Secondary

[wistahpatsfan]

There might be some adjustments coming this week. Might as well try anyone else at all the secondary positions. They played aweful! Pennington was making 3d and long all day with the pass. The pass rush was pretty good today time-wise. Pennington was still able to make the plays on third whenever he wanted to, it seemed.

 

[DaBruinz]

There might be some adjustments coming this week. Might as well try anyone else at all the secondary positions. They played aweful! Pennington was making 3d and long all day with the pass. The pass rush was pretty good today time-wise. Pennington was still able to make the plays on third whenever he wanted to, it seemed.

Part of this comes from the fact that the Patriots, for the most part, stayed in their base defense so they were attempting to cover 3rd and 4th receivers with LBers.. Which is just silly. Pennington's eye's lit up every time Mike Vrabel lined up opposite Devone Bess because Bess beat Vrabel every time.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Which is just silly. Pennington's eye's lit up every time Mike Vrabel lined up opposite Devone Bess because Bess beat Vrabel every time.

I know he's injured but Vrabs looks done to me.

 

[Mack Herron]

There is no sign of improvement. It is very frustrating, and I would bench Hobbs who simply has not defensed a go route this year. The coaching is also disappointing. It is our Achilles heel right now.

 

[wistahpatsfan]

Part of this comes from the fact that the Patriots, for the most part, stayed in their base defense so they were attempting to cover 3rd and 4th receivers with LBers.. Which is just silly. Pennington's eye's lit up every time Mike Vrabel lined up opposite Devone Bess because Bess beat Vrabel every time.

That might be the real problem...I can see that. LB coverage skills is definitely a problem, too, but the DB's never seemed to be able to come up and make the play when they had to. Rodney Harrison ain't walking through that door any time soon, gentlemen.

 

[Deus Irae]

This team's biggest area of weakness is the middle of the field on passing downs. The struggles of Mayo/Guyton/Meriweather/Sanders are problems with youth and inexperience, and I expect it will improve as the season continues. If Thomas can come back on top of that, this defense should be in pretty good shape if the team makes the playoffs.

 

[Kontradiction]

This team's biggest area of weakness is the middle of the field on passing downs. The struggles of Mayo/Guyton/Meriweather/Sanders are problems with youth and inexperience, and I expect it will improve as the season continues. If Thomas can come back on top of that, this defense should be in pretty good shape if the team makes the playoffs.

Bruschi and Vrabel (who played well today) are also liabilities in coverage. Vrabel much more so but, as DaBruinz said, he was covering a wide reciever who was much quicker than he is.

 

[Deus Irae]

Bruschi and Vrabel (who played well today) are also liabilities in coverage. Vrabel much more so but, as DaBruinz said, he was covering a wide reciever who was much quicker than he is.

Bruschi isn't in on 3rd and passing situations, so I don't see where you're getting that from, and there's not a 3-4 linebacker in the league who can be expected to stay with an opposing team's wide receivers for any period of time.

 

[Kontradiction]

Bruschi isn't in on 3rd and passing situations, so I don't see where you're getting that from, and there's not a 3-4 linebacker in the league who can be expected to stay with an opposing team's wide receivers for any period of time.

Could have sworn Bruschi was in on passing situations today but maybe I'm just thinking of the 3rd and shorts. But as I remember, Mayo did a pretty decent job of sticking with Eddie Royal in the Broncos game.

 

[wistahpatsfan]

Could have sworn Bruschi was in on passing situations today but maybe I'm just thinking of the 3rd and shorts. But as I remember, Mayo did a pretty decent job of sticking with Eddie Royal in the Broncos game.

Bruschi is alsost never in on obvious passing situations.

 

[Brarrell]

There is no sign of improvement. It is very frustrating, and I would bench Hobbs who simply has not defensed a go route this year. The coaching is also disappointing. It is our Achilles heel right now.

Hobbs is a second CB at best Delta O'Neil is terrible and even though they had injuries specifically to Wheatly this goes back to BB and Pioli and Kraft if you weren't going to pay Asante thats fine, but they never addressed the CB situation until the week before the first
regular season game. How does the third richest franchise in the league allow this to happen and they are about 8-10 million under the cap. In reality this team should be 9-2 and there is no doubt they know what their doing but allowing the CB situation to get to this point was unconscionable.

 

[Mack Herron]

Hobbs is a second CB at best Delta O'Neil is terrible and even though they had injuries specifically to Wheatly this goes back to BB and Pioli and Kraft if you weren't going to pay Asante thats fine, but they never addressed the CB situation until the week before the first
regular season game. How does the third richest franchise in the league allow this to happen and they are about 8-10 million under the cap. In reality this team should be 9-2 and there is no doubt they know what their doing but allowing the CB situation to get to this point was unconscionable.

Correct. The FA and DB draft pick DBs did not deliver this year and that is the story. What is the "over" for Warner's passing yards when we play the Cardinals? Hobbs=toast

 

[DaBruinz]

Bruschi isn't in on 3rd and passing situations, so I don't see where you're getting that from, and there's not a 3-4 linebacker in the league who can be expected to stay with an opposing team's wide receivers for any period of time.

The Patriots didn't come out of their base package much, if at all, during the 1st half. It wasn't until late in the 3rd quarter that they started sending in the 3rd down package... Why that is, I don't know. But That is what I saw.

 

[DefenseRules]

LACK OF TALENT is the biggest problem in our secondary. The players in our secondary are AVERAGE at best, IMHO. A couple are just not good, O'Neal comes to mind. The Pats put this secondary together on the cheap, IMHO. As my mom always says, "you get what you pay for". We are seeing it on the field. I was hoping to see an improvement as the season progressed, but I don't see any improvement. Rodney's injury didn't help either. Lack of talent is hurting our defense.

 

[slash83]

LACK OF TALENT is the biggest problem in our secondary. The players in our secondary are AVERAGE at best, IMHO. A couple are just not good, O'Neal comes to mind. The Pats put this secondary together on the cheap, IMHO. As my mom always says, "you get what you pay for". We are seeing it on the field. I was hoping to see an improvement as the season progressed, but I don't see any improvement. Rodney's injury didn't help either. Lack of talent is hurting our defense.

Meriweather and Hobbs are the top 2, Meriweather's a stud in the making and Hobbs I feel is a number 2 corner.

 

[TheComeback]

How did I wind up on a Jets message board?

 

[DefenseRules]

Meriweather and Hobbs are the top 2, Meriweather's a stud in the making and Hobbs I feel is a number 2 corner.

What about the rest of the personnel in our secondary? I agree about Merriweather, I'm not that enamored of Hobbs. Other than that who else makes plays in our secondary? Sanders? Please, he is a little too inconsistent for my liking. I just don't think that we have enough talent in our secondary. We need a LEGIT SAFETY and a #1 Corner, IMO.

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

Let's first remember that the Pats prepare defensively to take away a teams strength - for the Dolphins it was the run and that damn wildcat. They wanted noodle arm to beat them and he didn't. I do agree that the secondary is horrible and the major glaring weakness at this point. Many freakish injuries at one position doesn't help either.

 

[E Belichick Unum]

There are multiple issues with the secondary and Hobbs might be the biggest. He gives up too many big plays and doesn't make any of his own. It was encouraging to see him move up to the line and play tight on Ted Ginn yesterday though. It was a small sample but it worked.

The LB's are getting old, but there is help on the way. Mayo is a potential All Pro, Shawn Crable will play a role, although he seems to have gotten into the coached dog house. Gyton seems to be a player. This April will be a big draft for the Pats. Assuming they don't go to the SB they will be drafting in the early 20's and they have San Diego's 2nd round pick. As long as they don't draft a WR they should have a good draft (every time they draft a WR high he bombs).

But this is all nit picking, the game yesterday was great.

 

[mgteich]

The secondary is curently our weakest unit. We have won the SB with much less. However, that doesn't change the fact that we could use an upgrade at starting cornerback. The question is whether Wheatley and Wilhite are sufficient upgrades (as Samuel and Wilson were when they were drafted). In any case, we have FIVE open defensive back roster spots for 2009.

If Samuel were still here we'd have:

starters: Samuel, Hobbs
nickel and dime: Lew Sanders, Wheatley, Wilhite, Richardson

We finally brought in O'Neal as our #2 starting CB, in effect replacing Samuel. We also recently added Webster (who was injured to start the season) to replace Wheatley when he went to IR.

We drafted Wheatley and Wilhite to take their place in 2009; with the usual assortment of free agents, and perhaps even another draft choice to fill any holes.
=====================================================
2009 CORNER
starters: Hobbs, Wheatley
nickel/dime: Wilhite, Richardson
other: open, open
==============================
I would also note that if we carry six corners, we have four safety/ST spots.

2009 SAFETY
starters: Meriweather, open
backup/ST: open, open