Going forward on defense will the Pats continue Flores’ aggressiveness?

[Ras-IR Dowling]

I agree, but I don’t think they would have been as aggressive had it been New Orleans. Overall I felt like they were more aggressive this season, and I want them to continue that, but I still think they will temper it depending upon the opponent.

Not sure how aggressive we would’ve gotten against brees, I’m pretty sure the focal point would be the run game. Get NO into 2/3rd and longs and bet on the secondary coming through.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

Situational football based on the players we have at our disposal at that time will dictate that.

Every player on our defense seemingly hit their stride in the playoffs and it was at its pinnacle in the super bowl. Friggin even Danny Shelton was balling out. This was a truly awesome and special display/run from our defense. Historic even. It will be incredibly hard to replicate on a consistent basis.

Some departures/additions and the coaching turn over is going no doubt call for a conservative GTFB performances as we figure out exactly who we are and what we are good at.

 

[ahmed]

Felt like early 2000s defense last few weeks. This needs to be maintained!

 

[supafly]

Situational football based on the players we have at our disposal at that time will dictate that.

Every player on our defense seemingly hit their stride in the playoffs and it was at its pinnacle in the super bowl. Friggin even Danny Shelton was balling out. This was a truly awesome and special display/run from our defense. Historic even. It will be incredibly hard to replicate on a consistent basis.

Some departures/additions and the coaching turn over is going no doubt call for a conservative GTFB performances as we figure out exactly who we are and what we are good at.

The physicality was crazy. Seeing some of those .gifs in the other thread really puts things in perspective.

If they’re able to keep Flowers and add a couple of front seven pieces from the draft—look out. For real. We’ve got Bentley coming back. Roberts had a much better year. HT and KVN looked much better in this more aggressive and physical type of approach.

I’m thinking safety, DT, and an edge player in the draft. My goodness. It’s giving me a football boner. It’s possible that we still have guys like Rivers and Dawson who are high round picks who still may not get much playing time.

 

[Joker]

Flowers is gone IMO. KVN is a key player on D...no one sees it but he is.Hightower could retire...why not? He's got his rings and yesterday was his signature performance career wise. The Pats have young players on IR that will contribute next season. They have a monster draft. They have a lockdown corner in the fold for a couple of years. They are old at safety...THAT will be a pick because Dawson looks like a "meh".Versatile D lineman, obviously. Hightower type LBer...and tight end.2nd or 3rd round.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

We shall see.. I tend to agree that Flowers is gone, although I hope I am wrong.

Agreed that KVN has played himself into the core of this defense. Hoping Hightower can log in another season or 2, hes such a force esp in big games but I am not the one with arthritic knees.

Exciting times ahead!

 

[dannydyn]

That’s going to depend less on the coordinator and more on the personnel. If they have the personnel to execute C0 without having to worry about their corners losing in man, then they will continue it. If not, they’ll play it safer.

The personnel was largely unchanged from last year. Heck, it was the same personnel all season long, and yet the defense in the playoffs was MUCH more aggressive, playing smash-mouth football, than during the regular season.

 

[Kontradiction]

The personnel was largely unchanged from last year. Heck, it was the same personnel all season long, and yet the defense in the playoffs was MUCH more aggressive, playing smash-mouth football, than during the regular season.

J.C. Jackson, Jason McCourty, and Donte Hightower were not on the team last year and all three were tasked with significant playing time. Gilmore was also much more comfortable in his role this year than he was in 2017.

 

[Love The Drake]

Flowers is gone IMO. KVN is a key player on D...no one sees it but he is.Hightower could retire...why not? He's got his rings and yesterday was his signature performance career wise. The Pats have young players on IR that will contribute next season. They have a monster draft. They have a lockdown corner in the fold for a couple of years. They are old at safety...THAT will be a pick because Dawson looks like a "meh".Versatile D lineman, obviously. Hightower type LBer...and tight end.2nd or 3rd round.

I feel we should tag him even if it's to trade him?
Do you agree or what are your thoughts?

 

[Steve102]

please god I can’t imagine Belichick will go back to a safe bend but don’t break (and then break anyway) scheme like it was under Patricia. It is so obvious that the defense played with so much more energy and swagger under this aggressive scheme, we saw it as early as the preseason.

God I hope so.

 

[mosi]

As well as the opponent and game plan. They were so aggressive yesterday because the plan was to rattle the sh.t out of Goff and force him into bad throws.

So I went back and watched the 2016 game against the Rams and honestly, it looks very similar (from a defense point of view). Shockingly similar. Goff sht the bed anytime pressure was applied and looked the same.

The difference in the game was the Pats offense executed better and did not do stupid things like throw INT's, miss field goals and turn the ball over on downs.

 

[tasmlab]

Maybe Flores brought the scheme/approach.

Or maybe BB gave the defense more of his personal attention this year without a formal DC?

 

[Ivan]

So I went back and watched the 2016 game against the Rams and honestly, it looks very similar (from a defense point of view). Shockingly similar. Goff sht the bed anytime pressure was applied and looked the same.

The difference in the game was the Pats offense executed better and did not do stupid things like throw INT's, miss field goals and turn the ball over on downs.

Actually the Pats has an Interception and a missed FG, that’s why some here we’re melting down at the half.

 

[mgteich]

What you say is true.

I would note that we should be able to run (subject to game plan) a similar defense if the GM re-signs Jones and J McCourty. The rest of secondary is back. We could get some contributions from the bottom of the depth chart (Dawson, Obi, and Crossen). The linebackers will be the same, plus we'll add Bentley. Also, the role players on the DL are back: Guy, Butler and Wise (and Rivers and Davis too).

The only (and a major one) question is on the DL. I would think that the GM can bring in or re-sign players to play an aggressive defense if he so wishes. We have FOUR players that could be brought back or replaced: Flowers, Brown, Shelton and Claiborne.

That’s going to depend less on the coordinator and more on the personnel. If they have the personnel to execute C0 without having to worry about their corners losing in man, then they will continue it. If not, they’ll play it safer.

 

[mosi]

Actually the Pats has an Interception and a missed FG, that’s why some here we’re melting down at the half.

No, I was referring to the game against the Goff lead Rams in 2016, which honestly felt very similar to this SB game. The D was just as dominant in that game.

 

[Sciz]

Lavonte David had 7 sacks for Schiano’s Bucs in 2013. I would expect the linebackers to continue to have opportunities if that’s the direction Belichick goes at defensive coordinator.

 

[ralmat55]

Last week I listened to an interview on SiriusXM with Donta Hightower. Hightower was asked about the game plan installation and responded with a mention of 3 coaches as to the game plan. He mentioned in order “Coach Belichick, BD, and coach Flo”. BD is Brendan Daly DL coach. I found his answer interesting especially since Daly isn’t even High’s position coach.

I think what we’re going to find is running the defense was really a group effort between Belichick and multiple defensive coaches. I would be surprised if Daly isn’t promoted to the Flores role in 2019.

 

[law241]

It's been a breath of fresh air. The Pats' defense has been using the "bend but don't break" model since Romeo left. I hate it. I know Bill hates huge chunk plays, but there needs to be more of a happy medium. This year was much better in that regard.

Like the other poster mentioned, I think it will be personell specific. We had a really good secondary and the best DLine we have had in a while. Gilmore took it up a notch this year. People wanted to run him out of town when he first got here. He was already good. But he has improved as a player and his fit in this unit tremendously from the beginning. We could potentially lose both Mc Courtys and I'm not sure Bill will pay Flowers what he can get in the open market considering his injury history. So, again, I think it depends on what happens in the off-season, if we have the luxury of being aggressive I would love to see it again.

 

[mgteich]

If we franchise him, he doesn't need to sign until July. In the meantime, $17M would count against the cap. We wouldn't be able to use the cap money. In July, he'd likely sign, and sure we could trade him then, and have $17M of cap money in July, after almost everyone has signed with other teams.

Personally, I don't like this strategy.

I feel we should tag him even if it's to trade him?
Do you agree or what are your thoughts?

 

[dannydyn]

J.C. Jackson, Jason McCourty, and Donte Hightower were not on the team last year and all three were tasked with significant playing time. Gilmore was also much more comfortable in his role this year than he was in 2017.

I said 'largely unchanged', not exactly the same. There was a big difference this year between regular and post season defensive performance.