PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Boston Globe/Bedard: With Wright out, Cunningham on the spot

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Boston Globe/Bedard: With Wright out, Cunningham on the spot

While this is more of a general look at how Cunningham needs to step up now that Wright is done, it raised an interesting question in my mind. Why not try Cunningham as an interior rusher? He has good size, strength and better quickness than Wilfork, Haynesworth or Gerard Warren would provide on pass downs.

Of course you’re talking about guys like Wright and Pryor who are 300 plus while Cunningham is only 260ish.

But Jermaine has an intriguing make up and could potentially make an impact there. The question is could he hold up against guards and tackles if they try to run on the sub defense, but to my eyes he seems physical enough to cause some disruption inside. And if you can use Kyle Arrington as an edge rusher, why not try Cunningham inside?

Losing interior pass rusher Mike Wright a big blow to Patriots

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Tough news out of Foxboro today with Mike Wright being put on IR for a second straight season due to lingering effects of a concussion. I’ve been preaching for a while now that Wright was possibly the number one injured Patriot that they most needed back for his interior pass rush skills.

Many Patriots fans are always clamoring for a “pass rusher” thinking only outside linebackers are real pass rushers. The reality is that Mike Wright was arguably the best pass rusher on the Pats, he just did it from the interior of the line.

You can have elite outside pass rushers but if the quarterback is able to step up into the pocket it won’t matter. That push up the middle is vital and there is not a Patriot currently on the roster able to get up field with quickness and power required to do so.

The Patriots now must face a second straight season without their top two interior rushers in Wright and Myron Pryor. This will put more pressure on Vince Wilfork to play more downs, and also put a spotlight on Albert Haynesworth to start picking up some of the slack so Wilfork doesn’t get burned out.

There’s no way to sugarcoat this one, it’s going to hurt in the place the Pats already hurt the most. Even if Wright comes back (and who knows if he even should at this point) the Patriots will have to address this area in the 2012 off-season. Neither he nor Pryor can be counted on to stay healthy for an entire season.

A quick word on last year’s Browns-Patriots game

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Everyone’s favorite stat today is the fact that Rob Ryan’s defense in Cleveland last year was the last one to hold the Patriots under 30 points (cough in the regular season) as if Rob knows “the secret” for shutting down TFB and pals.

I’d just like to remind everyone of the two boneheaded plays by Rob Gronkowski that killed two of the Pats possessions in the first half.

First, he signaled a fair catch on the kickoff after the Browns had made it 3-0 and then looked around for someone else to catch it. The Browns recovered and scored two plays later to go up 10-0.

Then there was his fumble on the two yard line as the first half was ending that took definite points off the board.  A touchdown would’ve made it 17-14 at the half and perhaps made it a different game.

I’m not saying the Browns didn’t play well or that Ryan didn’t have a good gameplan.  They forced the Pats to punt five times. But it’s worth pointing out how the Pats put themselves behind the eight ball early and often in this game.

It also helped the Peyton Hillis was on fire that day and that kept Brady off the field with a time of possession advantage of nearly 40 minutes to 20 minutes. I’m not quite convinced the Cowboys running attack can do the same to this Patriots defense.