PatsPropaganda

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Patriots defense could use Dane Fletcher

It’s hard to know for sure why Dane Fletcher went from being able to play with the thumb injury he suffered in the preseason to being absent from games and practice since before the bye week due to it. Probably safe to assume he either re-injured it or it was more severe than initially thought and needed surgery.

Regardless he’s certainly someone the Patriots defense could use right now. My feelings on Gary Guyton are well documented around here, and with the Pats struggling with coverage on tight ends and in the middle of the field there’s no question the speedy and sure-tackling Fletcher would certainly be useful. Fingers crossed he’s back out there soon…

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-defense-could-use-dane-fletcher-its/

Boston Globe/Bedard: Weak Spots Glaring on Patriots Defense

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Boston Globe/Bedard: Weak Spots Glaring on Patriots Defense

I’m really trying not to post any more articles about the Steelers game but I thought this one was especially good and really boiled down the major trouble spots for the Pats D.

Frenz and I discussed this a little bit on the podcast this morning, but let’s just say Guyton, Ninkovich, Ihedigbo and Moldin were exposed against the Steelers. The Patriots either need to do a better job of hiding them or get the off them off the field in the situations Bedard mentions.

I agree with Frenz that a simple fix could be just to replace Ninkovich as the pass rushing left end in nickle packages with Mark Anderson. I’d even throw Guyton out there as a potential SLB replacement against teams that are doing what the Steelers did. He might not be able to hold up against the run but he certainly could get better depth in his pass drops than Ninkovich.

I’m still curious to see if Ihedigbo remains the starter when Josh Barrett comes back, and I think we’re otherwise stuck with our corners as they are. Hoodie forbid an injury to Arrington or McCourty, the secondary depth is as thin as it’s ever been and no one wants to go back to the days of signing defensive backs off the street.

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“That scheme doesn’t work for me. When you play a good offense, a team that spreads you out, there’s just too many openings in zone coverage. You have to mix in man-to-man coverage. You have to become more creative on defense. You have to disguise, bring more pressure.

“Then I look at that secondary, and they’re playing really soft coverage, that bend-but-don’t-break defense. I hate that. I think you have to challenge your players more. You have to start blitzing, force the quarterback into making mistakes. I know you can’t stop everything. I know they were afraid of their speed. But sometimes you just got to go challenge them. And I just don’t see them doing it.”

“We played a lot of man-to-man coverage, especially when we won in ’03,” said Harrison, who played six seasons (2003-08) with the Pats. “They challenged us. I was in the box blitzing. We dared teams to throw. You weren’t going to run on us. We dared teams to throw. We had good enough cornerbacks, we felt like teams couldn’t have success. We disguised, we mixed in cover-2, we mixed in cover-4, and different cover-3s. Here, I just see a basic, plain defense. So if the offense isn’t scoring 25-30 points, you’re in trouble.”

Rodney Harrison making his thoughts on the Patriots defense known.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/that-scheme-doesnt-work-for-me-when-you-play-a/