New England Patriots on Paper: The Spirit of '76

The New England Patriots are experiencing a renaissance.

As are their fans, though this brief period of awakening conjures a time far earlier than most fans care to remember - the glass half-full crowd fondly reminiscing the 2004 championship team with Corey Dillon grinding out yards and Ty Law shutting down the opposition's top receiving target...

Blount's running style conjures memories of the 1970's Patriots' teams

...while the glass half empty people recall with horror the 2006 squad that went 12-4 after losing their top receiving talent in the offseason and making due with castoffs, then losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Title game despite carrying a 21-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

And while the Patriots did lose their top receiving talent from last season, and have a grinding running game that has gained traction the last couple of weeks of the season, and also have a shutdown corner that can take away the opposition's top receiving talent, the 2013 edition of the New England Patriots are unique.

Unique in it's ability to morph into whatever they need to be to succeed.

In the first quarter of the season, the Patriots posted a 4-0 start - albeit perhaps the ugliest undefeated start in NFL history, as the offense struggled to break in the new group of pass catchers and the coaching staff struggling to identify what a comfortable balance looked like, falling back on a stout, deep defense that kept the opposition in check just enough for the offense to pull out the win...

...the second quarter a quagmire of pain, veteran starters on both sides of the ball dropping like flies, the offense still struggling for an identity, losing for the first time on the season, first to the Cincinnati Bengals in monsoonal rains and then to the rival New York Jets in overtime - only a miraculous last-second win over the New Orleans Saints keeping them from a three-game losing streak.

The win over the Saints giving pattern to the third quarter of the season, a protracted "feeling out" period that saw a streak of improbable comebacks from impossible deficits following a blowout of Pittsburgh and a disputed loss to the Panthers...

...leading into the final quarter of the season, where an identity finally formed into a winning combination - offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels finally accepting the fact that the Patriots were a smashmouth, physical running team whose passing game fed off of the grinding play action.

And that's where they sit now - a team that has discovered it's identity in it's ability to control the line of scrimmage by running the ball on offense and stopping the run on defense - exactly the old school approach that makes this team different from any other Patriots' team since the franchise's first taste of success in the mid-to-late 1970's...

...the Fairbanks' teams, the teams that ran the ball 65% of the time, the teams that took pleasure in ramming the ball down the opposing defense's collective throat - a style that lacks flash but is full of substance, perhaps unappealing to new-age fans but palate-pleasing to the old school crowd.

Can the Patriots win a title with such an approach?  Statistics tell us that no one can run the entire playoff gauntlet being that run-heavy, but given that this Saturday's opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, rank 25th in the NFL against the run while ranking 13th against the pass, New England could get to the AFC Championship game riding the legs of LeGarrette Blount and Stevan Ridley...

...and to advance to the Super Bowl in that manner might not be that difficult either, provided the running game opens up the play action effectively - and given that the big game will in all likelihood be played in some sort of adverse weather conditions where violent ground acquisition is key, the power running could very well carry the New England offense to the promised land.

In the end, like it or not, the New England Patriots have carved out an identity of a power-running, play action offense with a complimentary opportunistic defense that should have their secondary healthy and intact and a refocused front seven that is much better against the run than their ranking of 30th in the league would have you believe.

Boring to some, but for those that got our indoctrination to the game of professional football by watching the likes of Sam Canningham, Andy Johnson and Don Calhoun running behind John Hannah, Leon Gray and Dr. Bill Lenkatis, nothing could be more beautiful...

New England Patriots on Paper: Direction of Linbacker corps is clear

It's Dont'a Hightower's time.

All season, the physical freak of nature has been taking his lumps just as anyone who is learning on the fly would - and now that the middle of the defense has been deprived of downhill run-stuffer Brandon Spikes for -well - at least the rest of the season and maybe forever, it's time for the sophomore linebacker to make this defense his.

And he can do just that by being what he is.

Humbly, the second year linebacker out of Alabama admitted to trying to do too much to compensate for the loss of weak side linebacker Jerod Mayo when the defensive captain went down for the season with a torn pectoral muscle in mid-October, putting himself in an awkward position - but he needn't beat himself up over it, because he's been in an awkward spot since arriving in Foxboro.

His struggles are well documented - the low point of his season a benching in the Patriots' miraculous come-from-behind win over the Broncos - so there's really no reason to revisit them, rather, if the defense is going to fulfill it's obligation to help this team win a title, it's time to stop pointing the finger at Hightower and utilize his talents in an appropriate manner.

Hightower is a middle linebacker.  He is a highly intelligent consummate professional who should be leading this defense - and while he already wears the green dot and calls the plays on defense, the one thing that needed to happen for him to take the next step in the progression was to fill the role he is destined to play.

The Patriots' placed Spikes on the injured reserved list this week, ending his season of pain - and while it is being speculated that 4th year linebacker Dane Fletcher is the favorite to fill Spikes' electric shoes, the job should go to the man who was tabbed by just about every draftnik in existence as a natural in the box...

...the man that Sports Illustrated tabbed as a "dominant run-defending linebacker who could play in the middle of a conventional defense or a 3-4 alignment." and the same man that the draft experts at NFL.com boasted "has looked the part of a starting middle linebacker in the NFL - Hightower can do many of the same things that Oakland's Rolando McClain or New England's Brandon Spikes did working as the physical inside presence of a defense."

And now, Spikes is gone.  It's Hightower's time.

Spikes was the emotional leader of the defense - the vocal, trash-talking, purely energizing spazoid with a style that can only be properly referred to as that of Adam Sandler's on-the-field character in the film The Waterboy - a two down force that came out on obvious passing downs.  Hightower can be better.

The middle linebacker position is commonly referred to as the Quarterback of the defense, and not only is the Alabama product intelligent enough with the natural leadership qualities for the position, but the "incredible athleticism for a man his size" that we always hear when someone is speaking of Hightower becomes explosive and violent within a defined box.

He can't cover receivers one-on-one, is completely out of place chasing them down sideline-to-sideline and struggles setting the edge from ballcarriers. He doesn't possess a quick backpedal but he can sure as hell patrol the middle of the field in a zone and knock the chocolate out of receivers trying to cross underneath the coverage.

Fletcher is decent in coverage and rookie Jamie Collins is flashing more and more ability as an edge defender every week.  Hightower needs to be in the middle.  The position begs for his combination of skill, awareness, read-and-react discipline and overall aptitude.

Spikes is gone, most likely never to return - and despite his infectious energy and knack for blowing up plays in the backfield, the Patriots aren't going to pay him what he's going to be able to get as a two-down linebacker elsewhere.  Hightower is an upgrade, and if the Patriots use him for what he is, they could have their middle linebacker of the future right now, in the present.

"I just need to do my job," Hightower said on Tuesday. "I don't need to make a tremendous catch, I just need to do my job - make sure everybody's lined up, make sure everybody's got the right communication. After that, playmakers will make plays."

Sounds like he's ready.  Time to give him the job.

http://www.nepatriotslife.com/2014/01/new-england-patriots-on-paper-direction.html

New England Patriots on Paper: Talib needs to pick on someone his own size

Indianapolis Colts' wide receiver TY Hilton is all the rage.

And why not?  After all, he and quarterback Andrew Luck torched the Kansas City Chiefs secondary for 224 yards in the Colts' improbable 45-44 come-from-behind victory in last weekend's Wild Card round playoff game, and his story is as cute and as story book quality as you could want...

The Patriots want to make sure Hilton doesn't burn them like this again

...his 2013 season numbers suggesting that he is the go-to guy when Luck and the Colts need a big play - but for all of the hype regarding his deep 4.34 speed, the munchkin-sized second-year pass catcher earns his bones underneath the coverage, where his quickness makes him a more dangerous after-the-catch play maker.

Ever since veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne went down with a torn ACL in the Colts' week 7 win over the previously undefeated Denver Broncos, Hilton has more than picked up the slack as his 64 catches for 895 yards will attest - but a closer look at those numbers reveal a bizarre truth.

Hilton has been targeted deep 21 times in 10 games since Wayne went down for the season, latching onto 13 of those for 408 yards and a stupid-good 31 yards per reception, but most of that damage came in three games, a week 8 win over Houston, the week 9 loss to St. Louis and last Saturday's win over the Chiefs - otherwise, he is a merely spectacular six catches for 146 yards, for a 24 yards per catch average.

As an underneath or possession receiver, he is mortal, catching 56 of 80 targets for 487 yards, an average of 8.6 yards per reception.

In layman's terms, the Colts lull a defense to sleep with a dink-and-dunk approach, then strike when they sense the time is right to get loose behind the secondary, which happens a couple of times a game for mad yardage - and the numbers have increased as the stage has gotten bigger.

That said, how do the Patriots defend him?

The answer is as simple as sticking with what has worked for the Patriots over the second half of the season, by using multiple coverage options and personnel, mostly with either Kyle Arrington or Logan Ryan jamming him at the line to prevent his release, with a safety shadow over the top.

Because, let's face it, the kid can run - and if it came down to a foot race deep down the field, New England has no one that can stay with him on the corners, but both Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon have good centerfield speed and awareness.

The Colts know this as well, and will try to open things up not only for Hilton, but also for their other, less-heralded weapons, including tight end Coby Fleener and undrafted free-agent rookie receiver Da'Rick Rogers.

Both are big intermediate targets with sticky fingers - Rogers at 6' 3" and 210 pounds has a vertical leap of nearly 40" with 4.54 speed, not a burner by any stretch of the imagination but his size and leaping ability make him a dangerous possession target.  In five games played, Rogers has caught 14 balls for 192 yards and two touchdowns...

...but Fleener's numbers are even more impressive.  Standing 6' 6" and weighing in at a svelte 250 pounds, Fleener is bigger and faster than Rogers, though just barely at 4.52 in the 40 - his 52 receptions for 608 yards good for nearly 12 yards per reception and four scores.

The Colts also use their running backs extensively in the passing game, comparable to what the Patriots faced in Atlanta early in the season, Donald Brown and Trent Richardson accounting 55 catches for nearly 500 yards - Brown no slouch in the running game either, averaging 5.3 yards per carry in his limited opportunities.

The Colts don't run the ball as much as most other teams, but get good production when they do - all of this painting a picture that sees the Patriots having to be stout against the run in the middle, containing Luck in the pocket and mugging the Colts' receivers coming off the line of scrimmage, with shutdown corner Aqib Talib shutting down the left side rather than sticking with one receiver and Alfonzo Dennard competing on the other side...

...Arrington and Ryan keeping Hilton close and not giving him free release into the pattern while the outside corners fight with Fleener and Rogers - and a combination of linebackers and safeties keeping tabs on the backs curling out into the pattern and in the flat for screens.

It goes to figure that Luck will look deep a couple of times, so the Patriots just need to make sure that they are diligent in making sure to use the five-yard cushion that the rules allow for defensive backs to contact with receivers - effectively mugging them and throwing off the timing of their routes.

In the end, Hilton's speed is just too much to allow him free release, and he's too shifty to count on a corner dealing with him out on an island as New England found out last year when ,as a rookie, Hilton had a breakout game against the Patriots by catching six balls on nine targets for 100 yards, beating Talib easily on a 43 yard scoring strike in the process.

But the Patriots have learned a thing or two since then and, being as coach Bill Belichick loathes error-repeating, one can be certain that the same mistakes will not be made again.

Belichick's trust in himself trumps team's youthful inexperience

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;"

 Most sports reporting involves some manner of sermonizing, so why avoid it?

The language contained in the Bible can be cryptic at times - open to interpretation, as it were - but that little ditty from the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Philippians can be integrated into everyone's life at one point or another, no matter the circumstance, no matter your religious affiliation, no matter what side of the tracks you come from...

...it actually has absolutely nothing to do religion - rather - it is a lesson to man that worry is a symptom of distrust, no matter the application.

Indeed.  Lord knows that Boston sports fans have been at the doorstep of Nirvana many times, only to have the doormat pulled out from beneath them - so much so that they can almost be excused for their worry and doubt - the painful past detailed by the media, ad nauseum, to the point that their incessant hand-wringing and superstitious routines cease only when the trophy is in hand.

And many of the people who work as scribes for the local rags have used this well-worn distrust to their advantage for years, utilizing the medium as a personal pulpit for which to spread their own gospel - but most times it is a gospel of fear, planting seeds of doubt and of distrust...

...so when a question was posed to New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick regarding the relative inexperience of his crew going into the playoffs - just like a pastor will do with his flock, Belichick worked to dispel any thought that the youth of the team brings any anxiety along with it.

"I really think at this point in the season after 16 regular season games that all of our players, even our young ones, should be pretty well acclimated to what NFL football is about." Belichick said, sticking to his own axiom that, after a full regular season, rookies are not rookies any longer.

The Patriots' 53-man roster is the youngest in Belichick's tenure in New England, with a full third of his roster made up of rookies - and if you add in the players who are in their sophomore years with the club and those who came to the Patriots from other teams who have not experienced the playoffs before, Belichick and his staff are dealing with the fact that half of their roster has very limited big game experience...

...something that Belichick feels is something that works it's way out of the picture during the grind of the regular season.

"Really your roster is constantly evolving, even if it isn't evolving it's evolving because your younger players as they spend more time on the roster and their role becomes let's just say bigger" Belichick continued, "You've been more battle tested. You've been through more weeks of preparation."

"You've been through more real games, regular season games. You've been through more whatever ups and downs, whatever challenges your team faces over that period of time, You get a better feel for individually and collectively they'll deal with those."

Just as the media's questions feed into the public's collective anxiety regarding the playoffs - well founded as the trepidation may be with the number of debilitating injuries to key starters - the mercurial coach has a built-in foundation of hand-picked depth to fall back on, and those players wouldn't be on the roster if Belichick didn't trust they could do the job.

He built the roster - as he always does - with the idea that the team will be playing it's best football in December and into the post-season, and though no one could have foreseen the arcane circumstances that injury has brought about on the depth chart, there is a reason why Belichick stayed the course with the players he started the season with...

...a reason that he stuck with his rookie receivers when all those around him were screaming for him to bring in some veterans to give quarterback Tom Brady more consistent targets; a reason he stuck with his youth movement on defense, even when his incumbents were falling like flies:  Bill Belichick trusts himself.

Rarely has there been a man more confident in his own processes that he refuses to waver from them - some call it arrogance, some call it stubbornness and still others call it outright stupidity, but one thing that can't be questioned is his success rate - and for that Belichick doesn't demand our trust, doesn't even care what anyone thinks.

Bill Belichick trusts his system, trusts the people that he brings in to carry out his philosophy and trusts the players that he puts on the field to execute that philosophy and to create his final product - something that is evident when he speaks of the respect he has for any potential opponent, and how he prepares his people to engage them in battle.

"Our next opponent will be as good as any team we've faced all year. We'll have to be at our best. I think that's the key thing about the playoffs." Belichick said, "We just have to recognize how good we have to perform, prepare and be ready for everything, how critical every play is because the level of competition is just heightened at this time of year, given the quality of the opponents."

Given the quality of the team that Belichick has assembled, given his trust in them - regardless of their level of experience - and the trust he has in his own processes, we should be anxious for nothing because this team has earned our trust.

 http://www.nepatriotslife.com/2014/01/belichicks-trust-in-himself-trumps.html

Legal Tampering: Day 1 anaysis with a Patriots' bent

Breaking News: Every free agent in the NFL is rumored to be coming to the New England Patriots.

That about covers it.

Rumor and speculation are all we're allowed, though.  The NFL (No Fun while Legal tampering) issued a memorandum to all NFL teams on Friday that pretty much discouraged communications, subject to fines for violation, to the point that rumor and speculation is all there is:

PP-28-13
TO: General Managers
Head Coaches
Player Personnel Directors
FROM: Commissioner Goodell
DATE: March 8, 2013

SUBJECT: Impermissible Activity During the Three-day Negotiating Period for Unrestricted Free Agents

Clubs were advised in PP-26-13 that during the three-day negotiating period for prospective Unrestricted Free Agents, they are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with, the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2012 Player Contracts at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 12, and that no contract can be executed with a new club until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 12.

Clubs are further advised that prior to the beginning of the new League Year it is impermissible for a club to enter into an agreement of any kind, express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent or understandings of any kind concerning the terms or conditions of employment offered to, or to be offered to, any prospective Unrestricted Free Agent for inclusion in a Player Contract after the start of the new League Year.

Any announcement of an agreement or an agreement in principle by a club or another party, including, but not limited to, a certified agent, player, or media organization may subject the club to a tampering investigation.

Please contact the Player Personnel department if you have any questions

Indeed, contact the Player Personnel Department, and they'll explain things to you in terms that even Mel Kiper understands:

This is like going to test drive cars in anticipation for purchasing one on Tuesday - except all you're allowed to do is talk to the salesman, but nobody can know that you did, no one can see you do it and it's probably best to not even mention what you were out doing when you get home.

And so much for Legal Tampering for the fans.  The teams are prohibited to say anything about anyone, so why even pay attention?

But stories leak, and never mind the reasons - maybe an agent leaks that a couple of teams are interested in his client, might make mention of numbers, making sure that the source understands his responsibility to the contact for complete discretion...

...or perhaps a person "with intimate knowledge" of a team's personnel office generate some excitement on behalf of the team, something that may have a direct impact on solving a case of dark ambiguity on the part of a free agent of their own - you know, helping him make up his mind if he wants to play nice or kick rocks.

And speaking of kicking rocks, it appears that Anquan Boldin, the tough as nails, Venus ball trap of a receiver currently of the Baltimore Ravens is not going to accept the team's offer to reduce his salary, which is bound to cause some hard feelings between he and the club.

Why?  He stated just a few weeks back that he was a Raven and always will be.  Said he would retire before playing for another team...and the Ravens are putting him in a position to have to put up or shut up - and since he's going to be left with no choice, perhaps he'll be looking to go to a team that could help him gain some measure of satisfaction for being backed into a corner.

Same thing is happening to Louis Delmas in Detroit, where the team is not offering what he was expecting for a cash-in contract, and are apparently planning on tracking some safety help through both free agency and in the draft - and Delmas is obviously unhappy about it, stopping just short of calling Lions' management a ho.

 "The Lions are cheating on me," he said. "They’re going to the club every damn night and staying out late night, trying to come back home to Daddy."

Sounds like his days in Motown are over.

The Dolphins must really think that Ryan Tannehill is something special, as somehow someone learned that they are Top Cat in regard to chasing wide receiver Mike Wallace, the same source citing anonymous reports that Miami is also interested in running back Rashard Mendenhall as a candidate to help replace the departing Reggie Bush.

Either the Dolphins are about to become Steelers' South or someone's agent is attempting to drive up the asking price of the hot commodity of the draft.

As for the Patriots, besides being the team most mentioned in rumors on Saturday, there has been not a peep out of Foxboro as they are knee deep in some dark intelligence gathering, both in regard to their own free agents as well as the list of players on their wish list.

Given the amount of gamesmanship occurring in the Wes Welker saga, it's clearly not worth even speculating on at this point, but by 4:00pm on Tuesday afternoon we should have a pretty clear idea of what both parties intentions are, as well as the intentions of some select free agents from other teams. 

Names like Adrian Wilson and Steven Jackson are intriguing to me, along with Delmas and Bolden and Asomugha - perhaps a few others.

There was a little push Saturday afternoon when a few teams signed some of their own free agents, and that will steadily build and reach a crescendo Monday night into Tuesday and in between now and then we have the rumor and speculation game to deal with - which get a bit mundane so it was important to get out of the house and enjoy just a nice day in New England to go for a walk and then watch the Bruins play...

...and, man, that Shawn Thornton is a tough bastard.  Maybe he's linked to the Patriots...and why not?  Rumors and speculation can get as out of hand as the agents and teams need them to be.

New England Patriots on Paper: Ryan's emergence draws comparisons to the elite

It's always a good idea to exercise caution when comparing one football player to another, particularly when comparing a player to Seattle Seahawks' volatile cornerback Richard Sherman.

Sherman is an intelligent, well-spoken creature with mad ball skills who has played at an All-Pro level since being selected in the fifth round out of Stanford in the 2011 NFL Draft - unfortunately, he is a little too well-spoken, as he articulates his confidence as a cornerback in the form of relentless trash-talking both on and off the field...

Ballhawk Ryan's numbers on pace with the best in the game

...drawing the ire of many an opponent as well as the National Football League, finding a way around the Shield's urinalysis testing policies and eliciting heated exchanges with members of the media - the epitome of the axiom "Love him on your team, but hate him if he's lined up across from you."

Regardless of how you feel about Sherman on a personal level, there is little doubt that he is an elite defender.  That said, it appears that a rookie defensive back for the New England Patriots is drawing comparisons to the pompous Sherman - fortunately for his on-field performance and not for any self-edifying, pretentious behavior.

But let's not get too deep into this.  Sherman is Sherman, Ryan is Ryan - and all things considered, the rookie from Rutgers is much more suited to encompass and envelop the Patriots' Way than the brash third year corner from California.

The emergence of Logan Ryan was really not much of a surprise, but is unique in the Patriots' perspective in that the team was able to bring him along slowly, thanks mostly to the excellence of the incumbent starters already in place - which makes what Ryan has accomplished just that much more remarkable.

But just for the sake of satisfying the aesthetic palate - and taking into account that Ryan's quarterback rating against was second only to Sherman's - assume for a moment that Ryan had logged the same starts and same snap totals that Sherman saw - Ryan's numbers actually blow Sherman's out of the park, mathematically speaking.

Sherman, starting all sixteen games, logged eight interceptions, returning one for a score, with 16 passes defended, 38 tackles and 11 helpers - by contrast starting seven games and playing just 43% of the snaps that Sherman saw, the rookie notched 5 interceptions, 10 passes defended 1.5 sacks, 29 tackles and six assists.

Protracted into 16 starts and the same number of snaps and targets as the mouth that roared, Ryan would have projected into 11 interceptions - returning two for scores - with a ridiculous 23 passes defended, 3.5 sacks and totaling 66 tackles with 18 helpers.

And, yes.  It's all bullshit for sure, but it's fun to think about, particularly for Patriots' fans who would like to see Sherman tied to a hockey goal and letting Boston Bruins' defensemen Johnny Boychuck, Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug take target practice at his mouth for all of the grief he's caused quarterback Tom Brady.

Absurd images, but they paint a picture of what it means to be a Patriot - something that Ryan has experienced after his conspicuous package check as he dove into the end zone after picking of New York Jets' quarterback Geno Smith, his apology and time spent in Bill Belichick's very cold and very lonely dog house - not to mention the fine he incurred from the league - likely curing the young man of such antics.

But the fact that Ryan was been eased into the lineup comes as a result of the solid play of the defensive back ahead of him on the depth chart.

Aqib Talib is on a different planet than most as far as shutdown skill, while second year man Alfonzo Dennard is a solid as they come as a compliment to Talib - and even Kyle Arrington is considered one of the better slot corners in the league, so Ryan's time on the field has mostly been in the capacity of the nickle or dime back, and not necessarily against the cream of the crop as far as opposing pass catching talent.

This is worth mention when considering that Talib is a free agent at the end of this season, and though Ryan is most assuredly a talent worthy of accolade, one must be careful of reading too much into his numbers - both actual and projected - when factored into how hard the team tries to keep Talib in a Patriots' uniform.

You can never have enough quality defensive backs, and that should be the mantra - and from a standpoint of depth, there aren't many teams that sport three starting quality corners, nor the same number of starting quality safeties, which the Patriots have in Devin McCourty, Steve Gregory and rookie Duron Harmon.

All in all, the Patriots are set in the secondary going into the tournament and beyond, and as the post-season accolades start to pour in - Talib and McCourty earning second-team All Pro honors and Ryan making All Rookie teams - Belichick and New England as a whole would be best served to lock up Talib and McCourty for the long term this offseason...

...entering free agency and the draft with one of the best secondaries in the NFL with no imminent concerns to address, given full health.  Sure, there are needs along the interior of both the offensive and defensive lines, at tight end and maybe a need at linebacker depth - but nothing really pressing, as New England's 12-4 record and first-round playoff bye will attest.

Lord knows what Belichick can do with a fist full of draft picks and with carte blanche to select the best athletes available...

New England Patriots on Paper: Siliga anchoring a playoff ready run defense

Sealver Siliga has added a dimension that has allowed his teammates to display their own wares. (David Silverman/NEP)

"The Patriots are very young on the defensive side, and seemingly thin in depth on the interior of the defensive line and at safety, but the starters are solid and the depth carries with it a ton of potential, and as long as injuries don’t become an issue, this defense should be much improved over the unit that made it to the AFC title game last February." - Foxborough Free Press, September 5, 2013

Little did anyone know, nor could anyone imagine the unmitigated nightmare of injuries the New England Patriots' defense has had to endure this season.

In the space of three consecutive games, the Patriots lost three veteran starters for the entire year, including both starting defensive tackles.  Run-plugging man-mountain Vince Wilfork, who appeared hobbled to begin the season, finally had his Achilles tendon give out in Week 4 at Atlanta, then newly signed pass rushing tackle Tommy Kelly's knee-guts shredded the following week in Cincinnati.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, the defense lost it's heart and soul and captain, linebacker Jerod Mayo, to a torn Pectoral muscle the week after that in New England's last-second victory over the New Orleans' Saints.

Any other team in the league would have folded like a cheap tent under the weight of such debilitating injuries to their very core, yet the Patriots somehow managed to persevere and, indeed, to flourish - which is absolutely insane, particularly given that the two stalwarts on the interior of the defensive line were replaced by rookies, one an undrafted free agent and the other a late round castoff that was cut by two different teams before finding a home in Foxborough.

Along the way, coach Bill Belichick brought in a couple of low profile veterans to bring some bulk and experience to the unit, but it wasn't until thrice-rejected tackle Sealver Siliga found his way to the active roster that New England was able to shore up a leaky run defense.

Siliga declared himself eligible for the 2010 NFL Draft after his junior season at the University of Utah, much to the confusion and surprise of many draft experts who considered him a longshot to be selected and felt that he was banking on the success of some of his predecessors from the Utes' program to pave his way to the NFL.

The draft reviews were universal in their assessment that Siliga was nothing more than a career backup with questionable strength and no speed - zero pass rushing skill and an inability to disengage from double teams and penetrate the pocket among the downside of his projected professional skill set.

To be fair, these same draftniks noted his ability to shed from the nose to make plays on backs coming through either of his gap responsibilities in the running game and gives full effort, and also mentioned that he was voted a team captain in his junior season.

And, who knows?  The experts were correct in that Siliga would go undrafted and had done absolutely nothing but toil in anonymity on three different teams' practice squads, assuming the role of career backup - until the Patriots picked him up off the scrap heap in late October once the Seattle Seahawks cut him from their practice squad...

...but it wasn't as if their interest in the 23-year-old was based on just plugging a hold on the roster, as they had shown some interest in Siliga in the past but were not willing to make the three-game roster commitment that is required of a team that plucks a player off another team's practice squad - that is until Wilfork and Kelly went down in successive weeks.

Similar to what New England had done with fringe players in the past, Siliga had been cut from the Seattle Seahawks' practice squad for a third time, and this time, the need calibrated with the waiver - the Patriots picked him up just three days after yielding 177 rushing yards to the New York Jets in a 30-27 overtime loss and just days before the team made somewhat of a splash, trading a sixth round draft pick to Philadelphia Eagles for veteran tackle Issac Sopoaga.

Obviously, New England had no idea that the player that was destined to be a career backup would progress in their system as quickly and as completely as he did, or they may not have even bothered with parting with a late-round draft pick and ramping up their salary cap numbers to acquire Sopoaga...

...but the ability to plug the 10th year veteran tackle into the lineup immediately upon acquisition was too promising to pass up - after all, Belichick was running with Chris Jones - a 6th round pick by Houston that the Texans released as part of their final cuts and was picked up and released by the Buccaneers - and undrafted free agent Joe Vellano, with Siliga being in town and on the practice squad for a grand total of four days.

But after seeing his try-hard tackles Jones and Vellano try to hold the fort for three games and watching Sopoaga disappear into thin air, Siliga was promoted from the practice squad, stepping in and providing a presence in the middle that has had a trickle-down effect on the entire defense.

Suddenly, the weak side of the Patriots' front seven - where Mayo would usually prowl - is so stout that opponents have been reduced to things like reverses and naked bootlegs to gain any significant yardage at all, dropping from a whopping 6.8 yards per rush to a more reasonable 5.3, but it doesn't end there.

Take away a 34 yard reverse by Cleveland's Josh Gordon, a 13 yard reverse by Miami's Mike Wallace and a 14 yard garbage time bootleg by Baltimore's Tyrod Taylor and the average drops to a minuscule 3.2 yards per carry - and when combined with the already stout middle and strong side run support, the Patriots are yielding just 3.6 yards per carry heading into the playoffs.

Siliga is proving the draftniks wrong and making the fans of the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks wonder how he got away - but how is the third year reserve making such a difference with the Patriots?

All one has to do is look at his draft profile, at the part that tells of his ability to make plays on either of his nose gap responsibilities to find the answer to that - similar to the skill set that Wilfork brought to the line, but not nearly as polished, Siliga holding the point of attack enables the linebackers to set the edge where they were forced to fill in the middle before the Utah product set up house.

And as for having no pass rush skill at all, how does three sacks in four games sound?  One of them beating a double team - which he can't do, according to the profile - and chasing the quarterback down from behind, which he can't do, either.

So New England enters the playoffs in a position that no other team could have accomplished with a group of backups on defense that no one else wanted, with an identity that speaks to old school fundamental football - the ability to run the football on offense and, now, the ability to stop the run on defense.

And with every playoff game that the Patriots play - including the Super Bowl - being in potentially very cold weather and potentially sloppy conditions, there isn't another team in the tournament that is as well prepared for a deep run as are the boys from Foxborough.

http://www.nepatriotslife.com/2014/01/new-england-patriots-on-paper-siliga.html