Pats Posits: How The 2nd Dynasty Defense Was Made

I took the last few days off from blogging Pats to just let the sixth Super Bowl win sink in and enjoy some of the various delights like the above episode of NFL Turning Point, my favorite of them all…so far.

Of course, Three Games to Glory VI will be on its way later this spring and as the proud owner of I-V, I’m excited to add to my collection.

As I’ve meditated on the win I’ve found myself more and more impressed with the defense. The turnover from the original dynasty defense is what got me started on this blog. Could Belichick replace Milloy, Law, McGinest, Samuel, Harrison, Vrabel, and Seymour with a second dynasty defense that could get Tom Brady another Super Bowl (or more)? I blogged and blogged wondering.

Well it’s clear now — Belichick did in fact build a second dynasty defense that matched the trio of the original core.

How did he do it? There isn’t a better topic to jump into in the Posits!

These are the big plays of the new dynasty defense. These are the plays that the defenses in Super Bowls 42, 46 and 52 didn’t make. These were game-saving and game-changing plays that helped spark the Patriots on to three Super Bowl titles in five years.

— 2009 is generally what I use as ground zero for the Patriots defensive rebuild. Harrison, Bruschi, Vrabel and Seymour were gone. The defense was still pretty respectable thanks to Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren and Jerod Mayo. Despite the turnover they were still pretty good.

— 2010-2013 were pretty lean years, requiring Brady and the offense to carry the day. Brady was in his true prime but their flaws were exposed starting with 2009’s AFC Divisional loss to the Ravens. 2010’s disappointing loss at home to the Jets after maybe Brady’s most dominant season showed they still had a ways to go.

They were terrible in 2011 but Brady-Gronk-Hernandez-Welker-Branch and the hard running of Benjarvus Green-Ellis and craftiness of Danny Woodhead was enough to make up for it. As long as they got turnovers they were okay. They escaped the Ravens in the AFC Championship but didn’t get any turnovers against Eli and once again were beat in the closing minutes to erase a lead Tom Brady had given them.

From those seasons they found castoffs like Rob Ninkovich and hit home runs on draft picks spent on Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon and Dont’a Hightower who would all get three rings like the original core group of Bruschi, Vrabel, McGinest, Law and Seymour.

Jamie Collins and Chandler Jones were exciting players early on but were ultimately expendable.

Trey Flowers played a huge part in the last two Super Bowl wins, making some of the most key plays of the biggest game.

But it’s Hightower that is now right up there on the Nelson-Tippett-Bruschi-Vrabel-McGinest Mount Rushmore of Patriots linebackers.

— The strength of the team has been the secondary that arose from the ashes of the 2010-2012 seasons. The value on cornerback shifted dramatically mid-way through 2012 when the Patriots seemed to realize they had to play much more man defense. They went out and got Aqib Talib, re-signed him for a year, replaced him with Darrelle Revis, found Malcolm Butler, then replaced him with their biggest corner investment yet in Stephon Gilmore.

But it’s been the core of McCourty, Chung and Harmon that have been the versatile core of it all.

— Up front, it was Ninkovich, seamlessly replaced by Trey Flowers, who has matched his predecessor’s penchant for big plays. Wilfork passed the torch to Malcom Brown. And in the middle, Hightower gluing it all together.

— There were differences between Matt Patricia and Brian Flores’ defenses. But the similarity was that when it really counted the Patriots defense made plays. If anything I think Flores’ defense seemed more apt to play poorly on the small stages this season. Patricia’s seemed far more content to play the bend-don’t-break game.

In that way, Flores’s defense was more a throwback to the first dynasty than Patricia’s were.

— Kyle Van Noy has been an outstanding find the last two seasons. He’s just kept getting better which is the same kind of path that Rob Ninkovich followed. The better news is that Van Noy is just the kind of player the Patriots needed most since they punted on Jamie Collins, an athletic linebacker who runs well. His range along with Hightower’s aggression are a perfect mix up front and Greg Schiano must be excited to use them.

— I am fascinated at what happens at defensive tackle. Brown and Shelton are up, while Lawrence Guy, who has blossomed into a very solid piece, still has another year under contract. I think Brown and Shelton walk, they sign a mid-range FA like Guy was and spend a high draft pick on a DT.

— The problem is that the end for McCourty and Chung is coming sooner than later, after that Harmon and the back end of the Patriots defense will once again face a restart. And who knows how long Hightower’s got. Everyone wants to put Gronk in the early retirement home but you could yell the same thing about the Hightower too as he approaches 29.

— But immediately we face the Trey Flowers dilemma. You’d think Tom Brady is about to get a new contract that will lessen his $27 million cap hit and add to the $18 million in cap space. Then comes the Flowers or Trent Brown decision.

They threw caution to the wind at both important positions recently. Well, at left tackle last year was the only time they haven’t had a clear succession plan and it’s strange to be back here so soon. But if they didn’t pay Solder what he got it’s hard to see them forking top-setting money to Brown.

Chandler Jones was supposed to be the Seymour-like cornerstone of the right defensive end spot but the Pats sent him packing without warning. Ninkovich stuck around, getting multiple contracts solid contracts. Nink didn’t even seem interested in testing free agency.

Flowers is the model of what the Patriots want. Good citizen, technical football nerd who works with a quiet determination. It would hurt to lose him because he’s the kind of player you should pay the big contract to. The kind that will sign the deal and still be the humble leader the locker room needs. There aren’t any off the field concerns like there might’ve been with Chandler Jones. This makes Flowers one of then most interesting decisions Belichick’s ever had to make on a player.

I just feel close to positive the Brian Flores is going all in for him and Flowers will be the Dolphin that haunts Brady for the end of his career.