Just me or defensive scheme seem way better?

[Deus Irae]

The defense was not supposed to be better in fact you gave me the impression that it would be worse. Now that the defense was outstanding despite a few hiccups its all due to Watson and his OL.

NE had pressure on Watson all day. He was jittery for good reason.
The D held Houston to 2 FGs for 30 minutes.
One Houston TD came because of gift wrapped field position due to a fumble on a kick.
Houston did not have a 100 yard rusher.
Watson completed on 50% of his passes.

Oh, ya, Danny Shelton was eating up double teams and not budging an inch. The LBs were flying around.

You may be the worst football analyst this site's ever had.

"Houston did not have a 100 yard rusher".

Yeah, the guy had 98 yards on 20 carries.

 

[TheRainMaker]

The scheme is the same. Their pass rush just looks like it has more urgency and not look like their doing the waltz. Wise and Flowers had good games but Davis is a guy to keep an eye on.

 

[Kontradiction]

yOu SeE tHe BlItZEs?

 

[TommyD4207]

The scheme is the same. Their pass rush just looks like it has more urgency and not look like their doing the waltz. Wise and Flowers had good games but Davis is a guy to keep an eye on.

The definitely blitzed more often than they have in the past in the 2nd half. They brought 5 a few times. Not as much in the 4th quarter, but they were way ahead.

 

[Triumph]

You may be the worst football analyst this site's ever had.

"Houston did not have a 100 yard rusher".

Yeah, the guy had 98 yards on 20 carries.

Dont sell yourself short on being misinformed in regards to football. Chin up, youre right up there on this board with the best of em.

in 2003 the Pats D did not allow a single 100 yard rusher. It was a feather in the Pats cap. I distinctly recall this fact because it was BBs best NE defense. The 100 yard rusher shutout was a sense of accomplishment and pride lost on the fan with a hotdog in one hand and a hamburger in the other. So, I dont expect you to recognize the significance or even know about the high water mark.

Nevertheless, you have nothing in your arsenal to debate the points that I made about the defensive showing vs Houston. Out of bullets. Shooting blanks.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Dont sell yourself short on being misinformed in regards to football. Chin up, youre right up there on this board with the best of em.

in 2003 the Pats D did not allow a single 100 yard rusher. It was a feather in the Pats cap. I distinctly recall this fact because it was BBs best NE defense. The 100 yard rusher shutout was a sense of accomplishment and pride lost on the fan with a hotdog in one hand and a hamburger in the other. So, I dont expect you to recognize the significance or even know about the high water mark.

Nevertheless, you have nothing in your arsenal to debate the points that I made about the defensive showing vs Houston. Out of bullets. Shooting blanks.

The 2003 defense was bad a**! Teams couldn’t run or throw on them. Teams may as well punted on 3rd downs. Very underrated all time defense.

 

[Triumph]

The 2003 defense was bad a**! Teams couldn’t run or throw on them. Teams may as well punted on 3rd downs. Very underrated all time defense.

Every NE defense should aspire to be like the 2003 squad.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Every NE defense should aspire to be like the 2003 squad.

That would be tough though. They had a ton of talent. And they didn’t even have Colvin for most of the year.

Poole and Law were money! I think they both led the league in pass breakups. You could not throw on them. By far Ty Law’s best year.

 

[Patjew]

Every NE defense should aspire to be like the 2003 squad.

I’m not sure we’ll see a D like that again with the rules as they are now.

Man I loved watching Ty Law throwing WRs all over the place.

 

[Triumph]

I’m not sure we’ll see a D like that again with the rules as they are now.

Man I loved watching Ty Law throwing WRs all over the place.

The run D.

Get that straightened out and the rest falls into place.

 

[Joker]

rule changes have morphed the game into "greyball"...you don't have any idea what the call will be on any play...

 

[Angelpats]

We were getting pressure most of the game and there were not wide open receivers. That’s was a good defense we had playing, give them credit. It’s not our fault their ol got hurt.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

The defensive play calling was noticibly more aggressive than last year.

But that was more a product of Watson than anything else.

Overall we had more talent on the field and that was a huge boost. I think this week, we tighten up the run defense.

 

[maineman209]

Scheme wasn't much, if any, different. Hightower back and good pass rush games by some guys along the DL (Wise, Guy, Davis, Flowers) improved the performance of the unit.

Need to watch the all 22 but Shelton and Clayborn seemed to be pretty invisible in their debuts (unlike Bentley and Davis)

I don't think that Clayborn played all that many snaps. This wasn't really the type of game for him to optimize his presence, although he still had 2 QB hits.

Shelton had four solo tackles and was in on a few QB pressures that I saw. Not shabby for a guy who's primary role is to occupy blockers and eat space to free up others to do their thing - a largely "invisible" job.

But I agree that the new quality and rotational depth made as much difference as any tweaks there may have been to the scheme.

 

[maineman209]

How much does Belichick allow his coordinators to dictate the defense?

Do we know?

Yes. We know that nobody "dictates" the defense. Each week's opponent-specific game plan is a collaborative effort.

 

[Jackson 2]

For crying out loud can't we just admit the defense looked much better than anyone could have anticipated. Damn I have criticized the D as much as anyone in the past but today gives me hope moving forward.

We all know that any time the defense plays well it's because the other team's offense sucks. And anytime the offense plays well it's because the other team's defense blows. It's more commonly known as the Felger/Mazz explanation.

 

[Boston Boxer]

The D looked way better to me. Our LBs are still a little slow but it looks good after game 1

 

[maineman209]

The definitely blitzed more often than they have in the past in the 2nd half. They brought 5 a few times. Not as much in the 4th quarter, but they were way ahead.

Bringing five is not a "blitz".

 

[patfanken]

The definitely blitzed more often than they have in the past in the 2nd half. They brought 5 a few times. Not as much in the 4th quarter, but they were way ahead.

This is just wrong. They RARELY blitzed if at all. Even on those rare occasions when they rushed 5 the fifth rusher lagged behind waiting for Watson to break contain.

No, based on my first look, there was very little difference in scheme. What WAS improved was the execution by the players who were rushing the passer PLUS the good coverage that gave them another second to apply pressure. Claybourn, Flowers, Wise were simply better this year, along with the pressure up the middle provided by Brown, Shelton and Guy.

So don't think this was something totally different that Brian Flores miraculously put together. This was pretty much the same old/same old only executed much better. Also you have to factor in that the Pats had a full off season to build new keys and concepts to better defend that RPO style offense that a QB with the skill set Watson has has thrived in.

Now whether they can continue to do this vs better QB's and do it away from home is another question. But it's a long season and historically the Pats defense starts really slowly and gets better as the season goes on. So cautious optimism should be a realistic expectation.

 

[maineman209]

The defensive play calling was noticibly more aggressive than last year.

But that was more a product of Watson than anything else.

Overall we had more talent on the field and that was a huge boost. I think this week, we tighten up the run defense.

More aggressive, or merely more successful? The Pats were moving Watson off his spot by getting good pressure with just four rushers.