Patriots’ defense may never be great, but good enough – Patriots – Boston.com

Yup, I’m not sure they’re going to be great this year either. They certainly have the potential up front, but on the back end I’m not sure they do…

Couple notes on their strategy:

So the Patriots dialed up as many blitzes in the first half against Manning (seven) as they did in the previous two games combined. The Patriots scaled back the blitzes in the second half (three) with a big lead, but still ended with 10 against Manning on his 43 dropbacks outside of the 5-yard line. The Patriots blitzed 12 times total in their first four games.

The second key for the Patriots’ defense was to take away the inside throws that Manning loves. The Patriots kept the safeties tight (sometimes too tight as both Patrick Chung and Wilson were beat over the top), dropped the linebackers in Manning’s lanes, and even dropped the occasional defensive end into coverage underneath.