An Ode To Block Eating

There may be a theme developing: The Patriot way has never been very good at developing pass rushers? It would be interesting to see what Pioli did in New England in these regards. This year the Patriots are also struggling to get to the QB. Off the top of my head I can not think of a dominant/better than average pass rusher in New England in the last 5 years (except Seymore). PS: Only one opposing QB has not thrown a TD against the Dolphins this year.

BM I know Crennel is smart enough to know that his base three cant get there. The question is why on 3rd and passing situations are they not subbed for a 3rd round pick in Bailey and a proven rusher in Walley? I think Crennel gets so caught up in calling the next play that he forgets to sub in a lot or the offense dictates the tempo and he cant, unless a player fakes an injury. They have underutilized the Freak in Allen Bailey I think. Walley thrown into a stunt more with Hali or even Houston would produce more sacks I bet. We need to emulate the better defenses around the league particularly the Giants whose defense is different but motto is you cant get enough pass rush. I think everyone in the whole world wants to see the quarterback get hit Big Matt and we have more weapons then what we are using, sometimes Crennel looks genius and others like an absolute idiot. That's all I'll say for now dont get me started on Bill Muir.

Congrats Big Matt, you actually produced a piece that opened up discussion, and even got me to do a little research. I checked the official stats for the 2010 season, and looked at who had the most sacks. I then cross referenced that with all DEs on the list, and weather they play a 4-3 or 3-4. What is funny is it took all the way to number 33 on the list of most sacks until I got to a 3-4 DE. Everyone in front was either a LB or 4-3 DE. What is even funny is that the 33rd best pass rusher in 2010 was.... Wallace Gilberry! Cullen Jenkins, then of the Packers, was the only other 3-4 DE in the top 40, and he actually is a bit of a de/dt hybrid. Any way, my point is your putting blame where it does not belong. Our DEs are not meant to get sacks, Gilberry and Jenkins are the only 3-4 DEs in the league to even be ranked in sacks, and they only had 7 on the year. The blame lies with our LB corps. Why are we not generating more preassure with them? Why are we not asking for the head of Andy Studebaker, Justin Houstin, and Cameron Sheffield? They are to blame! DJ and Belcher could step it up as well, they are more responsible for our lack of pass rush then our DEs.

I actually agree with you, Big Matt!! I know! Shocking! Whatever the case may be on what TJ and Dorsey are being asked to do, they aren't getting the job done. The line is getting virtually no push, and it isn't even opening up opportunities for our only decent pass rusher. Something has to change in this defense, because giving up 30+ points every loss will not cut it, and it's embarrassing.

Thank you Big Mat for your fair and balanced thoughts intended to open a discussion on how our major failings at rushing the passer might be resolved. I do see the other side of the topic too as getting gashed in the run leads to domination of time of possession, wears out the D and limits the amount of time the offense has to respond. I love Gilly too and had hoped the added weight would get him more time on the field. My biggest worry from yesterday is that it didn't appear that we did anything at all to adjust at the half. Shouldn't we have gone to shorter drops by Cassel and more quick slants allowing our very strong YAC WR's to make them pay for blitzing so much? On D we seemed to be caught in the middle with no pass rush but huge weaknesses at safety. It seemed to me that our LB's were caught flat footed not getting back in coverage to help the safeties nor crashing the line to put some pressure on Moore. I know DJ disappered completely and I say Houston standing there watching another completed pass go over his head. Shouldn't he be rushing all of the time?

I want to clarify that I am in no way saying the d-line isn't horrendous because they are. I'm simply saying tha sacaks aren't their first job.

A 3-4 DE does have run stopping responsibility first. That's why tall lean pass rushers like Jared Allen don't usually play in a 3-4. The outside lb's have pass rush responsibilty, hence Tamba moving to LB when they made the switch. The reason Gilby doesn't play more is because he isn't a fit in a 3-4. He could be a great 4-3 end where he could pass rush though. Stopping the run is crucial. If you can't stop the run you can't stop the pass either. Look at our Vermiel defenses. They were horrible against the run. That's why Portis always ran wild on them with Denver and that led to the Plummer bootlegs being wide open. I agree that it has evolved into a pass happy league but defense still starts with stopping the run first. It has to be that way because letting teams run leads to letting them pass.

This whole rationale that you had to play the game to understand it is bogus. Yes, it gives you insight and a useful perspective, but it is not a necessary factor. For example, Haley never played WR, and yet he seems to understand the position fairly well enough to groom WR's like Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Bowe. Granted, they are all freaks of nature, they all seem to credit Haley for taking their skills to the next level. If you have to play the game to understand it, then how do you explain this?

Have we witnessed the selfsame games? Have you not marked how the Tin Man stands athwart the line like the Rhodesian Colossus, Unyielding and unmoving? How Dorsey bestrides the right hashmarks, Hither a step, thither a step, And nary a back dare venture nigh? Nay, wish not one Gilberry the more; The fewer linemen, the greater share of blocks eaten

Obviously our posts have a similar theme this week Matt. I added a little counter punch to my post after reading yours. We both see the same problem I just think the LBs (not named Hali) and how they are used are the problem. You can call for Gilberry to play until you're blue in the face but it will never happen as long as they are running this current scheme. NEVER. Even if Tyson or Dorsey were to go down (knocks on wood) it would be Gordon that steps in and replaces them, not Gilberry. How many times have you heard Haley and/or Romeo say "guys just need to do their job and not somebody else's". Well in this scheme the three down linemen occupy blockers and fill run lanes. On passing downs these players ARE useful if they are able to keep the offensive line off the LBs and allow them to get through to the QB. That is what is not happening. That is the difference between our 3-4 and teams like the Steelers and Ravens.

Hmmm...3-4 defense falls like this DT controls the middle and slamming running holes and pockets shut or tighten. DE is suppose to t off on the run (which usually this year thirty not bad at). OLB THEIR job is to get to the QB this is Hali Houston Sheffield and Studie and contain. Weak MLB specializes on run Strong works on mostly passing zone or spying on QB/RB/TE. FS hopefully plays centerfield and SS (Berry) can cover/blitz/play zone.

I vote for switching to a 4-3. We could have one before next season, using the rest of this season to spend transitioning. This is what the base 4-3 D could look like: RDE (Hali), RDT (Dorsey/Gregg), LDT (T Jax/Gregg), LDE (Gillberry). Sub in Houston and Bailey at DE and Gordon and Powe (eventually) at DT. Give Dorsey and TJ 2/3 of snaps, and have Gregg fill in for the other 1/3 from both TJ and Dorsey, equaling 2/3. The LB's would look like this: Left LB (Houston/Studebaker), MLB (Johnson/Greenwood), Right LB (Belcher/Williams). DJ and Belcher would obviously get the majority of snaps. Maybe let Sheffield compete for the left of right LB position, or maybe give him some snaps at DE and see what he's made of.

Normally your articles make me angry. This one is well done, and even respectful, kudos to you. However it is also wrong. While I am a fan of Gilberry and everything he brings to this team, the base stopping the run is crucial! First though, were do you get that. 5 yards garbage? If gillberry is pushed off the line and creates a hole for the RB, that's more like an 80 yard td! That's all it takes, ask willis mcgahee. Any time he is in there is that threat. If a defensive lineman gets beat there is often no backup, especially if your blitzing ur LBs and we like to. On the other hand, there is backup in the pass game... have you ever heard of a secondary or coverage? Its actually something we are pretty good at. Here is why stopping the run is key for the d-line... if they don't it results in a big run. If the d-line fails to get to the qb, what happens... sometimes nothing! Say we fail to get to the QB, for that to cause a big play a ton has to happen. The coverage has to also be poor, both safeties have to be out of position, the QB has to see the open man, deliver a good pass, the WR has to make a catch. There are a lot of ways that goes wrong for an offense, lots of backups to cover for a lack of pass rush. On the other hand if Gilberry is nudged 6 inches that may be enough to create the needed crease to free 99% of RBs in the league, and on most downs we do not have backup if that happens. Again I like gilberry, id love more preasure on the QB, but ur just picking your poison. Get more sacks give up 300 yds rushing.

if they run at use so be it. as bad as our pass rush is its time for something different. besides so far dorsey and tjack havent lived up to picks and paychecks.

Articles like this remind me of how little you understand about defensive line play. If offenses think they can run on you they will.. meaning if your boy gilberry is in they will run the ball right at him. I get frustrated when someone who has obviously never played defensive line let alone football acts like they're experts. Who are you to evaluate line play? You simply look at sacks and thats it