Title hopes hinge on better defense
By Maureen Mullen / USA Today Sports Special Edition
Returns by injured players, addition of Revis bode well
Foxborough, Mass. – To say the Patriots defense struggled last season would be charitable.
The 5,969 total yards they allowed, an average of 373.1 yards a games, was better than only six other teams.
The defense was 18th in the league in pass defense (239 yards per game, a total of 3,824 yards).
The 2, 145 rushing yards they allowed (134 a game) ranked them ahead of only the Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears. The total is well above the 1,630 they allowed in 2012, when they were ninth in the league. It is also significantly more than the 1,713 they averaged in the Bill Belichick era prior to that (2000-2012) and more than any season in that time other than 2002, when they allowed 2,198.
But it really was not a surprise.
After finishing fourth in the league in 2007 with 4,613 total yards and 274 points allowed, the Patriots’ rankings in those categories has been in steady slippage mode – from 10th the following year to a low of 31st in 2011, allowing 6,577 total yards, their most under Belichick. Their best ranking in the last four seasons was 25th in 2012 when they allowed a total of 5,972 yards.
They trend continued last postseason in the AFC Championship Game loss to the Denver Broncos, as they allowed 507 yards, the most in Belichick’s tenure. Denver scored on six consecutive possessions.
The defense was rocked by injuries last year, including season-ending ones to several significant players.
Vince Wilfork appeared in just four games before tearing his right Achilles. Since being drafted by the Patriots in the first round in 2004, he had missed just six games before last season, playing in every game over the previous three seasons. In eight of his 10 seasons, the Patriots defense has finished in the top 10 in the league in points allowed.
Tommy Kelly appeared in just five games in his first season in New England before suffering a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament. It was the first season he had missed time since 2007 when he was with the Oakland Raiders.
Jerod Mayo started the first six games of the season before tearing a chest muscle and having surgery. He had missed just five games before that since being drafted in the first round (10th overall) in 2008. The Patriots estimate he was on pace to make 176 tackles before being placed on injured reserve.
Brandon Spikes, who left for the Buffalo Bills in free agency, was placed on injured reserve before the first playoff game.
Aqib Talib, who left for Denver in free agency, missed three games in the regular season and then hurt his knee in the AFC Championship Game early in the second quarter, ending his time in New England.
The Patriots are optimistic the returning players are healthy and ready to contribute again. Wilfork says he has recovered, and after sometimes-contentious negotiations he is back in the Patriots fold. Wilfork could be as important to the defense as quarterback Tom Brady is to the offense.
They area also encouraged by the development of young players such as Jamie Collins, Chandler Jones, and Dont’a Hightower. Their play was promising last year, which, coupled with the returns of Wilfork, Mayo, and Kelly gives the Patriots reason to think they have a solid unit.
But Belichick, the de facto general manager, decided this offseason he would do something aggressive with his defense. He made a statement with the acquisition of cornerback Darrelle Revis, widely acknowledged as the best corner in the league, as a free agent.
The Patriots have not had a top shutdown cornerback for several years, since they let Ty Law go after the 2004 season. Asante Samuel, another talented cornerback, left for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency after the 2007 season.
The Patriots have not won a Super Bowl since.
MAKING BOLD MOVES
Because of their pass defense issues, the Patriots have played soft zones that have resulted in lots of completions and yardage allowed and put pressure on the front seven.
As a result, there has been pressure on Brady and the offense to roll up points.
Bringing in Revis – for the kind of money New England doesn’t usually spend (reported in the news media to be 1 year at $12 million) – signifies the Patriots recognize the problem.
With fellow free agent acquisition Brandon Browner on the other side (once he serves his four-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy), the defense should finally be tighter.
“When you make a mistake, they make you pay, and I think that’s the mark of a really good corner,” Brady said of the pair. “As a quarterback, you’re always trying to find the weak link in the defense, and neither of those guys are weak links.”
A better defense should allow the front seven to attempt more blitzes and put more pressure on the quarterback.
Revis and Browner were just two of the offseason additions to the defense.
The Patriots used their first pick in the draft (29th overall) to take defensive tackle Dominique Easley out of Florida. And while Easley suffered two anterior cruciate ligament injuries in a span of less than two years in college, the Patriots are confident he will be healthy.
With so many newcomers on defense, it could take time for the unit to jell. But that possibility doesn’t seem to worry the Patriots.
“We’re having fun. We’re learning a lot, but most of all we’re doing our job and having fun,” said Hightower, entering his third season.
“Being on defense, it’s a lot more fun when you can go out there and have fun instead of worrying about making checks and stuff…(we) have had the experience. Guys can pick it up a lot faster; it makes it a lot of fun.”
Revis was unassuming when asked how good he thought the Patriots defense could be this season.
“I can’t put a prediction right now. We’re in the beginning stages,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do. The good thing about it, we’ve still got time to get better.
“That’s what we’re trying to focus on – getting better every day. When the preseason comes and all of that the season comes, I think we’ll be ready to go.”
Others, though, have more lofty goals.
“The sky’s the limit,” said defensive end Rob Ninkovich. “But we really just have to put in the work. It’s all about putting it in [during the offseason], so you can reap the rewards later.”
MORE LIKE SEAHAWKS
Compared to those of past years, this defense should be younger and quicker.
The Seattle Seahawks have set the new defensive standard, and this defense should be much closer to that blueprint – aggressive, hard-hitting, mobile – than the ones the Pats have put on the field recently.
“We’re going to be as good as we want to be,” Wilfork said. “But we have to put the work in. We have to put the time in. We have new faces offensively and defensively, coaching staff. Every team is going thru changes, but I like where we’re at. It’s a starting point for us. Obviously, it’s got to get better.
“But it’s just a foundation we got to lay in OTAs and minicamp and stuff…We’re so far away from where we need to be, but I know we’re capable of getting there.
“It’s going to take some time. It’s going to take some hard work. It’s going to take dedication from all these guys, and I think the guys we have have what it takes to get there. So I’m pretty excited.”
