Patriots ponder mysteries of the deep

They hope to not go under tonight

FOXBOROUGH - Jay Cutler took the diplomatic approach when asked whether he was relishing the opportunity to play against a New England secondary that was picked on and apart by Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers in a 30-10 loss Oct. 11, saying he expected the Patriots to adjust.

But Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs said he'd understand if Cutler secretly was salivating at the thought of throwing deep against a secondary that surrendered three pass plays of more than 40 yards and a 32-yard pass interference penalty to the Chargers.

"Why wouldn't he? [San Diego] obviously shows that you can do it," said Hobbs, who was flagged for the penalty. "I think Jay Cutler is a great passer, an accurate passer, and has the ability to go downfield with the range and strength of his arm - not just down the field, but really all over the field from sideline to sideline - I would if I was him."

There is little question Cutler and the Broncos will attack the secondary tonight at Gillette Stadium.

The more germane question is whether San Diego's go-long game plan exposed a fatal flaw or whether it was a fleeting failure for a defense that still ranks 12th in the NFL against the pass.

ESPN analyst Darren Woodson, a five-time Pro Bowl safety and three-time All-Pro in 12 seasons with the Cowboys, said the Patriots' game plan against the Chargers was centered on slowing running back LaDainian Tomlinson, with coach Bill Belichick believing his corners could hold up against San Diego's unheralded receivers.

"I think they felt like they could match up a little bit in man to man," said Woodson. "They had some wrinkles to that. It was more like a two-man and they switched to straight man. But when you lose a guy like Asante Samuel, who I think is one of the better off corners in the league, and bring in guys like Deltha O'Neal, guys who are journeyman corners, that's what can happen.

"What they have are system cornerbacks," said Woodson. "These aren't shutdown corners and guys you would leave on the island in one-on-one. If that were the case, Deltha and the other corners like [Lewis] Sanders wouldn't be on their third or fourth stop. It would be their first stop."

Patriots players acknowledged the corners were in more man-to-man situations against San Diego, but defensive coordinator Dean Pees, rebuking critiques such as Woodson's, said that neither the 48-yarder to Vincent Jackson on San Diego's first play nor the 49-yard touchdown to Malcom Floyd - both plays O'Neal was beaten on - had the Patriots in man-to-man coverage.

Pees maintained that if you take away the big plays the Patriots didn't perform that poorly. However, the Patriots have had a hard time taking away the big play this season.

The Patriots have surrendered the same amount of 30-plus pass completions (seven) in five games as they did all last regular season.

Woodson believes some of that has to do with the route the Patriots went to find the successors to Samuel, who cashed in with Philadelphia as a free agent following a Pro Bowl season.

"This is an organization that doesn't really go after cornerbacks in that way because they feel like that system allows them to do things and add wrinkles to help out the corners," Woodson said.

Samuel's primary replacements at left corner have been nine-year veteran O'Neal, a two-time Pro Bowler who was signed six days before the Sept. 7 opener, after the Bengals cut him, and Sanders, the only one of the three cost-conscious cornerback signings the Patriots made in the offseason (along with Jason Webster and Fernando Bryant) to make the team.

An NFL personnel man who did not want to be directly quoted backed Woodson's observation, saying Belichick believes he can be successful without big-name corners such as Samuel and Ty Law, if he has solid corners who play disciplined in the team's system.

The validity of that theory is going to be put to the test this season.

"Am I a fan of the secondary? No. I think what made them good was they had a very good corner," said Woodson.

"Their strength is the front, but if they're not getting a ton of pressure, if [Mike] Vrabel is not coming off the edge and Adalius [Thomas] is not making plays to wreak havoc, if they give the quarterback any time to throw the ball, they'll get hurt.

"But I think Bill Belichick is a mastermind at helping weaknesses and making a team better. I think they're good enough defensively to get to the playoffs, but I think the weakest point on that team is the secondary."

O'Neal, who said the only thing that makes him a "system corner" is that he's still trying to learn the Patriots' system, believes he and his cohorts can get the job done. He said they just have to do a better job defending.

O'Neal is right because Pees said there is no magic defensive call that can make up for poor technique or poorly played coverages.

"Down the field, everything at some point in time becomes one guy against one guy," Pees said. "I can't have them spread out with three receivers across the field and have five guys back there covering all of them. At some point in time, down the field it becomes me against you. That's why I say sometimes everybody is trying to analyze things and sometimes you can overanalyze them."

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.