I’ve been thinking a lot about this this week and I went back and looked at some 2010/2011 film to get a sense of how they played with similar cornerbacks.
No one wants to hear about 2010, when the Pats gave up whopping amounts of yardage and were by far the worst defense on third down in the NFL. But when you start in the secondary, there are some parallels.
The corners were Arrington, Darius Butler, Jonathan Wilhite and rookie Devin McCourty. They were backed up by a veteran safety crew of Meriweather/Sanders/McGowan and rookie Chung.
The corners currently on the roster are probably a wash, but I like the safeties much better now, with four guys all experienced in the system with good versatility.
So as far as the secondary goes, as we sit here on March 13th, things are still probably better now than they were then. I know this is not reassuring because that pass defense was epically bad, but there are two big things to remember:
First, the biggest difference between these two teams is up front, where the talent and versatility, especially in the pass rush, is night and day than what was cobbled together in 2010. There was certainly no one even close to Chandler Jones or Jamie Collins anywhere on that team. Throw in the potential of Dominique Easley and Jabaal Sheard and there’s no comparison.
It’s been a popular point all week, that the front seven will have to be better to make up for the losses at cornerback, but at least this group looks, on paper, like they can do it.
Second, is that there are still additions to come. In 2010, they started rookie McCourty and he made the Pro Bowl. So it’s not out of the question that either a rookie or a free agent could still be added and make a big impact.
Ultimately, let’s remember that severely flawed defense went 14-2 and had the top seed in the AFC. Yes, they bowed out in an ugly loss to a Jets team that knew them very well, but they were still in good position to compete for the Super Bowl.
There’s no question that the 2015 team will be more talented on both sides of the ball, and that’s not even one week into free agency and before the draft. There’s no need to panic. They’ll make it work in the secondary and the front seven will play a big part in making sure of that.