The REAL problem with the Patriots defense

[Ring 6]

I think the main reason is he doesn't know the defense as well as they need him to know it.

Physically he is a concern in coverage but its not like Roberts is light years better.

How can he sit for not knowing the defense when we are running a Chinese fire drill?
He has covered well enough throughout his career to play 98% of snaps.

 

[RobertWeathers]

How can he sit for not knowing the defense when we are running a Chinese fire drill?

I don't know. Like you I have no idea why he is not playing. Only other assumption is they think Van Noy and Roberts gives them more on STs

He has covered well enough throughout his career to play 98% of snaps.

Hes lost a little bit of speed I think. I thought he got exposed in coverage during the preseason. There were a couple of plays I think vs NO that showed that With that said it's not like Van Noy or Roberts are elite in coverage.

 

[Nehalem]

the pats defense right now is similar to what it was in the 2012 season.......they'll never be top 10 this year, but they will start to make more stops....they'll be good enough by the time the playoffs roll around.......

people should take this point in time and enjoy the improvements from here

For some reason I don't see BB trading for Talib this time.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't know. Like you I have no idea why he is not playing. Only other assumption is they think Van Noy and Roberts gives them more on STs

Can't be that be ausevge was active and didn't play hardly at all the first 3 games.

Hes lost a little bit of speed I think. I thought he got exposed in coverage during the preseason. There were a couple of plays I think vs NO that showed that With that said it's not like Van Noy or Roberts are elite in coverage.

It's not like we are going to put him in man coverage on Darren sproles

 

[RobertWeathers]

Can't be that be ausevge was active and didn't play hardly at all the first 3 games.

Who?

It's not like we are going to put him in man coverage on Darren sproles

In the times I saw him on a RB he got killed.

With that said the D can't possibly get worse and I support playing him and seeing how he does and can help.

 

[long distance]

Here interesting take by McGinest:
Willie McGinest lambasts Patriots defense on OMF: Players will lose jobs if they 'don't get it fixed'

“When you watch the tape, you see guys trying to do a little bit more. It’s throwing everybody off. It’s not just the secondary.”

Hopefully they can all just calm down a bit, play w relaxed bodies & quiet heads..
System, trust, focus, energy - let's go!

 

[Ring 6]

Who?

David Harris. Active first 3 games but barely saw field so the answer isn't special teams causing him to be inactive

In the times I saw him on a RB he got killed.

With that said the D can't possibly get worse and I support playing him and seeing how he does and can help.

Any LB one on one with a RB is in trouble but we don't tend to let LBs get isolated on rbs a lot.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

For some reason I don't see BB trading for Talib this time.

Yeah, where’s Greg Schiano when you need him?

 

[Oswlek]

Clearly misleading. Their pressure has not led to many negative plays at all....they have done a good job of collapsing the pocket, but that’s when the play begins, not when it ends. Hopefully they will fare much better against pocket quarterbacks.

How do you expect them to finish plays when QBs have their choice of uncovered receivers to throw to?

Can it be argued that NE's drafting has been subpar of late? Certainly. Can it be argued that that drafting is the primary source of the current issues? Not cogently, it can't.

 

[RobertWeathers]

David Harris. Active first 3 games but barely saw field so the answer isn't special teams causing him to be inactive

Correct. I meant Sunday.

So that means BB thinks Roberts and Van Noy are ahead of him. Reason unknown.

Any LB one on one with a RB is in trouble but we don't tend to let LBs get isolated on rbs a lot.

Sure but I'm exploring reasons why he is not out there. At this point its not just one reason.

 

[Ring 6]

Correct. I meant Sunday.

So that means BB thinks Roberts and Van Noy are ahead of him. Reason unknown.



Sure but I'm exploring reasons why he is not out there. At this point its not just one reason.

It's probably a reason we have no knowledge of.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It's probably a reason we have no knowledge of.

Like you I figured Harris would play some. At a minimum I figured early downs.....

Very strange.

 

[RayClay]

I think you're looking at the past with rose colored goggles a bit. McCourty was get labeled a one year wonder before his positional move. Chandler Jones had one sack in all his playoff games here and was pretty invisible otherwise. Hightower was considered a bust here after two years. People wanted to trade him and picks for Lavonte David or somebody similar. They all had issues.

Calling Flowers shaky is unreal considering what he did compared to Jones in the playoffs. Some of these guys need time to develop. Others like Brown I agree it's time to step up.

Oh, come on. We should have this locked up after 4 games.

 

[RayClay]

One thing, I'm not sure if anyone has the stats... but don't we always start fairly slow?! Apart from last year and 07..

I can recall only one year where we jumped to big leads and never looked back, and then we lost.

 

[captain stone]

Belichick's drafting has been dog poo lately

You're being satirical, yes?

Why should he be?

 

[maineman209]

Clearly misleading. Their pressure has not led to many negative plays at all....they have done a good job of collapsing the pocket, but that’s when the play begins, not when it ends. Hopefully they will fare much better against pocket quarterbacks.

I think this has been a factor the last two weeks. Going up against a QB who can do some significant damage when he takes off with the ball changes a lot of assignments for the whole defense. Going against two of them this early in the year took its toll. It appears that this defense won't face another one until Taylor @BUF in week-13. Hopefully, they'll have that aspect ironed out by then.

While it's certainly not been the only factor in the abysmal performance of the defense, I don't think it should be ignored.

 

[maineman209]

McCourty, Chung, and Branch are all north of 30. That’s three starters who you wouldn’t expect to be as good as last year, based on normal aging and regression. I think McCourty is fine and can play at a high level for a few more years. Chung and Branch are more concening.

You brought up Ninkovich and Ryan. They also lost Sheard and Long, who can be considered a starter (combined) as a defensive end, since they often use a rotation.

Hightower is playing defensive end due to need/injury. We are sort down an all-pro middle linebacker in this scenario.

We were hoping to see a second/third year leap from Brown, Roberts, and/or Cyrus Jones.

I agree they will be much better since they have the league’s best coaching staff. However, I don’t think they can just “flip the switch” by improving communication in the secondary. There are a lot of challenges to solve.

Yeah. I don't think the defense goes from sieve to shutdown by just ironing out communication issues in the secondary, but that would certainly improve things a lot.

Also, McGinest made an interesting observation yesterday. He said he sees players "trying to do too much". IOW, guys going beyond their assigned jobs in an attempt to "help out" elsewhere and leaving a vulnerability as a result.

 

[maineman209]

I think you're looking at the past with rose colored goggles a bit. McCourty was get labeled a one year wonder before his positional move. Chandler Jones had one sack in all his playoff games here and was pretty invisible otherwise. Hightower was considered a bust here after two years. People wanted to trade him and picks for Lavonte David or somebody similar. They all had issues.

Calling Flowers shaky is unreal considering what he did compared to Jones in the playoffs. Some of these guys need time to develop. Others like Brown I agree it's time to step up.

While I'd like to see Brown make a few more splash plays, he's been pretty consistently solid from the get-go, so I'm happy about that. For the past three games, it's pretty much been him and Guy anchoring the DL, with Branch only playing a few rotational snaps the past two weeks. If that continue, perhaps Brown will get more opportunities to make splash plays as the season goes on.

Also, I didn't realize until recently that he's still only 23 years old, so there's probably still some upside there.

 

[Nehalem]

One thing, I'm not sure if anyone has the stats... but don't we always start fairly slow?! Apart from last year and 07..

And 2015 where we started the season 10-0.

 

[luuked]

Yeah, where’s Greg Schiano when you need him?

The trade for Talib had nothing to do with Schiano at all. If you want to point fingers you gotta aim for Jason Licht.