Patriots D

**Ks1102** · 01-17-2012, 10:54 AM

A Patriots fan here. Glad to see no smack from your site. Just good o'l football talk. Hope Pats fans keep it clean as well.
Everywhere I go weather radio, tv, or Internet I hear how bad the Pats D is. The overall stats are one thing and what I'm seeing is another. The Pats D was overwhelming last week against the best run offense in The NFL. Over the last several games I have seen the Pats D look like crap for 1 to 1.5 quarters then suddenly shut down the offense. Very situational. This, as a Pats fan is promising, especially what I saw against the Broncos.
Fair to say I do not think the D is bad at all if anything I think teams are and may be lulled to sleep. Everyone is aware of Baltimore's D and they are expected to be great.
As for e Pats offense it is firing on all cylinders now. As good as the Ravens D is, I don't know how they can stop the Pats.
The only way the Ravens win is by getting after Brady. If they can't it will be a bad day for the Ravens. I'm sure the Ravens know this. This year specifically, Brady has the quick out pass game with Gronk, Hernandez, and Welker. That's a very tall order for the Ravens.
I'll be very interested to see how the Ravens try to neutralize this.
Hope for a good game with no injuries as I will be rooting for either team in the SB

**GOTA** · 01-17-2012, 10:58 AM

The Broncos are the best run offense in the NFL? Never heard that one before.

Pats defense did look great. They were able to confuse Tebow who had no choice but to follow the limited gameplan his team runs. The Ravens at least have some more options. There real problem is they are one of the worst run offenses in the NFL because of Cam Cameron. Hopefully the talent can overcome.

**Terpsfan82** · 01-18-2012, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by GOTA

The Broncos are the best run offense in the NFL? Never heard that one before.

Pats defense did look great. They were able to confuse Tebow who had no choice but to follow the limited gameplan his team runs. The Ravens at least have some more options. There real problem is they are one of the worst run offenses in the NFL because of Cam Cameron. Hopefully the talent can overcome.

This. I'm not worried about the o line, Flacco, Rice or the receivers. I AM worried about the coaching staff putting these guys in position to win, especially after Bilichek takes away what Cam likes to do best. Can he make in game adjustments to counter that? History says no.

**Ravenswintitle** · 01-17-2012, 11:03 AM

Belichick's D focuses on taking away the biggest threat of the opponent - last week it was to the QB. They really surprised me how they got after Tebow and shut down the option.

This week I suspect it's Ray Rice they will look to shut down. They haven't done it in the past (with better D's) but as he goes, so goes the Ravens offense.

Looking at the WEEI site this morning, they've already proclaimed the victory and give the Ravens no chance.

**Rayvens52** · 01-17-2012, 11:13 AM

While your O is playing well, your team as a whole is untested and in big games this year you have lost to the worthy teams. Your D did look good last week, but let's be real you just played Tebow and the Broncos. It should be a good game, but IMo Baltimore is the better overall team and should win this game!

**timmyonfleet** · 01-17-2012, 11:21 AM

Ravens D isn't stopping Brady, not will we need too. What the defense did against the Broncos was stop a one dimensional team that beat a decimated steelers team in OT. How might not be as good as Brady, but let's face it your pats D was getting lit up by the skins a few weeks back.

**]<ing** · 01-17-2012, 11:23 AM

Welcome to the board! Looking forward to a great matchup.

I like our chances if our O line plays well, and the D is able to pressure Brady. Otherwise, I think the Pats have the edge in a close game.

**Ks1102** · 01-17-2012, 11:33 AM

I listen to WEEI and as a Pats fan they can drive me nuts. They must have forgotten last years Jets game (yes I was there). The Jets did a great Job shutting down Brady in that game. I feel this team is much more potent with the tight ends but we will see. As for the guy who said the Pats are not battle tested? I'll leave that one alone as many of the guys on the team have been in big games albeit not for a while.
What happened early in the season is the past. I have seen systematic improvements in the D of the Pats. At moments it looks broken and then all of a sudden they look great and play shut down. To be honest I have no idea why. Last week they played like it meant something. I hope they play with the same intensity as last week.
To GOTA, during the game the tv announcers kept referring to the Broncos as the best run team in the NFL. I did not look at the stats but perhaps you can look it up and if it is in fact wrong, please let me know

**chicagoravensfan** · 01-17-2012, 11:36 AM

Who are the pass rushers for the Patriots? I know Andre Carter was tearing it up for awhile before getting injured. Who are the guys to look out for now?

**HartLee** · 01-17-2012, 02:09 PM

I'm not sure anyone answered the poster who asked who the Patriots pass rushers are now that Carter is out. Their best pass rusher by far is Mark Anderson, who is having a career year (perhaps not coincidentally, a contract year).

Next best is probably Rob Ninkovich who is a poor man's Mike Vrabel.

This Patriots D won't make you forget the 85 Bears, but they are much better than their (deserved) reputation. The biggest positive difference between now and when they were getting absolutely scorched earlier this season are: (i) a much improved Kyle Love at DT; (ii) the return to health of Brandon Spikes (the team's best run-stuffing LB) and Patrick Chung (the team's only remotely competent true safety); and (iii) the emergence of Sterling Moore, who has gone from bagging groceries several weeks ago to what now appears (miraculously) to be an above-average NFL corner.

Should be a good game. Best of luck to your team.

**wickedsolo** · 01-18-2012, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by chicagoravensfan

Who are the pass rushers for the Patriots? I know Andre Carter was tearing it up for awhile before getting injured. Who are the guys to look out for now?

Mark Anderson is a decent pass rusher. He was with the Bears a few seasons ago. They also have Jermaine Cunningham and Rob Ninkovich (sp?). Cunningham came on strong last year, but hasn't had nearly the same success this season. Ninkovich is a guy they need to watch out for. IMO he's one of the more underrated linebackers in the NFL. He does a lot of things really well and he can rush the passer as a stand up OLB and a hands in the dirt DE. Obviously Jerrod Mayo and Brandon Spikes are solid inside linebackers as well.

The Patriots' issues are all in the secondary. They got rid of Brandon Merriweather, which was smart and dumb all at the same time because they didn't have anyone who could replace him. They've had a mix-n-match unit at safety and it's really exposed them a lot in the middle of the field. Patrick Chung is a decent player, but he can't do it by himself and after an explosive rookie season cornerback Devin McCourty has come back down to earth a bit and isn't having nearly as dominant of a season as he did last year. Kyle Arrington had a bunch of INT's, but he gave up a lot of plays as well.

Vince Wilfork is still Vince Wilfork and is a hoss, but other than him the Patriots really don't have any big DT's or DE's that are any good.

Probably the biggest issue for the Pats was them switching schemes from the 3-4 last year to a base 4-3 this year with variances and nickel defenses. It hasn't worked well for them at all.

**HartLee** · 01-18-2012, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

Mark Anderson is a decent pass rusher. He was with the Bears a few seasons ago. They also have Jermaine Cunningham and Rob Ninkovich (sp?). Cunningham came on strong last year, but hasn't had nearly the same success this season. Ninkovich is a guy they need to watch out for. IMO he's one of the more underrated linebackers in the NFL. He does a lot of things really well and he can rush the passer as a stand up OLB and a hands in the dirt DE. Obviously Jerrod Mayo and Brandon Spikes are solid inside linebackers as well.

The Patriots' issues are all in the secondary. They got rid of Brandon Merriweather, which was smart and dumb all at the same time because they didn't have anyone who could replace him. They've had a mix-n-match unit at safety and it's really exposed them a lot in the middle of the field. Patrick Chung is a decent player, but he can't do it by himself and after an explosive rookie season cornerback Devin McCourty has come back down to earth a bit and isn't having nearly as dominant of a season as he did last year. Kyle Arrington had a bunch of INT's, but he gave up a lot of plays as well.

Vince Wilfork is still Vince Wilfork and is a hoss, but other than him the Patriots really don't have any big DT's or DE's that are any good.

Probably the biggest issue for the Pats was them switching schemes from the 3-4 last year to a base 4-3 this year with variances and nickel defenses. It hasn't worked well for them at all.

Agree with all this with three minor clarifications:

1. Jermaine Cunningham (who really humiliated Michael Oher last year in what was unquestionably the best game of Cunningham's career) is on IR, so he will not get a chance to test Oher again (not that Cunningham had been anything to fear this season before going on IR).

2. Kyle Love is another big-bodied DL. As another poster pointed out, he is nothing to be afraid of. But he is a pretty solid player.

3. Sterling Moore is probably their best cover CB right now. The fact that someone can come in off the street late in the season and become the best CB for a playoff team underscores the mess that has been the Patriots defensive backfield this year.