The Secondary and the 2015 Schedule

[mayoclinic]

With Revis gone and Browner interviewing with other teams, there is a lot of angst going around right now. One thing to think about is the secondary and its importance relative to the Pats' regular season schedule.

In 2014 the Pats had a schedule that was loaded with good QBs and talented receivers - especially big, physical WRs:

- Peyton Manning coming off an MVP season with Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Wes Welker
- Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb
- Detroit and Matt Stafford with Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate and Brandon Pettigrew
- Chicago with Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery and Martellus Bennett, plus Matt Forte - the #2 scoring offense in 2013
- Indy and Andrew Luck
- Andy Dalton with AJ Green and Jermaine Gresham
- Phillip Rivers with Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates, Malcolm Floyd and Eddie Royal

That's nearly half of the regular season schedule. Revis and Browner paid off big time during the meat of the schedule, with dominant wins against Denver, Cincinnati, Indy, Chicago, Detroit and San Diego. 6-1 against that group (with one road loss) is pretty darn good, and it wouldn't have happened without the 2014 secondary being as good as it was.

In 2015 the Pats' face a much less imposing group. Luck is still there; Ben Rothlisberger has an impressive set of weapons; Tony Romo will have Dez Bryant. But Manning is a shadow of what he used to be, with an offense that is in flux. That's still only 4 games. As for the rest:

- 6 games against the Jets, Bills and Dolphins. That's 6 games against Ryan Tannehill, Geno Smith and Matt Cassell. Brandon Marshall is the only big WR in the group. Zone coverage can contain Sammy Watkins and Mike Wallace.

- 3 games against the rest of the AFC South. Besides Luck that means 3 games against Zach Mettenberger, Brian Hoyer/Ryan Mallett and Blake Bortles.

- 3 games against the rest of the NFC East. Besides Romo and the Cowboys that means Eli Manning, RGIII, and Sam Bradford. Philly doesn't have a WR at the moment, and the Giants and Redskins have smaller, quicker receivers (DeSean Jackson, Odell Beckham Jr., Pierre Garcon,

The playoffs are another matter. But it's possible that BB looked at the 2015 schedule and realized that he didn't necessarily need Revis and Browner to win.

Just a thought.

 

[JackBauer]

Just a thought.

And it's a reasonable one.

The question now is what does BB do to offset the loss of talent at CB? Load up the defensive line?

 

[Nunchucks]

Watkins twice, Dez Bryant, D. Thomas and Sanders, Wallace twice, T.Y. Hilton, and Marshall twice. You can downplay the QB skill all you want, but that receiver talent is top of the line.

 

[mayoclinic]

Watkins twice, Dez Bryant, D. Thomas and Sanders, Wallace twice, T.Y. Hilton, and Marshall twice. You can downplay the QB skill all you want, but that receiver talent is top of the line.

Yes, but do you need big physical CBs to match up with Hilton, Wallace, Sanders and Watkins? I'm not sure.