Patriots defense against run to be tested often this year?

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I think Miami despite alot of trick plays may have set the tone for a lot of opposing teams seeing what they can do against the Pats D in rushing attacks this season and something most teams could not do last year.

Why I say most teams could'nt do it last year was because the Pats offense was so unstoppable for the first 10 games that the defense didn't have to worry about stopping the run because just about all teams game up the run being down by double digits by halftime thus the defense had to mainly focus on the pass which is what the other teams had to do to stay in the game.

Its apparent that this years games will be much closer all season long and with that being said I think we see teams running and running the ball till the Patriots simply stop any productivity from their running backs

I would think it will continue next week and onward as I think the team will see a lot of Frank Gore and Ladanian Tomlinson in the next 2 games and see what they can do against the front 7 who don't have the luxury of being mostly focused on the pass as was the case in all those 2007 blowouts.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think Miami despite alot of trick plays may have set the tone for a lot of opposing teams seeing what they can do against the Pats D in rushing attacks this season and something most teams could not do last year.

Why I say most teams could'nt do it last year was because the Pats offense was so unstoppable for the first 10 games that the defense didn't have to worry about stopping the run because just about all teams game up the run being down by double digits by halftime thus the defense had to mainly focus on the pass which is what the other teams had to do to stay in the game.

Its apparent that this years games will be much closer all season long and with that being said I think we see teams running and running the ball till the Patriots simply stop any productivity from their running backs

I would think it will continue next week and onward as I think the team will see a lot of Frank Gore and Ladanian Tomlinson in the next 2 games and see what they can do against the front 7 who don't have the luxury of being mostly focused on the pass as was the case in all those 2007 blowouts.

Out of the two, I'm more worried about Gore. I don't know if it's the toe injury or not (Gates seems to have suffered little effects from a lingering one) but it seems like Tomlinson has lost some of the explosiveness that made him "L.T." I still very much fear the guy though just because he's still better than 99% of the backs in the league but he has definitely lost a step. It'll be interesting to see if he'll regain that step or not when the injury heals.

 

[Sicilian]

Out of the two, I'm more worried about Gore. I don't know if it's the toe injury or not (Gates seems to have suffered little effects from a lingering one) but it seems like Tomlinson has lost some of the explosiveness that made him "L.T." I still very much fear the guy though just because he's still better than 99% of the backs in the league but he has definitely lost a step. It'll be interesting to see if he'll regain that step or not when the injury heals.

I still fear him as much as ever inside the ten. He just never seems to get stopped that close to the goal line.

I thought our run defense was pretty good in the first two games. Obviously it was atrocious in against Miami, but our pass defense wasn't very good against them either... I think we're going to see a lot of things from other teams, but I'm not especially worried about the run D. I think it will solidify as the season goes on.

 

[Kontradiction]

I still fear him as much as ever inside the ten. He just never seems to get stopped that close to the goal line.

I thought our run defense was pretty good in the first two games. Obviously it was atrocious in against Miami, but our pass defense wasn't very good against them either... I think we're going to see a lot of things from other teams, but I'm not especially worried about the run D. I think it will solidify as the season goes on.

You also have to remember that Miami has two running backs that could start on any team in the NFL.