Pats completely shut down Chris Johnson

[Brian]

Pats are hands down the best team in the NFL this year. They should run away with the whole thing.

The 49ers, Texans, Ravens, and Broncos disagree with you. Anyone of those teams could beat the Pats on any given sunday.

The Pats have an outstanding offense, but not a SB defense.

The 4 teams I mentioned are balanced.

 

[Shane]

All of you bashing the Pats D??? Lets wait and see how they are after a few games into the season. Chandler Jones and Donta hightower seem to be players and paying early dividends already. TO just call them horrible at this point in a whole new season is quite short sighted.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

I'm glad we didn't lead off the season against the PATS. At least the coaches have some tape going into week two.

 

[Denny Green Fan]

Pats on the road is a damn near impossible task. I'm gonna hold out a little bit of hope. But everyone of us have this chalked up as an L. If you are saying you don't then well you have the biggest glass of kool aid I've ever seen.

I'm not gonna get to up or down with this game or what happens in it. unless we steal a V. This is a tall order. But coming back home to Philly which is certainly winnable.

Hey if we get our butt kicked does that mean we are going to the Super

Bowl again?

 

[JeffGollin]

New England will try to do the same to us as they did to Tennessee. They will load the box on run downs daring our QB to audible out to a passing play, and then blitz on most passing downs daring our QB to burn them deep.

So, our running game will have very little to do with this win UNLESS Kolb can exploit the stacked box and blitz packages the Pats will send. Honestly, there isn't one guy on the Pats team who can cover Fitz or Michael Floyd. Our size at WR could be a HUGE factor if Kolb can make the read and get rid of the ball. If our defense can hold the pats to under 24 points, we have a shot.

The really scary thing is that (according to one local analyst) they didn't really stack the box all that often, but shut down the run with their base "D."

I agree, though, that the Pats may be a bit vulnerable vs. the pass and that this might be our best shot at winning.

The Pats are an intriguing opponent - not too many athletic "name" guys, but very smart, well-coached, good-technique players throughout their 53-man roster and very creative moving guys around and exploiting mismatches on offense. One reason Ridley (who?) gained 125 yards on the ground was that they'd line up Gronk and Hernandez on the same side and then run Ridley right between their 2 blocks.

We've got our work cut out, but maybe our 2 coordinators can somehow find the right way to attack them. Brady's not all that mobile - maybe Calais can disrupt his throwing lanes. Something (maybe Voodoo/anything).

 

[joeshmo]

Is it really that hard to shut down Chris Johnson. The guy is a feast or Famine RB. Either he will get you 40 yards or 150 yards. the 40 yard days happening way more often then the 150's. There is no in-between with that guy.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Is it really that hard to shut down Chris Johnson. The guy is a feast or Famine RB. Either he will get you 40 yards or 150 yards. the 40 yard days happening way more often then the 150's. There is no in-between with that guy.

Yup!

Had same number of yards as Beanie in 2011 and a lower yards per carry.

 

[Chopper0080]

Considering that Michael Floyd hasn't done anything positive in games that mattered and very little in games that didn't (no, one catch in a game against Denver's #3s doesn't count), I think it's more accurate to say right now that there may not be a starting cornerback in the NFL that Michael Floyd can beat. I was in favor of us drafting him, but he's looked like a complete scrub.

There's lots of time for him to come around and turn into a player, but he's sub-Jerome Simpson level right now. He's clearly the 4th best WR on the team.

I agree with you on Floyd about his lack of production, but this will be a game where he has opportunities to shine because of his physical stature. As we all know, it will be up to him to make the most of these opportunities.

Man I wish I could afford the cost and time of the ALL 22 film. I am very curious to see where Floyd is struggling. If it is an inability to get off press coverage, if he is slow coming off the line, or if he seems to be running wrong routes. I just don't feel like I can accurately judge him after watching Skelton struggle to progress through his reads.

 

[Chopper0080]

All of you bashing the Pats D??? Lets wait and see how they are after a few games into the season. Chandler Jones and Donta hightower seem to be players and paying early dividends already. TO just call them horrible at this point in a whole new season is quite short sighted.

Their pass defense is still suspect and our greatest strength is our wide receiving corp. Also, I can't say their defensive front 7 is significantly better than Seattle's at this point in time. NE has Wilfork, but they don't have a pass rusher who is as good as Chris Clemmons so far.

To break it down,

Seattle lines up

DE: Red Bryant
DT: Alan Branch
DT: Brandon Mebane
DE: Chris Clemmons
LB: Leroy Hill
LB: Bobby Wagner
LB: KJ Wright

w/ Bruce Irvin as a substitute speed rusher and has Jason Jones listed as a sub who has a good history, but I didn't notice him on Sunday.

NE lines up

DE: Rob Ninkovich
DT: Vince Wilfork
DT: Kyle Love
DE: Chandler Jones
LB: Jerod Mayo
LB: Brandon Spikes
LB: Dont'a Hightower

w/ Jermaine Cunningham as a backup DE who has been a disappointment so far in terms of development vs. draft position.

Personally, I don't see a huge edge either way. I like NE's LBs better, but I believe Seattle has the better defensive line overall. (Obviously Wilfork is great). In the end, if I am game planning against NE, I am trying to get Spikes or Hightower out in coverage vs. LSH/R Williams/Housler/Heap/King/Roberts or Doucet in the slot. I really like that matchup potential. I am also curious to see how New England lines up against our 4 wide package with Roberts and Doucet in the slot.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

2011

Pass "D" - Seattle (11) - Pats: (31)
Run "D" - yds per attempt: Seattle 3.8 (4) - Pats: 4.6 (24)

Total "D": Seattle (9) - Pats (31)

 

[Shane]

2011

Pass "D" - Seattle (11) - Pats: (31)
Run "D" - yds per attempt: Seattle 3.8 (4) - Pats: 4.6 (24)

Total "D": Seattle (9) - Pats (31)

Thats great! Too bad its 2012 not 2011

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Thats great! Too bad its 2012 not 2011

We'll see how much they've actually improved.

 

[Duckjake]

Is it really that hard to shut down Chris Johnson. The guy is a feast or Famine RB. Either he will get you 40 yards or 150 yards. the 40 yard days happening way more often then the 150's. There is no in-between with that guy.

That has been the case but there was a stretch where Johnson went over a 100 yards rushing in 15 of 17 games including 12 in a row at one point.

 

[Zeno]

I am thinking Chris Johnson may not be "elite" anymore, he had 8 carries for 17 yards today in the Titans loss to San Diego.