Yesterday I finally brought myself to rewatch the first half of the Patriots playoff debacle against the Jets. Only the defensive series.
During the season I always enjoyed going back on Tuesday and evaluating what the defense did without the emotion. Well it took me about a month to be able to watch this one without emotion, but I’m glad I did.
So it might be a little late for a full on defensive analysis but I think there’s something to be taken from who played. These was no room for error or experimentation so clearly whoever was playing were the players BB most believed in.
So anyway, here are just some quick hit thoughts…
- I was impressed with the play of Rob Ninkovich and Eric Moore at OLB early on. I think both of these guys will definitely be in the mix this summer regardless of what OLBs the Pats may or may not draft. They were strong against the run, and a big part of keeping the Jets out of sync in the first half.
- Wasn’t impressed with Tully Banta-Cain, and I think it might be a pretty good bet that Moore takes his roster spot. He just doesn’t have the pass rush skills that worry opponents.
- The defense really played pretty well in the first half, save a penalty on James Sanders, and a long completion given up by Darius Butler. The botched fake punt really put them in bad position and they folded, allowing a late touchdown. Hard to get too upset with them, but the long run by Tomlinson then the 3rd down touchdown to Edwards were poorly played.
- Chung and Meriweather started at the safety spots, showing when it counts James Sanders is the 3rd safety. This also got Chung out of the nickelback position he had been mostly playing over the last month of the season. Chung does a lot of things well, but asking him to be just a nickel corner doesn’t take full advantage of what he can do.
- Would Eric Moore have played so much if Jermaine Cunningham had been healthy? Hard to know.
- Dane Fletcher was used in passing down nickel/dime packages, showing that he truly has potential. I think he will pose a real challenge to Gary Guyton in training camp this summer.
Second half observations coming when I can stomach watching it all fall apart…