There was a time when Bill Belichick's reputation as one of the best Defensive minds in the NFL was never in question.  But how can this possibly be true today?  

For the past 5 years now Bill Belichick has presided over a lousy, inadequate Defensive team. Despite stockpiling-up more NFL Draft picks to work with than any other team in the NFL (often bypassing talent in the process), he has been totally incapable of bringing their Defense back to a level of respectability -- leaving it with weaker and weaker talent level each and every year, and compounded by baffling personnel decisions, cuts, and signings. And it is now at the point where it has deteriorated today into something of an NFL joke.

Bill Belichick had everything. He was blessed with an NFL owner that freely gave him absolute and total power.  Belichick is the Head Coach. Belichick is the General Manager. Belichick is the Head of Football Operations. Belichick makes all personnel decisions. Belichick operates as the senior Scout. Belichick has total control as to what draft picks are passed over, and which ones are used as trade bait, and what Draft round he acts on, and who he picks.  Belichick has total control over what assistant coaches are either hired or not. And finally, he designs their game plans based on his choice of assembled personnel.

The Defensive personnel that you see on the Football Field today therefore is 100% a consequence of Belichick's Football skill (or lack of it). It reflects all of his judgements and his decisions, and his idea of talent appraisal exclusively.

Despite all the draft picks afforded to him, the Patriots have only one single standout player to be found on their Defense: Vince Wilfork.  Yet year after year after year their secondary has remained in shambles, they have no competent pass rush, and their inability to stop 3rd downs is so bad that Belichick has even resorted to bizarre and self-destructive acts of utter desperation such as:  going for a 4th-down from his own 20 yard-line, fake punts from his own 20 yard-line, ill-prepared onside kicks, wasting timeouts, and bypassing field-goals at critical moments in games.

Clearly we are not seeing 'genuis' in action here.  Instead, we are looking out at the likes of: Antwaun Molden, Phillip Adams, Josh Barrett, Sergio Brown, Devin McCourty, and James Ihedigbo and resting our hopes on the misguided idea that these guys are somehow "good enough" to win The Super Bowl Championship because Belichick put them on the football field.

The Patriots, with Tom Brady's enormous competitive abilities, will always be able to defeat the mediocre teams in the league. But since 2005, Bill Belichick has just squandered away the whole Tom Brady era.  Any team that gives up 470 yards of Offense week after week will not be able to win against the Elite teams. The fact that Belichick has been helpless to do anything about that, despite all the many draft picks over the years is the true measure of his Football operations and coaching ability.  

Recall that Bill Parcells could build an entire Football team from the ground up in just 2-3 years.  Belichick has had 5 years, with draft picks left and right to work with, and has instead watched over a steadily declining team....a team that is today an outright embarrasment on Defense (the average "Fantasy Football" player could come up with a better Defensive roster).

And for the record without Tom Brady as a crutch Bill Belichick's coaching record is as follows:
(with QBs:  Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testeverde, Drew Bledsoe, Matt Cassell):  

Wins      Loses
53            63                  ( Zero Titles, Zero Super Bowls, just 1 playoff win)


[  Bill Belichick's coaching record with Tom Brady:  

Wins      Loses
132          40               (Eight Titles, Three Super Bowls, 14 playoff wins, one 16-0 season)  ]


The Pittsburg game exposed the formula by which any Elite team can now easily defeat the Patriots and make a mockery out of their Defense:  Just throw the ball.  The Patriots Defensive personnel is far too weak a group to ever really stop it (though mediocre teams may sometimes stop themselves).

The blame for this falls solely on Bill Belichick.  He made all the draft decisions, he got rid of Asante Samuel (the last shut down cornerback that they had), he signed the free agent castoffs, and he failed to either retain or replace adequate assistant coaching staff.  Just imagine if they had to go out right now and face Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees this season....

Despite having a one-of-a-kind, Hall-of-Fame legend in Tom Brady, the Patriots are no longer an Elite NFL team anymore.   This is a weak personnel group. The whole Brady-era has been squandered away.  That's on Bill Belichick.

Wow, that was a very interesting read. I forget sometimes just how much control Bill has. 

I think it's safe to say that he prefers to try to figure everything out himself. Kind of like that daylight savings time clock in his car

DerekLarsson2 wrote:

There was a time when Bill Belichick's reputation as one of the best Defensive minds in the NFL was never in question.  But how can this possibly be true today?  

For the past 5 years now Bill Belichick has presided over a lousy, inadequate Defensive team. Despite stockpiling-up more NFL Draft picks to work with than any other team in the NFL (often bypassing talent in the process), he has been totally incapable of bringing their Defense back to a level of respectability -- leaving it with weaker and weaker talent level each and every year, and compounded by baffling personnel decisions, cuts, and signings. And it is now at the point where it has deteriorated today into something of an NFL joke.

Bill Belichick had everything. He was blessed with an NFL owner that freely gave him absolute and total power.  Belichick is the Head Coach. Belichick is the General Manager. Belichick is the Head of Football Operations. Belichick makes all personnel decisions. Belichick operates as the senior Scout. Belichick has total control as to what draft picks are passed over, and which ones are used as trade bait, and what Draft round he acts on, and who he picks.  Belichick has total control over what assistant coaches are either hired or not. And, finally, he designs their game plans based on his free choice of assembled personnel.

The Defensive personnel that you see on the Football Field today therefore is 100% a consequence of Belichick's Football skill (or lack of it). It reflects all of his judgements and his decisions, and his idea of talent appraisal exclusively.

Despite all the draft picks afforded to him, the Patriots have only one single standout player to be found on their Defense: Vince Wilfork.  Yet year after year after year their secondary has remained in shambles, they have no competent pass rush, and their inability to stop 3rd downs is so bad that even Belichick has resorted to bizarre and self-destructive acts of utter desperation such as:  going for a 4th-down from his own 20 yard-line, fake punts from his own 20 yard-line, ill-prepared onside kicks, wasting timeouts, and bypassing field-goals at critical moments in games.

Clearly we are not seeing 'genuis' in action here.  Instead, we are looking out at the likes of: Antwaun Molden, Phillip Adams, Josh Barrett, Sergio Brown, Devin McCourty, and James Ihedigbo and resting our hopes on the misguided idea that these guys are somehow "good enough" to win The Super Bowl Championship because Belichick put them on the football field. 

The Patriots, with Tom Brady's enormous abilities will always be able to defeat the mediocre teams in the league. But since 2005, Bill Belichick has just squandered away the Tom Brady era.  Any team that gives up 470 yards of Offense week after week will not be able to win against the Elite teams. The fact that Belichick has been helpless to do anything about that, despite all the many draft picks over the years is the true measure of his Football operations and coaching ability.  

Recall that Bill Parcells could build an entire Football team from the ground up in just 2-3 years.  Belichick has had 5 years, with draft picks left and right to work with, and has instead watched over a steadily declining team....a team that is today an outright embarrasment on Defense. 

And for the record Bill Belichick's coaching record without Tom Brady as a crutch is as follows:
(with QBs:  Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testeverde, Drew Bledsoe, Matt Cassell):  

Wins      Loses
53            63                  ( Zero Titles, Zero Super Bowls, just 1 playoff win)


[  Bill Belichick's coaching record with Tom Brady:  

Wins      Loses
132          40               (Eight Titles, Three Super Bowls, 14 playoff wins, one 16-0 season)  ]


The Pittsburg game exposed the formula by which any Elite team can now easily defeat the Patriots and make a mockery out of their Defense:  Just throw the ball.  The Patriots Defensive personnel is far too weak a group to ever really stop it (though mediocre teams may sometimes stop themselves).

The blame for this falls solely on Bill Belichick.  He made all the draft decisions, he got rid of Asante Samuel (the last shut down cornerback that they had), he signed the free agent castoffs, and he failed to either retain or replace adequate assistant coaching staff.  Just imagine if they had to go out right now and face Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees this season....

Despite having a one-of-a-kind, Hall-of-Fame legend in Tom Brady, The Patriots are no longer an Elite NFL team anymore.   This is a weak personnel group. The Brady-era has been squandered away.  That's on Bill Belichick.




I agree with everything here but the 2nd to last statement really is the main problem.  Hopefully the media will start to pick up on this and the fans as well.  Tom Brady will never be the best QB evahhhh unless he wins his 4th title.  His idol will be.

To me, when all is said and done, provided they dont do something personel wise, and while we can be greatful for the 3 titles etc....I will always say "what if".

The clock is ticking on the Brady era..................... 

3rdngoal wrote: It's a second loss. If they were 7-0 but still had a last place defense would we be talking about this? The drafting has been suspect but mostly I think the strategy of trading down, not necessarily who they picked since it's about 50-50 anyway that the player is worth where they are picked.

I think the rookie wage scale fixes a bunch of this for us this year. BB won't have to worry about what a first rounder, second rounder might want...they get what they are slotted to get (with some wiggle).

BB answers to one person, RK. It doesn't matter how much we as fans gripe or criticize, if RK thinks BB is making enough profit for him and is putting out a winning team then RK is likely happy. After all it is a business and profit is first and foremost. If fans are unhappy the only thing taht can be done is to stop watching/going to games, buying paraphenalia etc. Just like the lockout. We can talk about it all we want but that just means we are engaged/invested with the team.

Does BB need coordinators? Probably. Could he use a GM? Maybe. Does his draft strategy need fixing? Yes. Is his defensive execution his fault or the players? Probably more the latter.

But if your boss told you you can run the business, would you put people into positions with the ability to countermine your authority?

I kind of agree, but I see the problem sitting higher up than personnel moves. 

First, consider the coaching staff during those SB years. Weiss, Crennel ... hell, Mangina was DB coach and that was a hell of a DB group as you recall. Rob Ryan was an assistant coach too.

Next, consider how players who became stars in NE did zilcho any place else. The coaching and the system had a dramatic effect on a player's performance. A$ante is about the only ex-Pat to stay anywhere close to his prior performance level - and that's because he freelances. Tate is also doing OK - as a KR - solo skill.

What made this team so lethal during the SB years was their ability to change and adapt and overcome. The mental toughness aspect has been more or less dealt with. The 2011 team doesn't throw games away in the 4th like in 2010 and 2009. 

But they don't make in-game adjustments, they don't game plan anywhere near as well as they used to, they are frequently emotionally unprepared (coming out flat), and they are frequently out-coached. Even BB admits it. When they were winning SB's, they were never out-coached. Ever.

And *that* is 10,000% BB's and RK's fault. Because even if BB is too stubborn to hire outside the organization, RK has to know better.

I watched that KC-SD game and the KC D was all over Rivers. Who's the DC? Romeo Crennel. And I don't think they have better players on D than the Pats either - but they get after it in a way I don't see from the Pats anymore - not since those first 2 pre-season games, anyway.

I just don't think the players this team has on D are *this* bad. Could they have drafted a stud OLB instead of Dowling, sure. But maybe they should be playing Cunningham (and Price) instead of having them sit and watch too. That is, maybe they drafted OK but are making other decisions which undermine that.

The mess with the secondary is an example of screwing up personnel *and* coaching. Moving Patricia to coach safeties made no sense - especially when you gut the position and replace everyone but Chung with new or PS guys. Dumping Bodden the same day you put Downling on IR is moronic. I don't think McCourty is as bad as he's been playing - BB is throwing too much uncertainty into that unit. And that's coaching. I actually think Molden will work out better than people expect - read up on him - he's not bad.

So, yeah, I blame BB for this mess but I don't think the drafting is as bad as people make out.

3rdngoal wrote: Personally I would consider Mayo a playmaker. McCourty - the jury is still out. Chung as well still has some growing to do as does Spikes. So many people want Clay Matthews or Suh production, not quality starters.

I do agree that this year the focus should be on quality over quantity but as I said I think the addition of the rookie wage scale will help with that. I think the way to do it is go in thinking about the top 6 picks and then shuffle all the lower picks out to move the top 6 picks up. Then pick up a the best players available, hopefully 4 of them being a Safety, LB, Corner and WR.

BB should get alot of blame.I am surprise they arent trying to get Bodden back after he was released.Its one thing to be bad, its another to be horrific and embarrasing.This defense is embarrasing for a guy like Belichick.

dominicanthug wrote:

BB should get alot of blame.I am surprise they arent trying to get Bodden back after he was released.Its one thing to be bad, its another to be horrific and embarrasing.This defense is embarrasing for a guy like Belichick.

The defense had been deteriorating since the veterans of 2001-04 got old and LT (when he was on the Chargers) ran all over us during a playoff game that they should have won.  The defense wasn’t great during the undefeated season and then that defense retired or weren’t resigned/traded (see Samuel, Vrabel) and now we have a really young defense where Wilfork and Mayo are the veterans. 

The Brady stat is a bit misleading since we’ve been leaning on him being a Peyton Manning type of QB since 2007.  When we won, he was a mistake free, control the clock player with a fantastic defense which is probably the reason why Peyton Manning doesn’t have more rings today.  I know that if Brady had an average defense back then, he would not have won the Super Bowls. 

I really have no idea why BB is cutting defensive backs when our defense stinks and why we didn’t resign Samuel – a proven Patriot player – and decided to go after Adalius Thomas for big bucks that same off-season.  I do know that with his early defensive success, it was impossible for him to resign his players as they became stars.  I know that it was equally impossible for him to keep his coordinators.  I know that we looked lousy last week and if our offense continues to rely on our defense next week, I’ll be very concerned.  For now, we’re 5-2.  As long as we make the playoffs and fix that problem, I’ll be happy.  For the past 2 years Rex Ryan’s job has been on the line for “not making the playoffs” only to see him make the playoffs and get to the AFC Championship game – as long as we get to the playoffs and fix our playoff drought of 2 years (not counting our 11-5 Matt Cassel season, which I think is also a testament to BB), I’ll be happy.  I wasn’t taking consolation in the fact that we looked awesome in the regular season after the Jets knocked us out of the playoffs.

I think the biggest problem here is an overall trend of how we recently seem to handle teams like the Ravens, Steelers and Jets in the last few years when they’re able get pressure through and keep the possessions low while controlling the clock – Brady looks rattled and the rest of our team looks frustrated.  Our defense wasn’t great, but we’re designed to win through our offense right now.  When our offense doesn’t perform well due to constant pressure on Brady, we don’t have any answers as a team…the Ravens did it 2 seasons ago, the Jets did it last season and the Steelers did it last Sunday (the Cowboys game was close but Brady had time and was standing very tall on that last drive).  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lions are another one of these teams that we have trouble with.  I fully expect us to “prove ourselves” through the remainder of the regular season (unless the Jets are for real this season) because I’m more concerned about the Ravens than I am the Buffalo Bills.  When Brady has time, we win…unfortunately those aren’t the teams that we’ll meet in the playoffs. 

jstoned wrote: At least the Andre Carter was a good move.

Dukiesrock25 wrote: When BB had guys like Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law, Richard Seymour, Ted Johnson, Asante Samuel, Ted Washington, Mike Vrabel, etc and romeo crennel as there defensive coordinator, this was an elite defense. Ever since Crennel has left, this defense as been slight above average some years and like these like 3 years, downright awful. 

I completely agree with this and here is some evidence that he should not be the player/personal guy on this team.

Let's go with some of the draft picks on the defensive side of the ball in rounds 1-3 since the Patriots last Superbowl. 

2005: None

Ellis Hobbs- 3rd round (Gave you some good stuff on special teams and had his moments as a corner, but nothing special. Sorta what you would expect from a 3rd round pick.

2006: None. Though it was one of if not the worst draft in Patriots history.

2007: Brandon Merriweather- First round ( Average but where he was taken he is a bust) Again another horrendous draft.

2008: Jerod Mayo- top 10 pick (Rookie of the year and an elite player at his position) This was a home run.

Terrance Wealthy- 2nd round pick  Absolutely nothing!!!  Was cut his 2nd year.

Shawn Crable- 3rd round pick; Couldn't get on the field and made very little impact when he did.

2009: The draft that will always be remember that they pasted over Clay Matthews

2nd round- Darius Butler (Had an okay rookie year but was benched in his 2nd year and didn't make the team this year. BUST


Rod Brace- 2nd round;  Showed a little last year then hasn't been seen again. Really headed down the road of being a dud. 

Patrick Chung- 2nd round- Hard Hitter and a guy who has contributed on special teams, but can't cover anyone.  Would say this isn't a bust but not a hit either.

Can't really judge 2010 yet or 2011, but it appears with Spikes and Mccourty they did good there, not so much with Cunningham.

This isn't to mention guys like on offense like: Kevin O'Connel, Laurence Maroney, Chad Jackson, David Thomas, etc...  On offense...

He had some good picks on offense in: Gronk, Aron Hernandez, Logan Mankins, Vollmer, and looking like thus far Nate Solder.


Now onto the Free Agents: 

Here are some of the free agents and trades that have been made on the defensive side of the ball: Duane Starks (Awful), Leigh Bodden (Decent 2009 season), Shawn Springs (Benched), Monty Beisel (Awful) Chad Brown (made me wanna puke) so on and so on...

So to put it nicely. This has been a completely and utter train wreck on defense from really 2005 on in judging talent. Time for a new change there and time for a good defensive coordinator to come in and help right this ship.

dominicanthug wrote: For those that are optimistic, what makes u think they gonna turn it around?This has been an on going issue for the last 3 years or more.This defense has been terrible throughout.Also this team needs a wr that can stretch the field vertically.Ochostinko has been a huge bust!

http://www.bostonherald.com/sp...p;position=also

Well, it does look like BB is drastically changing his defensive scheme.  He either (1) thinks that he doesn’t have the talent to have a more aggressive defensive plan or (2) thinks that his new way works better with our offense or his ideas for our team moving forward. 

I’m not optimistic about the playoffs if the defense doesn’t change.  I think the point that the posters above are making about the Packers is around the fact that people can overreact by putting too much emphasis in a current situation and that a team can improve greatly in a short period of time (see Packers, 49ers and Lions).   That’s where I stand – we’re 5-2, BB for whatever reason decided to gut our SB defences and play soft gameplay right now.  If there are improvements that he can see in his defense during practice, I don’t expect him to listen to media criticism. 

I will say that his scheme’s used to work w/ Troy Brown as the nickel back so I’m not sure why this young defense is moving along so slowly.  Again, I’m not blindly optimistic but I do want to let the season play out (going through both highs and lows) before I’m ready to call for his head. 

dokgonzo wrote: What makes me think they'll get it together? Well, for starters they've done it before. Next, the talent on this team isn't bad. They've got good players. Maybe not as good as past years, but certainly not dregs. Even some of the "scrap heap" guys like Moldin could turn out to be decent.

Sadly, the players are going to have to excel in order to compensate for the coaching deficiencies. They're going to have to make the plays and make Plan A work because there is no Plan B.

The players need to go into Bunker Mode. War time. Albert needs to become a force and Ocho needs to get out of frigging starbucks and run a decent route. Or get out of town already.

BB needs to give Price and Vereen and Cunningham a chance. The team needs their speed. And BB needs to pick a defense for the rest of the season and stick with it.

jetkwondo wrote: As much as you guys are complaining about your D I think the chart in this article reveals a little something about the predictability of  your O.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/bl...urn=nfl-wp10958

I see the writer's point but 1 stat with a sample size of 6 games obviously doesn’t take everything into account (I have the biggest issue w/ the 1 stat).  Brady had a great average against the Bills but threw 4 interceptions and lost in a shootout type of game.  I think that 11 of us on this board picked at random playing ironman fb could beat Miami.  The stat against the Jets doesn’t take into account the numerous runs at the end of the game where the Pats were happy to get 4 yards.  Pittsburgh just dominated the Pats, so that stat is accurate – although it ignores the fact that the Patriots defense played bend but don’t break (while breaking) and Pitt was able to keep the Patriot possessions very low…while that doesn’t change the problem at hand, a lot of that is on the D.

dokgonzo wrote: Lets see how they respond these next two weeks. They played like crap against PIT and they know it.