Collins and Hightower work so incredibly well together. I felt last night Hightower had to play a lot safer with fewer attacking plays. With Collins in, they can pass responsibilities off to each other, making them so much more dangerous than they are individually.
I actually think this is one of the reasons mayo never had the huge gaudy sack numbers, since he never had that guy to share the job with.
On another note, with the amount of injuries on offense, the D has been largely left healthy outside of some short term issues. The biggest benefit has been seeing the continued growth of so many players, as they have been able to learn their position without too much responsibility. Butler, Ryan, brown, easley have all grown immensely over the season.
I imagine we will see the best Patriots defense this coming week then we have seen in a long long time. Sheard was a menace last night, mayo is getting back to himself, Collins should be back, branch and nicks are gigantic, and all the growth across the board from all the kids. I am expecting a team looking to show itself off to the leagues "best defense".
