I guess we’ll find out, but on paper they seem to be the best defense they’ve fielded in an offseason since those days. I think the main difference is that you take some of the versatility and talent that the dynasty defenses had in their linebacking corps and put that into the cornerbacks.
It’s a different style of defense required these days. So if you put the dynasty front seven up against this front seven I don’t think the talent level is quite where it was when they peaked in 2004.
What’s most interesting is that I’ve always subscribed to trying to re-build a similar front seven to get this defense back to where it needs to be. But this offseason the focus went to the defensive backs instead of investing in a third pass rusher like Julius Peppers, Demarcus Ware or Jared Allen.
The depth at linebacker is razor thin right now. Compare that to when you had Bruschi/Phifer/Johnson/Vrabel/Colvin/McGinest. Granted we’re comparing 3-4 to 4-3, but even with Ninkovich/Chandler classified as LBs with Mayo/Hightower/Collins, there’s still a noticeable dropoff.
I still believe this is the most reliable way to build a defense, with a great and deep front seven. What I took from the dynasty defense was that it didn’t really matter if you had the deepest and most talented secondary – if your front seven was consistently causing problems for the quarterback anyone could essentially do the coverage job.
Sure, they were much better off, and nearly impenetrable, when it was Ty Law and Tyrone Pool back there, but they did win a Super Bowl with rookie Asante Samuel and Randall Gay as well.
Now we’ll see if the reverse is true. Chandler and Ninkovich and whoever else is getting snaps at defensive end are good, but none are pure pass rushers. I have great hope for Easley, but he can’t do it all alone. We’ll probably see plenty of Chris Jones as well on the inside to get pressure.
So can the Pats talented array of cornerbacks stay healthy and productive all season long and buy the pass rush that extra second? Most especially in the playoffs when everything is on the line? That’s probably the biggest question facing the defense as a group this season.