Patriots Week: Talking Pats secondary with Pats Pulpit
by Brian Galliford on Sep 9, 2009 9:15 AM EDT
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PrintDespite the fact that 95% of Western New York football fans are depressed this fine Wednesday morning, we're going to keep on keepin' on with our "Patriots Week" series. The Buffalo Bills take on the New England Patriots in a little over five days' time, and no matter how upset anyone is over the massive changes the Bills have made over the past two days, the fact of the matter is that NFL football is just around the corner. I remain excited. You should, too.
Once again, MaPatsFan joins us this morning to discuss his Patriots, which he does on a daily basis over at Pats Pulpit. On the first two days of Patriots week, we discussed New England's transition to a 4-3 defense and QB Tom Brady. Today, we narrow our defensive focus to take a look at the Patriots' revamped secondary. More after the jump.
Rumblings: I'd love to hear your thoughts on a Patriots secondary that has undergone some pretty serious changes over the past couple of years. How are vets such as Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs looking? Are the young players progressing as planned?
Pulpit: Basing my opinion off of just the pre-season, I'd be nervous. Second year CB Terrence Wheatley was consistently burned by receivers (surprised he made the roster) and rookie S Patrick Chung had his share of embarrassments as well. Although, we drafted Chung knowing full well he struggles in coverage and is much better in the box. Another second year CB, Jonathan Wilhite, showed promise. Rookie Darius Butler has the physical talent to become a shutdown corner. All he needs is NFL reps. What little we got to see of Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden was almost indeterminate. However, Bodden had some nice breakups and showed smarts on the field. I'm still waiting for that elusive shutdown corner to emerge.
Looking at the "potential" talent, I have reason to be cautiously optimistic. Lots of NFL teams are notorious for showing a very vanilla game plan in pre-season, and Hoodie's no exception. That and he played second and third stringers for most every game. I barely remember seeing Shawn Springs on the field, so I'll reserve my opinion until next Monday night when he lines up against T.O. I think that will be a good defensive battle to watch, considering they've faced each other their entire careers.
Moving to safety, Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders were, again, barely on the field. I've always liked this duo. Meriweather will assume the now vacated SS spot left by Rodney Harrison and Sanders will take FS. Meriweather isn't the "lurker" Harrison was, but he's getting smarter about recognizing offenses. Sanders is a solid, above average safety - nothing flashy, and he doesn't get burned too much.
Again, MNF will be the key. Given the Bills' RB situation, I suspect Trent Edwards will air the ball more than usual. This will be a good test for our reformed secondary.
I don't have a lot to add - as usual, this is about as fair an assessment as you can ask for. I feel quite certain that Bill Belichick will find two corners to start the majority of his team's games. But he hasn't found them yet - and that could be to Buffalo's advantage on MNF. If Trent Edwards doesn't get killed, that is.
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We have the weapons
to exploit this team, but they will have to pull together quick.
"Hold ya chin up...nuh nuh nuh...gone"
-Marshawn Lynch-
I hope so.
TO has only faced the Pats 3 times in his career. Twice in regular season (98’ and 07’) where he scoured a TD in both games. We all remember the SB where he came back from an injury early and had 120+ yards and no TD’s.
I still think we have a shot at keeping this game close despite all the bad news in the media. Boo who…we are definately no worse than last year.
i can't see how
one more year under a lot of yough players belts
"Hold ya chin up...nuh nuh nuh...gone"
-Marshawn Lynch-
Pats Secondary
I honestly think that a defensive line can make a secondary look like all-stars. If you get good/great pressure on the QB then his throws are forced – thus leading to mistakes.
This first game might not be a good barometer of how good their secondary is if their d-line gets pressure all day and Trent is throwing picks. I’m glad that their defense is going through a major transformation as well. They’ve lost Bruschi, Vrabel, Seymour, Harrison and Hobs all over the last year. that’s a ton of leadership. so hopefully that’ll help.
I expect our O to be pretty vanilla with keeping RB’s and TE’s in to help so Trent hopefully gets time to pick apart this suspect secondary. but if that d-line get’s pressure all game then I wouldn’t think it is a good barometer of how good they are. – even if Trent throws a few picks
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying
J2
by the way, i just got around to reading your fanpost. It was so long it was the first rumblings story i ever printed at work and took with me to the mens room after a nice big lunch. haha.
Good stuff, figured I’d tell you here since its off the front page. My only comment would be that i think you give the Jets and Dolphins too much credit against us. I think they have just as many if not more issues than us. We have a young suspect o-line, the Jets have a rookie QB, no WR the Dolphins have no WRs, and the Wildcat wont fool anyone, plus i dont like their secondary.
great read though.
Jonathan Stupar played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
lol – nice!
I probaby did rate the ’Phins and Jets a little high.
The reason why I did rate them higher was because they are divisional and since we all know each other so well its tough for me to say we will just go ahead and beat them with conviction.
Other than that – I hope we do whip on those guys.
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying
by J2 on Sep 9, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
I think it works the other way too. If the pats corners can’t keep up with our receivers than we can burn them with 3 step drops and the d-line won’t have enough time to get to Trent. That and running the football right at them will slow down that d-line. I actually think it’s an advantage for us that Lynch is out because Freddy runs more straight ahead which as we saw last year, works better against the Patriots D
"Potential just means you haven’t done sh## yet"
Seriously? The Pats Secondary?
Trent doesn’t throw down field, do they even matter?
New York City Buffalo Bills Backers
www.nycbbb.com
Very true. We should be talking about the Pats LB’s covering Jackson!
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Sep 9, 2009 10:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, well, if we had a discussion every day about what everyone here thinks is relevant, we’d be having the same tired, boring conversation (“this team sucks!”) every day. So deal with it. :)
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 9, 2009 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Perfect…
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.
by MattRichWarren on Sep 9, 2009 8:05 PM EDT up reply actions
I bet you would get a lot more website hits if you posted an article today just titled (“this team sucks”) though.
That’s possible. Alas, I’m not that shameless.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 9, 2009 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Trent will throw down field.
This is what we have been waiting for. T.O. on one side and Lee Evans on the other. Stevie and Josh getting first downs on 3rd and long. The tight end stretching the middle of the field. Once this happens Freddie can go to work. Pass to set up the run. He will throw the ball down the field, “If we build it he will come”. The redzone will be key. The Redzone and protecting the ball.
Only Real Men Wear Red, White, and Blue.
You are right on target Van
I’m excited for this game.
You're right about that.
I don’t understand why everybody is so down. TURK is gone, we are still running the no-huddle. We have the same O-Line we had all preseason (Bell is just as good as Langston people).
The Bills are on in 5 days!!!!! You get to bring out your foam Brick at the very least.
Woot!
Love the plush bills brick!
Can’t wait to at least watch a meaningful game on Monday. We’ll see how the pieces pull together, I am happy with the new OC and your right the line is basically the same as in the pre season. I for one have not lost hope, still drinking the Cool-Aid.
Is it just me or is every Pats fan and media member feeling a little too confident this year
Don’t get me wrong, they will probably beat Buffalo Monday night but look at their freaking secondary and LBs. Pat Pulpit expects a “shutdown” corner to just emerge. Bill Simmons has them starting 8-0 (podcast) and didn’t even mention their defense. Belichick has reached grand magician status as far as the talking heads go. Everyone just assumes their going to be great. I guess you get the benefit of the doubt when you’ve ruled the AFC East for a decade but I think their suspect defense could keep games interesting.
You forget to mention that the WR that makes the Pats move (Wes Welker) no one really knows his status – for better or worse…
I was born in Buffalo, and NO, it's not a suburb of New York City
Wes Welker
Ya know, he hurt us in Miami and continued in New England. The bigger difference to me is New Englands big play ability. Nowing were Welker and their tightends would be for that big first down. Hitting Moss for the big play. We haven’t had that. We did move the ball between the twenties better than average alot of times. We just didn’t have that big play ability and our redzone activity has been so absent in the past. Welker is a pain, no doubt, but the Pats redzone and big play making has killed us.
Only Real Men Wear Red, White, and Blue.
This isn’t anything new, and as for MaPatsFan, I didn’t see anything – nor have I seen anything over the past three days – to suggest anything other than cautious optimism.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Sep 9, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
The Pats secondary is very beatable, and their pass rush is still a question mark. However, I’m not sure we have the QB to effectively take advantage of their weak points…
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Sep 9, 2009 12:20 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I think he could, IF he had an Oline I could trust to keep him upright for more than 30% of the time
If Trent gets time, we can put some points up on these guys, if the line looks like a sieve, its gonna get ugly quick
(443): My mom came into my room and told me to flip off the tv. I gave it the middle finger. Note to self: STOP SMOKING THIS S#!T
-textsfromlastnight.com
We Will Beat The Pats...
This Monday night in Foxboro…Bell will have the spotlight on him and he will shine! This O-line will move the pile and grind out some yards. The true magic though, will come from the defense with Maybin’s weekly sack fumble combo on Brady, Whitner and Byrd each get picks to start off fast, and Leo shows why he was the top CB in the draft. Poz will have some 14 tackles and special teams will save the day! Have fun watching the game and the first of many Bills victories this year.
TO: The New England Patriots
The bi-annual beatdowns you have inflicted on my team have earned my respect, you have a great QB, one of the best coaches of all time, and with all due respect: SUCK IT PATRIOTS! You’re going down Monday night.
FROM: Another disillisioned Bills fan hoping that the power of postive thoughts will help my team overcome the Goliath in the room.
by NorCal BillsFan on Sep 9, 2009 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions
WOW!!!!
Bell will have the spotlight on him and he will shine! This O-line will move the pile and grind out some yards. The true magic though, will come from the defense with Maybin’s weekly sack fumble combo on Brady, Whitner and Byrd each get picks to start off fast, and Leo shows why he was the top CB in the draft. Poz will have some 14 tackles and special teams will save the day!
I will be happy if just one of those things happen.
Teflon Jauron…..Nothing sticks to Dick
I love the sentiment Norcal...
All summer people were knocking us for thinking Langston can play left tackle. We’ve obviously arrived at that same conclusion. I really don’t think there was anything wrong with Shoenert’s system, he was just a crappy and inconsistent playcaller. It was kind of that Al Saunders type of scenario where the shear scope of the playbook makes it difficult to master unless you’ve had the chance to grow in it a la Trent Green in KC. To me we have our O-line of the future on the field now, albeit probably a little sooner than anticipated.
There’s certainly going to be growing pains throughout the season, but instead of a left tackle that lacks experience and athleticism at the position (Langston) we at least can supplement the athleticism asset. Plus he’s Karl Malone’s illegitimate child, and that’s just icing on the cake!
Basically, I think AVP and Trent are more likely to be on the same page than he was with Turk. Trent will perhaps get more input into the gameplan each week. You can’t deny the raw talent of our OL. We’re gonna find out one way or the other what kind of season we’re in store for on MNF. I say the key is 25-30 touches for Jackson just like week 17 last year. A lot of 2 tight end sets for max protect because we have the skill guys to get open in that look. I’m extremely cautiously optimistic, if that makes any sense.
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