This rebuild was one of the reasons I started blogging about the Pats – I was fascinated to see how Belichick would rebuild the defense from scratch essentially. When else in recent football history has a coach like BB had this kind of chance?
At max health I think it’s complete, but really the major pieces took far longer to come together than I would’ve thought. I think it was the Chandler Jones/McCourty to safety/Revis & Browner that made the most difference in the last couple seasons.
Maybe it sounds dumb, but yeah, two physical talented corners, one of whom might just be the best in the game, have had the biggest impact this year that we’ve seen since 2008. Frankly, the Patriots defense has been one you just hoped wouldn’t lose the game for you from 2010-2013, this year they are a defense than can win games.
Prior to this year you picked up pieces here and there… Mayo was a major one at first, then came Ninkovich emerging from nowhere in 2009, Kyle Arrington developing into a top-notch slot guy, and now the pieces have been filled in with Chris Jones/Siliga coming last year, Hightower coming as another first rounder and effectively taking over for Mayo. Wilfork of course has been a big part of it all along and for that he’s like the granddaddy on defense.
But I think what we’ve learned is that an elite secondary can make an okay pass rush sufficient. They don’t have a dominant front seven just yet, but perhaps they will peak in the playoffs as Chandler returns and Hightower gets fully healthy. We’ll see, but they are really good this year and it’s been a long journey to get here.
