I don’t want to overreact so I’ve been putting off writing too much about yesterday’s Patriots-Titans game until now. If I get too excited at all below just please take it with a grain of salt. This is a young team and there will be growing pains but… WOW.
– Let’s start on the defensive side where the Pats seem very focused on keeping it simple. The biggest question we had was could this new nickel-front 4-3 base stop the run. Well Chris Johnson had 4 yards rushing. The longest run the Pats gave up was a 9-yard scramble to Jake Locker. I don’t know exactly what to make of it, but that’s a dominating performance and one that will certainly skew some pretty looking stats favorably for us as the season goes on. We knew the Pats would be physical, but no one was expecting that kind of run defense.
– You can say this run defense will be an anomaly, but the foursome of Wilfork-Love and Spikes-Hightower were absolutely dominant. For the first time in a long time this defense looks like they have the ability to be game changers, not just game managers.
– In the simplest terms the Patriots defense just looks like all the high draft picks they’ve made over the past four seasons are finally coming together. They’re just more talented. It’s no longer a defense of specialization, where there would be whole sale personnel changes between first and third down. Now the Pats are pretty much ready to handle anything with their base 11 guys.
– Pats starting defense: five homegrown first round picks, two homegrown second round picks, three undrafted free agents (one homegrown), and Ninkovich who was taken in the fifth round.
– Chandler Jones was the biggest missing piece. I am blown away by how good he’s looked, and the fact that he rarely came off the field shows the Pats have been blown away too. This looks like a defense ready to ascend and dominate for a long time, with Jones as one of the centerpieces.
– Spikes and Hightower split time as nickel linebackers, will need to take a closer look to see who was better. But I was really impressed with how well Hightower moves.
– On offense it’s a very similar approach to the defense. They’re keeping it extremely simple with their personnel, and letting the personnel’s versatility dictate what they do.
– Brandon Lloyd already looks like everything they need on the outside. They won’t miss a long pass like that one again.
– I was never overly worried about the offensive line. I still think they’ll have moments, and perhaps even games, of inconsistency. But overall they looked very good against the Titans, and it’s a promising sign considering how much changeover they had. Not many teams don’t miss a beat after experiencing all the juggling on the line that they Patriots did this off-season.
– I’m sure they’ll try to preserve Ridley a little bit, but wow was he impressive. The strange thing is how many negative runs he seemed to have. Law Firm never really had those, but he also never had the explosive second-level moves that Ridley featured that picked him up a lot of extra yardage. Overall it looks like the backfield will be in good hands. I expect Brandon Bolden to slowly get more and more of a chance to show what he can do. Who knows how Vereen will fit in when he comes back.
– Need to take a closer look at Welker’s snaps but I wouldn’t really read too much into him playing a reduced role. That’s a benefit I think, not a sign of decline.
– Haven’t given enough props to Julian Edelman this season yet. Seems like he really did make Branch, Gaffney and Stallworth expendable, and he’s getting his chances on offense now.
Overall it’s hard not to think that top to bottom this is the most talented team the Patriots have had. That might sound ridiculous considering how good the Pats have been over the years, but they’ve never been this loaded with young talent.
In year’s past there was always something to overcome, whether it was a lack of weapons (dynasty years through 2006), or an aging and/or rebuilding defense (2007-2011). This year’s team looks like they should be more balanced than ever on offense, and are flashing the kind of talent of defense the likes of which we haven’t seen since the early part of last decade.
