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When Ra’s I Dowling comes back, and if he performs at the level a second round pick is supposed to perform. Will he play in the slot or Taliban or dennard. Who plays better on the outside or do you see Ra’s I getting cut after camp.

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Oh boy a Ras-I question! I had high hopes for Ras-I coming into this year, but after a second straight year of under performance and injuries I’m not holding out much hope for anything out of him next year.

Who knows, maybe he’ll surprise us all, but I’m not holding my breath. Really all three of those guys are outside corners. And I know that the Pats would like a longer, physical outside corner like Dowling and Talib to enable them to play more man-to-man, but right now the jury is out on them.

Dennard will be back, and I haven’t seen enough out of Talib to make me think the Pats will break the bank to retain him. Thus I think corner will once again be an area where they’ll need to add personnel this off-season, both via free agency and the draft.

Dowling will have the chance to come back and compete for a job, but I think it’s a long shot to expect him to lock down a starting outside spot.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS | Word of Muth: Appraising the Patriots

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FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS | Word of Muth: Appraising the Patriots

Great stuff here as always from the Word of Muth, breaking down the offensive line against the Dolphins. Vollmer is definitely one to keep an eye on this Monday night. Hopefully he can bounce back, but if he can’t it could be another major injury hurdle for the Pats to overcome this year. 

Vollmer has been great all year, but missed Week 12’s game against the Jets with an injury. He was a game-time decision on Sunday, and it looked like New England may have made the wrong decision. Vollmer struggled in both the passing and running game against Cameron Wake for most of Sunday. In the running game he was consistently behind his blocks: his helmet was never on the correct side of the defensive lineman. Generally, if the defender is running towards your side, you want your helmet on the defender’s outside number or shoulder (depending on if the play is going inside or outside). Vollmer never threatened to get outside of Wake. As a result, Wake was never worried about losing leverage and was able to dig his cleats into the ground and hold the point. On backside cutoffs, Vollmer had the same issue. He was unable to get his head across defensive tackles, so he gave up far too much penetration. It wasn’t just the lack of movement or some leakage in the running plays: it was the huge negative plays he allowed. He gave up a sack-and-a-half and was responsible for another sack he wasn’t credited for. (His man beat him inside, forcing Brady to give ground and roll right into Solder’s man.) He also had a holding penalty. Those are all drive-killers.

Will Brandon Bolden be back to play in this game since his suspension is over? If he does, do you think we’ll use him a lot? He’s shown a lot of potential in the few games he’s played with his tough and powerful running.

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It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Bolden. Obviously since he’s been out Shane Vereen has done a pretty good job in spot duty, including that 80-yard touchdown against the Jets.

But still Bolden is a different kind of back so I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to use him. But he was injured even before he was suspended so who knows how his conditioning is. He’s a power back and can pick up some tough yards, but is similar enough to Ridley that he’s not going to bring a whole new dimension to the backfield.

I like Bolden but I don’t think we’ll see much of him against the Texans, and perhaps not even much against the 49ers. The last two games of the year will be a good time to get him back involved and see how much he can contribute, if at all, in the post season.

Let’s remember he’s a rookie and the last thing we need is him coughing up the rock in the playoffs.

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I think they’re a good defense on every down,” Belichick said. “But on third down, they rush well and they cover well. [Kareem] Jackson and [Jonathan] Joseph have done a good job all year for them [at the cornerback spots] but they’ve had other guys come in there and do a good job for them. “Of course, they can rush and create a lot of long yardage situations, so that’s helped their pass rush,” Belichick said. “They’re a good third-down defense, one of the best in the last 9-10 years statistically at under 30 percent, which is pretty impressive. “They do everything well. They rush, they cover, they blitz, they mix it up.

Bill Belichick sees critical third-down battle looming against Texans – Patriots – Boston.com

https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-think-theyre-a-good-defense-on-every-down/