I look at the season from the defensive side as two separate halves: pre-BYE and post-BYE.
Two things in particular SAVED this season.
1) Bruschi's return.
2) Vrabel's move to inside linebacker.
End of story.
Seymour's return, Hobb's emergence, Hawkin's stability, Wilfork's consistency, Colvin's breakout, and Mangini's aggressiveness, would be essentially meaningless if this team didn't solve its problem at ILB.
Find me a team with ILBs that can't tackle, can't fill lanes, can't shed blocks, and can't make on-the-fly adjustments, and I'll show you a team that has ZERO chance of going all the way. ESPECIALLY in the 3-4 scheme, where the LBs have to be the stat guys.
Why? :shrug: Because somewhere along the road to the SB, you will encounter a team with a decent enough running game who will simply run it down your throat, control TOP, and once you've committed to 8 men-in-the-box, throw play-action deep. See SD, Atl, Den in Weeks 4, 5, & 6. The Bills tried the same gameplan in Week 8 and should have won. The Colts, the same in Week 9, and won. Miami tried it in Week 10, but by this time Vrabel and Bruschi had begun to settle in, Seymour came back, and the whole D began to stabilize. Miami passed well against the Pats, but sustaining drives relying on the passing games is both difficult and risky. The only game that mattered that they've lost since then was at KC, and I put the blame for that one as much (if not more) on the Pats O as the D.
C Brown and Biesel combo, Weeks 1-7: 10-1/2 tackles/game.
Vrabel and Bruschi since: almost 14 tackles/game.
That might not seem like much, but the NFL, like life, is often won & lost at the margin, and getting those extra 3-1/2 tackles/game (in the holes as opposed to 4-5 yards downfield) left the other guys on the D with the peace of mind to concentrate on their jobs, not someone elses. Moving Vrabel also freed up reps for Colvin which immediately paid off, as Colvin has made a big play in EVERY game since sans New Orleans and Indy (in which he recorded 9 tackles).
Want to thank someone for the first round playoff win and the hope of a couple more?
Thank Bruschi for showing the courage and determination to come back this year, and Belichick and Mangini for having the smarts to realize what wasn't working and making the proper adjustments.
atriots:
