Football Outsiders: Was Pats defensive improvement a mirage?

Some interesting nuggets as always from Football Outsiders. They point out how much the Pats struggled covering slot receivers. While I agree that Kyle Arrington will probably shift inside, I don’t think it’s necessarily a lock that he’s the answer at nickel. That could come through the draft, so if they do pick a CB, look for one that is projected to play inside, challenging Arrington, Wilhite and Butler.

Through 12 weeks, New England’s DVOA was 16.6%, which left them mired at 27th in the league. But starting with the 45-3 demolition of the Jets, the defense seemed to turn a corner. In Weeks 13-17, the Patriots ranked second in the league in overall defense and were the league’s best team defending the pass. With everything rounding into form, New England looked borderline unbeatable heading into the playoffs. But the defense played poorly in a shocking 28-21 loss to the Jets, which opens the question of whether or not the late season improvement was real or a mirage.

The solution is to add better pass rushers and to improve the depth at cornerback. The latter should happen when Leigh Bodden returns to take over one of the starting cornerback slots. That will allow Kyle Arrington to slide into the nickel and cut down the amount of time Darius Butler spends on the field. The pass rusher is going to have to come from free agency or, more likely, the draft, where New England has three of the top 33 selections.