Been beating this drum for a while, but with each passing day I’m less concerned about the Patriots offense and more concerned about the defense. Between the three rookie wide receivers, the running backs, Zach Sudfeld and Jake Ballard (and eventually Gronk), the offense is going to be just fine.
But in both the game against the Eagles and practice today against the Bucs, the Pats continue to get shredded through the air. Now, I realize it’s just preseason, and I never overreact to preseason, but I am concerned.
Injuries are mounting at cornerback where Alfonzo Dennard and Ras-I Dowling are still just watching practice. Logan Ryan has been thrust into a major role and we’re not even two weeks into August. Kyle Arrington is back on the outside. McCourty has moved back to corner for significant periods of time. Rookie Duron Harmon is getting a long look at safety.
What does all this add up to? A lot of uncertainty and inexperience in the secondary. For all the talk of continuity on the defense this season, things are starting to look a lot less continuous.
Now the good news is that the front seven is still intact, and despite razor-thin depth behind Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly, they should be able to ease some growing pains on the back end of the defense.
But it is critical that Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich and Marcus Benard are able to bring consistent pass rush pressure.
It’s an exciting time for the offense. There are a lot of new players making big plays, and consistently standing out. However, the defense has been sidetracked by injuries, and the results have lately looked a lot like the last two seasons.
There’s plenty of time for the defense to get healthy and gel, and obviously, the strength of a Bill Belichick defense is in their game planning and disguise; things we won’t see in preseason.
But the next two games will be critical for the defense to make some strides.
