For everyone who is worried that the defense is going to be as ugly as it was in 2010-2012 because of the cornerback turnover, you have to remember that this front seven is light years better than what they were in those couple seasons.
Now, I certainly do wish they’d be able to stick to the primarily man coverage schemes they played the last couple seasons, starting with the acquisition of Aqib Talib in 2012 via trade.
I thought that signified the Patriots realization that playing man was necessary in the modern NFL with some many good quarterbacks and so many rules favoring the offense. And let’s face it, a physical man-to-man secondary is far more fun to watch than zone.
Still, even with last year’s man-heavy defense, they were still in the bottom half of the league in plays-per-drive which tells you that philosophically the bend-don’t-break was still very much in effect.
The defense will not be an all zone team, but their man-to-man coverages will likely skew more off-man than the press coverage we saw last year. But with smart corners who tackle well, this can be an effective defense.
However the key to it becomes the front seven disrupting the play consistently and as quickly as possible. If the front guys stay healthy there are a number of excellent ways to make this happen, but Jerod Mayo might just be one of the biggest keys because he will free up Hightower and Collins to be more involved behind the line of scrimmage.
If you’re stressed about the defense going back to the bottom of the league in yards allowed (a fairly meaningless stat anyways), just line up the DL/DE/LB group with the 2010/2011 groups and you’ll see how different things are now.
Doesn’t mean they’ll be the consistent disruptive force we’d like them to be, but the potential is certainly there and if they live up to it, the cornerbacks won’t make or break this team.
