Coming off one of their most straight-forward defensive package games in a long time it looks like this 2011 Patriots defense is starting to come clearly into focus. In 2010 it was an endless substitution parade given the situation but this year things have been a lot more simple, and a lot more easy for X and O gurus like me to track.
First, we begin with the Patriots primary defensive packages versus the Cowboys. The base 4-3 defense at the start looked as such:
- Ellis-Love-Wilfork-Carter
- Ninkovich-Spikes-Guyton
- McCourty-Ihedigbo-Chung-Arrington
In passing situations they went to a 3-3-5 nickel package that had Leigh Bodden come in at RCB, Arrington shift into the slot, and Ellis come off the field. Haynesworth replaced Kyle Love in early passing situations, although the rotation of interior defensive lineman was consistently varied in personnel, situation and where they lined up. However, outside of the interior guys the rest of the personnel rarely changed, and that was quite a departure than what we saw in 2010.
Now the question for the bye week is where the recovering members of this defense fit in and if this defense will remain as straight forward in their packages as we saw against Dallas.
The top five personnel questions for after the bye week (assuming we get healthy)…
- Does Josh Barrett take back the starting safety spot from Ihedigbo? And how does Sergio Brown fit in? The spot next to Chung has featured all three at times, but will one of them step up and lock it down for the rest of the season? Ihedigbo looked solid against the Cowboys.
- How do Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick fit into the 4-3 defense and can either bring anything in terms of interior pass rush? This will be an interesting area to observe as we have yet to see just how the Pats plan to use them after having them in the 3-4 last year. The Wilfork-Love-Haynesworth-Warren rotation looked very strong vs. Dallas.
- Ras-I Dowling showed some positives vs. the Dolphins in the opener but has been dinged and barely played since then. How does he match up in this corner rotation? He has size that the other corners don’t. With Arrington leading the NFL in interceptions it’s doubtful his snaps would be cut back upon, but McCourty and Bodden both seem fair game to me once Dowling is back as crazy as that would’ve sounded before the start of the season. Especially since the Pats had Dowling starting on the outside vs. Miami.
- With Brandon Spikes elevating his game and Jerod Mayo set to return will it mean a reduction in base defense play time for Gary Guyton? Spikes’ progress in the passing game will certainly factor into this, but personally I think what he lacks in coverage skills he more than makes up for with playing style and dominant run defense.
- Is Dane Fletcher a victim of the new front, hampered by his thumb injury, or regressing? His base defense snaps have been reduced to near zero other than a variation of the goalline front. I thought with Mayo out we’d see more of him in the base defense but that has not been the case. If Guyton is bumped down the depth chart when Mayo gets back it could even further reduce any chance Fletcher has of seeing the field.
