Patriots Defense Only a Pressure Player Away

Just about anywhere you look these days you'll hear the pundits and bloggers say the Patriots need to improve their pass rush this off season, and as Pats fanatic I have to agree. Sure, the secondary was raked across the coals more than once this year, but I believe one or two players could make the entire Patriots defense look a lot better than they did in 2009.

The Patriots D was split almost evenly in 2009 between a base 3-4 (or 4-3 the first half of the season) and sub-packages. The most common passing down subpackage we saw early on was one with Derrick Burgess, Tully Banta-Cain, Mike Wright, and Jarvis Green as down lineman. Their job was to apply pressure and they were just so-so.

Later we saw a new sub-package that Patriots nation was excited to see, dubbed the Five and Dime. While at first it seemed like this new subpackage, with five linebackers and six defensive backs, was a throwback to the early dynasty days when Coach Belichick was known for innovative defenses designed to confuse opponents. In reality the Five and Dime was more of an attempt to generate pressure because the earlier pass rush subpackages were not generating enough.

It doesn't matter if you've got Ed Reed, Darren Sharper, Darrelle Revis and Ty Law circa 2003 in your defensive backfield, NFL quarterbacks are too good, and too favored by the current NFL rules, that with time they will destroy any secondary.

Many say the Patriots need to blitz more, but the reality is that blitzing gets you burned as well. In the 2010 NFL what you must do is generate pressure without blitzing.

In the 4-3 defense like the Colts and Saints defenses, the front four defensive lineman are the ones responsible for pressuring the quarterback. In the 3-4 defensive system like the Patriots pressure can come from just about anywhere, and that's one of its biggest advantages.

When we look at the Patriots defense the lack of a three down outside linebacker is the biggest hole on the roster. Bill Belichick built his championship Giants defense of the 80's around Lawrence Taylor. The Super Bowl winning Patriots teams had both Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest who could both rush the passer and play stout against the run.

Adalius Thomas, for one reason or another, has devolved into solely a run stopper and he is likely to be given his walking papers this off-season. But the good news is that pass rush is something that rookie can bring to the table.

You need to look no further than Clay Matthews, who had 10 sacks from the OLB position in Green Bays 3-4 defense as a rookie. A prospect like Brandon Graham from Michigan might be a little shorter than Bill Belichick likes his OLBs, but by simply replacing Derrick Burgess with a player like Graham you could be looking at an instant upgrade at reduced cost.

A rookie could be worked in by starting simply as a hand-down sub-package pass rusher as he learns to play OLB in the base 3-4 defense.

When you look at the building blocks of the new Patriots defense there are solid pieces in place. The addition of one or two players who can get after the quarterback will make the whole defense better, and with money and draft picks the Pats are in position to continue to build the Dynasty D version 2.0.