Will The Defense Continue To Shine In SB46?

Will The Defense Continue To Shine In SB46?

     So far in the Patriots playoff run, the defense has been playing with great heart and passion. But let's face it, the Broncos and Ravens aren't exactly good offenses to face. The Pats haven't faced an offense as hot as the Giants all year. Can the defense hold up? I think so. And here's a couple reasons why.

     1) The Patriots Are Playing For MHK

     No NFL analyst will dare say it, for reasons I don't know, but I just said it. The Patriots are playing for Ms. Myra Hiatt Kraft. The entire season is dedicated to her. And since the Playoffs started, there's been a feeling around this defense that wasn't there in the regular season. They're playing with a heart and passion that I hadn't seen them play with hardly at all in the regular season. It seems nobody is taking a play off ever. Especially that front 7. The defense is playing tough, agressive football. They're playing for MHK. They're flying to the ball, and making plays on the ball instead of making plays on the ballcarrier after he's already caught it. All around, they're playing real football. For the first time all year, we've seen the defense play a full game and tough it out until the end, just like Ms Kraft did. 

     2) The Patriots Defense Is Motivated

     All week, while the Patriots players have been eating their humble pie, the Giants WRs haven't been able to close their mouths. Between Manningham and Cruz taking stabs at Julian Edelman's defensive play, Cruz laughing at the entire defense (literally), and the Giants WRs basically saying it'll be a game of catch. Do you think the likes of Brandon Spikes, Jerod Mayo, Rob Ninkovich, Patrick Chung, and Vince Wilfork really enjoy hearing that? No. And do you think those guys can't wait to go out there and hit somebody, and hit them hard? Oh boy, this D can not wait. All year they've been laughed at, mocked, and told that they couldn't stop a nosebleed. They want to go out there and make a statement. A loud statement. And therefore, I think the Defense will go out there and smack those Giants receivers around, just like they did in the first half against the Giants in week 9.

     3) The Patriots Can Get Penetration Behind The Line Of Scrimmage To Stop Runs And Hit Eli

     This playoff run, the Pats D has been getting pressure and penetrating the opposing offensive line all day. Between the Divisional round where New England caused 14 plays for negative yardage, to the Ravens game in the AFC Championship where big 'ol Vince was out there decapitating offensive linemen and getting pressure on Flacco. And it worked. The D has been getting pressure the whole playoff run. And I think there isn't an offensive lineman in the league who can stop that right now. You have to double Wilfork. We all know that. And then you have the 2 men playing on the edge, whether they're Anderson and Deaderick or any other combination of DL guys. Plus the linebackers who will be blitzing I'm sure, with the way BB has made this prototype 3-4. Now, people have been saying that it doesn't matter how hard you hit Eli, he'll stick in there. Well, I think the Pats D wants to find out if that's true. If nothing else, the D will force Eli to leave a RB or TE behind to help block, and that could be big for the Pats secondary. 

     This is why the Patriots defense will continue to shine in this Super Bowl 42 (I promise I was trying to stay away from that topic for you guys) rematch between two newfound rivals.

8 New England Patriots Voted To 2011 Pro Bowl

8 New England Patriots have been voted into the 2011 Pro Bowl in Hawaii this year. The list goes as follows:
     Tom Brady: 378/576, 4,897 Yards, 36 TD, 11 INT, 3 Fumbles
     Wes Welker: 116 Receptions, 1,518 Yards, 9 TD
     Rob Gronkowski: 82 Receptions, 1,219 Yards, 15 TD
     Vince Wilfork: 39 Tackles, 2.5 Sacks, I Forced Fumble, 2 Fumble Recoveries, 2 INTs, 3 Passes Defensed
     Andre Carter: 52 Tackles, 10 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 Pass Defensed
     Logan Mankins, Brian Waters, and Matthew Slater also made the Pro Bowl.

Patriots-Redskins Postgame Analysis

     The game was rather disappointing. I think it was probably the most dis-satisfying win of the year. Sure the Colts game was close, but they weren't close all game. They only got close when BB started using the prevent and when he started experimenting more. But the Skins keeping up all game? NOT good.  So here's some things we learned.

     1) This defense, as Bart Scott said last year, can't stop a nosebleed.
     Allowing Rex Grossman to dictate the tempo? Allowing huge runs? Deep bombs to Jabar Gaffney, Santana Moss, and the like? Not even coming close to the WRs in coverage, but instead allowing nobody within 5 yards of them? As Charles Barkley would say, that's turrible. Sure there was that trick play, but where was the tackling? Just bad. There's absolutely no communication between defensive players. Jerod Mayo and Rob Ninkovich were supposed to be the new Tedy B and Mike Vrabel. And Brandon Spikes should have been the new Ted Johnson. Now, Spikes is still out, but what's wrong with Jerod Mayo this year? Him and Ninkovich NEED to talk before the snap so they know what they're doing. Ninkovich has been a pleasant little surprise though. I mean, I knew he was good, but he's playing great out there. Blitzing, reading plays, etc. I think he's the new captain of the defense. Also, we need pressure on the QB still. Andre Carter may have had that streak of several sack games, but the fact of the matter is that those sacks were because of bad quarterbacking. It's taking too long to get pressure. We need our lineman to get in on the QB early in the play so that he needs to hurry with his decision making. Hurried decisions are usually bad decisions. With this defense continually allowing bad QBs to throw for 300+ yards, I'm worried about our playoff chances. Every team that's currently leading their division, and most in the Wild Card hunt have good QBs. Flacco, Roethelisberger, Schaub, Carson Palmer, Andy Dalton, etc. Those QBs will eat our defensive backs for breakfast.
     2)  We need to utilize Chad Ochocinco
     OK OK, sit back down and pick up the mess you just made when you spit out your coffee. I'll be here when you get back. Ochocinco, sadly, had the surest hands on the team yesterday. Sure he only caught one ball, but he didn't drop any. He was hardly on the field. Even if he won't get the ball, put him on the field. Have him run some deep routes. Posts, seams, go routes, and corners. Let him stretch the D. Welker can't be the only #1 caliber WR on the team even with Gronkowski and Hernandez. Ocho showed to me that he can run routes properly in the system. That out route against Washington was beautiful. It may have only been 15 yards, but it was a pretty 15 yards. And it got us a first down when we needed it. I think if we can manage to use Ochocinco to stretch the field, like he did against the Jets, Welker and Gronk and even Branch can get done their work underneath. And if the safety dosn't follow Ocho deep and instead doubles Gronkowski, well, just throw it up to Ocho. Let him do his job. He could still be a great part of this offense.
     3) Bill O'Brien isn't cut out to be an OC
     With Julian Edelman being an ex-QB all though college, why have I yet to see him throw the ball after catching it? We ran a play like that with Moss, who never played QB, so why isn't a QB doing it? And why are there no screens to the RB and hardly any to the WRs? Why have we not seen any trick plays other than a little WR reverse? O'Brien needs to start being predictable. We lost in the playoffs last year because we kept trying the exact same thing over and over. The same thing we ran all year. Nothing unpredictable. The same thing this year. Welker running a slant, Gronk running an out, Hernandez on a hitch, it goes on. Early this year, we had Welker running 30-40 yard routes. And the defenses never knew what to expect. So you combine that with no-huddling, and the defense couldn't stop us. But now it's all the same. No variety. All it takes is doubling Gronkowski and knocking Welker down at the line (let's be real here, most corners have a 20-40 pound advantage on him), and we'll be forced to give the ball to Hernandez and Branch. Those guys aren't our big playmakers. We need to mix it up. And we need to no-huddle more on the first series. Because facing some of these high-powered offenses, we'll need points early. Run a lot of fast routes early on, run the ball a lot, and then run a nice play action. Keep the D off balance.
     4) This team can not make it deep into the playoffs
     Now, I know we all wanna think that Brady can play exceptional football for the 4 games straight that he'd need to in order to carry this team, but the fact of the matter is, well, he can't be amazing EVERY game, and the odds of this defense stepping up when he doesn't are slim. To beat some of these teams like Baltimore and Pittsburgh and Houston, Tom Brady would have to light it up with at LEAST 3 TDs, and have BJGE get at least one more. Because these offenses in the playoffs are incredibly talented and can run all over this D. We need to make sure the O can keep up, but right now, in all honestly, playing a D like Pittsburgh, the offense will end up being stopped several times. Which means out D will need to do the same. I'm not sure it can. If BB can manage to find something to motivate this defense, then we have a shot. So BB, get started finding motivation, cause right now this team looks un-motivated as ever.