw". Every game, bad throw are made.

The offense needs to carry the team. Well duh! The only time where the defense has been bad, was when the offense strung together a bunch of three and outs/turnovers. This most likely a problem with younger players not making adjustments as quickly as veterans do.

 

[BAM!]

I think the concerns about this defense is the fact that they are really young in the backfield. Also, no one has shown up on defense to be a playmaker, a ball-hawker. I don't think BB has changed his defensive scheme, what has changed is what I referred to in the beginning, no playmakers.

There is no Rodney Harrison, Ty Law, Bruschi, Vrable, Willie Mac, Seymour, etc... These guys were the cornerstones of the great Pats defenses which were extremely opportunistic and able to make any offense turn the ball over. There are numerous examples that many are well aware of so I don't need to list them.

I think people are concerned that while BB is a great defensive mind, he just doesn't have the talent on D right now to pull his scheme off. I think the Pats have had some nice drafts and are putting the pieces in place but right now they are too young and inexperienced and it is showing.

 

[WhiteWesWelker88]

Fitzpatrick is better than most people think.....

we faced him twice and he was solid in both games that I saw.


fact is we have no pass rush and any qb good,bad, or ugly could have a solid game b/c there is no heat coming at him.

 

[IllegalContact]

in terms of scoring defense, the pats are 29th in the league. the bottom 6 include the lions,raiders,jags,cardinals,bills.

in terms of total yardage given up, the pats are 27th in the league. the bottom 8 include the lions, seahawks, bills, cardinals, jags, redskins, texans.

in terms of rushing yards against, the pats are 24th in the NFL and 27th against the pass. now there are playoff prospects who are as bad in one aspect, but only the real flotsam of the league are as bad in both.

you can twist and turn to make it look as good as you want, but what is obvious is that the defense is not prepared to take any aspect away from pretty much anyone so far.

you wish to hang your hat on the first half of the bengals game, or intercepting fitzpatrick twice in the 4th quarter, I think you're only kidding yourself. I really want the pats defense to be better, but looking at them, it is just hard to see right now.

The inexperience of the players coupled with the general inexperience of the coaching staff is the biggest problem. The newest players are not getting the coaching they need to get to the next level.