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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Huh? The secondary is light years better than it's been in quite some time, even when you're running guys like Arrington and Ryan out there on the outside. The second safety position is problematic if Gregory's not in there and I think his healthy return is pretty crucial. God willing, you get a healthy Dennard back at least for the playoffs and Talib doesn't get any worse healthwise. The Secondary becomes a major strength if those things happen.
Strongly disagree with your sort of minimizing the loss of Wilfork and [especially] Mayo, our best LB and the guy that brought everyone together on the field. TBS, Spikes really needs to get healthy if he's hurt--he and Hightower are talented, high-upside guys who really should be able to step up their games to help fill the void up the middle. You just have to scheme around their coverage deficiencies as best you can. I have a feeling that Fletcher and Collins are actually going to be two of the biggest keys as to whether this D can hold it's ground the rest of the way.
This defense is completely different with a healthy Dennard.
The ripple effect is huge. Arrington, especially banged up as he currently is, has struggled on the outside to the point of getting replaced by Ryan &/or Cole at times. When healthy, and I'll assume by January he will be, he is as good a slot corner as there is in the league. Adding Dennard boosts two positions, tremendously.
Our run D will continue to struggle, but we might be lucky and avoid any good running teams in the postseason. When we've had our top 4 CB/DBs healthy (Talib, McCourty, Arrington, Dennard) - our secondary has been a strength of the team.