I tweeted a bit about this earlier this week but I think in a strange way the Patriots offense and defense are somewhat mirror images of each other and so the best model to beat the Patriots offense is their defense (at least if you look at what they’re theoretically trying to do).
Look, when the ball is coming out of Brady’s hand in under two seconds there’s not much traditional pass rushers coming off the edge can do. So the gameplan needs to involve effective interior pass rushers surrounded by a group of athletic defensive ends and linebackers who can both rush or drop into space. Then corners who can win at the line of scrimmage and disrupt the quick pass timing are the final piece of the puzzle. But if all those elements aren’t working in conjunction it’s a recipe for disaster.
Denver has a lot of those elements, especially with good man corners who can disrupt timing at the line, as do the Jets. Buffalo seems to have the personnel but just couldn’t put it all together in Week 2.
I’ve always liked the Panthers’ defense and think they have some solid Pats-stopping pieces. I need to watch more of the Cardinals to get a better sense of them, the same with the Packers.
The Scalpel (fka dink and dunk) is a deadly weapon and when it’s clicking it’s almost impossible to stop.
