Globe 10.0 in Foxborough

Wilfork had the second most tackles?

That's either incredible or disturbing. It's amazing he can take on two blockers and still make plays.

But you'd really rather see someone else stepping up and making those tackles.

Brace yourself! This years D could be a very different animal from anything in the past. Don't let preseason run stop dis-ability fool ya. No need to give the real deal away when so many other team's scouts are all watching the game.

What most folks seem to fail to realize...is that with Thomas, Mayo, and Guyton, the Patriots have 3 Ascending Stars at LB.

That makes the chances of Crable, Woods, Burgess, Hyphen, or a combintion of them EXPONENTIALLY greater of producing at an high level THIS year, than is generally perceived.

And with a D Line with STUNNING Depth of Talent and Experience, and a Secondary whose Depth of Talent and Experience is lurching ~ SPIKING! ~ from "Rosie O'Donnell 2008" to ~ shall we say? ~ "Giselle Bundchen 2009"...this D, for all the whining, wailing, and gnashing of teeth with which my eyes and ears have been beset...has a chance to produce a Legendary Campaign.

As always: Remember where you heard it, first.

I would have to agree with Dante here. That's one of those stats that is sort of mind boggling for a number of reasons. It is incredible regardless, but is Wilfork just that much of a beast or are they not respecting the run defense by trying to go right up the gut?

FY, FYI: I beat you by 17 minutes. Chuckle,
dB

If Mayo can simply improve his coverage skills to a decent level and add a few TFLs on RBs this season without losing what he did last season, I'll be delirious.

@ Fanatical Yankee --

I wholeheartedly agree with your enthusiasm about the Pats D this season. The "you heard it here first" part? MMmmmmm, not so much.

You're not the only guy commenting here who's been paying attention to developments in that regard. I can pinpoint the date that my confidence blossomed as March 10, when the Pats signed Bodden. Immediately after the draft, I started posting about the Pats having the personnel to run a lot more 4-3 sets this year and that, as a result, maybe OLB wasn't as big a concern as most folks thought. And, in this very comments section, IIRC, a couple of weeks ago, I started asking what the NFL record was for fewest NET points allowed from scrimmage by a defense.

So, actually, from my POV, you're really way behind.

Hello MaineMan,

Please be at Gillette Stadium on Monday, August 24th at 1PM for your interview. Please tell the receptionist you are here for an interview with Bill Belichik and you will be meeting with Nick Casserio afterwards.

Please plan on a breakfast meeting on Tuesday at 8AM with the Krafts.

Yankee
Thomas is closer to the decending stage. He was the #1 free agent three summers ago. So far the first unit on defense gave up 2 FG's no TD's so yes you are correct, the defense has improved so far. But we will probably not see a repeat of the 2004 domanace. Youth also has some drawbacks. Inexperiance, mental tuffness, and decipline to "Do your job." But I too am very excited. Keep the other team under 24 and we could run the table. I am curious about this Hyphen guy you refered to. Please tell me more, I have not heard of him. Can he rush the passer? LOL just funning with you. Peace.

The 4-3 isn't just good for Mayo...

The 4-3 alignment should give Seymour and Wilfork (and Burgess) much better chances to have career years- and to cash in during the contract year runs. Smart move by Belichick.

4-3 half the time and 3-4 half the time, depending on the matchup, game dynamics, injuries etc.

have talent use talent !!!!!!!! the 4-3 is a way for those beasts up front to STUNT and HUNT!!LOVE IT CANT WAIT TO START

@ #7 -

Gee! Is that for the position as lead cheerleader? I sure hope so! Do I get to shower with the rest of the cheerleaders, too?

I think a lot of folks are making too much of the Pats recent use of the 4-3. Of course they're practicing it more than the 3-4! They plan on incorpating more of it than in previous years, but they already have a lot more experience already in the 3-4. So of course they'd spend more time on it in the offseason!

Personally, I think the 4-3 as a base defense is a REALLY bad idea for this team. First of all, they've built the team around the 3-4: Warren, Wilfork, Bruschi, Woods, and possibly Thomas are better suited for the 3-4. The only guys better suited for the 4-3 would be Mayo and Burgess, and possibly Green. Seymour does well at everything, and it's too early to tell with Guyton.

Secondly, who's running a two-gap 4-3 these days successfully? Pretty much nobody. There's a reason for that. The game has changed since the last time the Pats used it. Polian rules reign supreme. And they don't have the horses (ie. edge rushers) to run the one-gap 4-3.

I look forward to them sprinkling in some more 4-3 fronts this year, but as a base D give me the 3-4.

Is it just me, or does the 3-4 defence seem to be all about "Bend-don't-break?" which sounds a bit like "Prevent Defense." The whole 2-gap philosophy keeps everyone out of the backfield until the play is diagnosed, thus slowing the pass rush on first and second down, and puts excess stress on the defensive backfield because the pocket is slower to collapse. I guess it is thus resilient to the screen play, and probably nets better against the run, but it sounds like the 2-gap technique just accomplishes the purpose of the opponents play action pass, which is to slow the rush an extra second for routes to open... I'm certainly not more than a defensive muddle-brain compared to Bill, but I'm wondering why 2-gap technique seems to be such a steady part of the Pats philosophy.

This is a new thought I'm trying on - I recall in 2001 when Cox got injured, the Pats switched to a 4-3 with Bruschi in the middle. I was stunned that they were a better defense with Bruschi in and Cox and Johnson out, but I still have vivid flashbacks of Bruschi squaring-up, standing-up Marshall Fault in a wide-gap. It also occurs to me that some of the best - I mean stiffling - defences of recent memory were a 4-3 with a stud-middle-linebacker. I'm thinking of recent Ravens and Bears teams and 1985 Bears here.

I think I'm really going to like the changes going on here.

Wow! Everyone here is gushing about an unproven defense with an aging set of castoffs mixed in with the same old has-beens and used-to-bes crowned by one shining star entering his sophmore jinx year.

We now have the Mayo but, where's the beef?

Until the Pats D can pressure the QB and once again regularly produce turnovers, two things they haven't done for the last two years, then they better be able to lap the other teams offense. However the SB winner is usually the better defense.

Mayo was the small for a Pats LB last year, but he made up for it with speed and athletic ability. I think the signing of Lenon was a big sign that the Pats want to use a 4-3 more this year. Lenon just has no place in a 3-4. Also a 4-3 will play right into Mayo's strength. The only problem is Wilfork and Brace are built to be NT and not DT who can penetrate the gap in a 4-3, but maybe BB thinks they are good enough to do both.

@#8

Hyphen = Tully Banta-Cain, so yes Hyphen can rush the passer some :)

Hey everyone,
I could see the Pats playing a lot of 4-3 D when the opposition is playing with 1 RB in the backfield. I seem to remember BB saying, that the 3-4 is better when there is a FB in front of the RB, a few years ago. With a lot of teams going to the single back formations, I do see them in the 4 D line formation. But, just remember that being in a 4 man line does not mean they are playing a 4-3. They would be playing a 4-2, and 4-1 (with extra DB's). They will play that formation with 2nd and long, and on 3rd (more than 3 to go).

I'm with you there, Ned in NC. But I recently watched/read a couple of pieces that seemed to indicate the Pats would be shifting between 2-gap and 1-gap, or at least capable of doing so. And maybe that's the whole point, to build a more versatile front seven that can show one thing and shift to something completely different while the oppo QB is making his reads - not necessarily either a "base" or "classic" 3-4 or 4-3, (supporting Glenn's point ) or 2-gap/1-gap. And I think this year's secondary will be more than good enough to support whatever the front seven is doing (like night versus day compared to last year).

Ned, the benefit of the 2-gap is, at least in part, greater effectiveness against the run. We know this is important to Belichick, and the other day Seymour echoed those thoughts: "If you want to rush the passer in this league, you gotta be able to stop the run first or you never have the opportunity."

When it comes down to 2-gap defenses and the 3-4 in particular, other coaches recognize its strengths against the run. A couple weeks ago, Mike McCarthy talked about it..."The thing about the 3-4 is, it's better against the run. There's three bubbles to run at in the 4-3. In the 3-4, you've got five guys on the line of scrimmage and only two bubbles. The whole goal is to get to third and long and into 'sub' quicker, where we're much more athletic."

Whether or not Belichick uses more one-gap, two-gap 4-3, or 3-4 will depend on the opponent, and what he's trying to take away from them.