Welcome to another “yeah we won the game but we can never win a Super Bowl with this defense” Monday. Well, I probably don’t have to welcome you to it. By now that’s all you’ve been hearing and reading.
Here are some quick hit thoughts after re-watching yesterday’s game.
– Obviously we’ll have plenty on the defense this week, but my general words of advice to Patriots Nation is: Patience. It’s week four. We need to get healthy. We’re along ways away from having to roll this defense out against the Packers in the Super Bowl.
– But I would take the Patriots offense with their defense over the Ravens offense with their defense as more probable to win a Super Bowl. This is a quarterback league. You can have the best defense in the NFL statistically but the elite quarterbacks are still just as likely to shred it.
– Call me crazy but I think that the loss of Mayo for a bit could be a good thing. Let’s face it, it would be hard for them to be much worse statistically, and as much as I’m not a huge Gary Guyton fan the Pats are in far better position to get by with him, Spikes, Fletcher and even Tracy White than they were last time they lost Mayo in 2009. Other guys need to start stepping up and making plays, and this will be a chance for them to do so. Especially excited to see more of Fletcher and Spikes.
– It’s good news that Mayo should be back by mid-November but the worry is that he’ll have lost that elite speed like he did with the 2009 MCL injury.
– The Mayo injury itself was comical. It really almost looked like he was faking it at first. The play ended and he just suddenly looked down and realized “hey my knee hurts”.
– Spikes has his weaknesses but I absolutely love the energy he brings to the defense. It’s that kind of excitement and leadership that can really make a difference on this usually subdued defense. Between him and Patchung they are becoming the heart of this defense. And let’s remember… year two and year three respectively.
– The biggest problem I see with the pass defense right now is the lack on interior rushers. With Mike Wright still out they don’t have a true interior pass rusher on the active roster. You cannot understate the effect of losing Wright and Pryor has had on the Pats the last two seasons. You can have the greatest edge rusher in the world but if the quarterback can just step up into the pocket it won’t matter. If Wright can’t come back they’re going to need Haynesworth to contribute there eventually.Either way something has to be done there.
– Wish I had gotten to watch more of the Jets-Ravens game last night for obvious reasons. Of course everyone is pretty much already resigned to the fact that the Patriots defense will be just what Mark Sanchez needs to bounce back. I hope this angle continues to be played up so word gets back to the Patriots locker room.
– For me it comes down to Nick Mangold. If he’s back it should be a game. If he’s not the Jets will continue have problems with the offensive like calls, running the football and protecting Sanchez. Not to say that he’ll cure all that ails them, but it would be a huge step in the right direction.
– Revis on Welker makes sense. But that leaves Strickland and Cromartie to cover Branch, Ochocinco, maybe even Hernandez (fingers crossed). It should be fascinating to see how the Patriots attack the Jets given what they learned in the playoff game. Having Hernandez back could really tip the scales toward the Patriots as the Jets have struggled to match up with tight ends.
– Anyone want to do a little side by side comparison of what Richard Seymour and Nate Solder did yesterday?