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Minnesota Vikings

Spikes & Deaderick Huge Factors in Dominant Patriots Run D

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Sometimes it’s really amazing how much you miss when you’re watching the game and you’re all caught up in the emotion of it. That’s why I always enjoy watching the DirecTV shortcut to really see where the game was won and lost.

The Defensive Packages page will be updated later today, but for now here are some things that I didn’t notice while watching the game live.

There are two players who really stood out to me the second time through. The first is Brandon Spikes. He’s still a little rough around the edges at times, but most of the time he is making a huge impact in the run game. 

Let’s not forget how badly our run defense was gashed against the the Ravens in the playoffs. Now we have a defense that no team has run for a hundred yards on. Spikes has been a huge part of that. He comes downhill hard and often blows offensive lineman backwards. He’s always right in the middle of the plays and that’s exactly what you want from a Mike linebacker in the 34. It has also allowed Jerod Mayo to become a tackling machine.

The second guy I want to point out is Brandon Deaderick. We’ve seen Deaderick’s play time slowly spike over the last few weeks and after having a chance to really focus on him against the Vikings I can see why.

Deaderick is explosive and can play both end positions. He’s used as a pass rusher at times, but he looks like he’s really growing as a two-gapper. Opposing lineman always have their hands full with him and most times he’s tossing them into the backfield.

At a position where the Patriots had major question marks even before Ty Warren was lost, the ascension of Deaderick has been a much-needed boost. It has allowed the Patriots to have a healthy rotation of solid defensive lineman. Gerard Warren barely saw the field until the second half against the Vikings, but when he did he was fresh and ready to keep Adrian Peterson shut down.

Ron Brace has also been showing up well as of late, with the biggest play of his young career coming on the 4th down goalline stand. Seeing a defensive front of Brace-Wilfork-Deaderick for a good chunk of the first half should give Patriots fans optimism heading into the future.

Notes on a Solid Patriots Win Over the Vikings

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I’m looking forward to getting a second look at this game but for now here were my notes that I jotted down during the action. 

– Sometimes I think it’s hard to tell what the coaches depth chart really looks like. Yesterday was a prime example because I think they took to more of a 1st Half/2nd Half approach to their rotations. Need to look closer at it, but seems to me like they saved Gerard Warren for the second half?

– Reiss said Ninkovich got reduced playing time in the second half due to performance issues but I’m not so sure. Nink had a great third down tackle on third down to force a punt.

– Is it me or did the refs screw us on a couple calls yesterday?

– I really think the next step for this defense is really just getting 1-2 more stops on third down per game. While the numbers look good from yesterday, and statistically it was their best game on 3rd down yet, that doesn’t include the 2-3 penalties they had on third downs as well. That’s really the difference right now for this defense from being okay to being excellent. They are solid on first/second downs and have not given up a 100 yard rusher yet. That’s where great defenses start. If you can stop the run the foundation is there. Now it just comes down to getting off the field on third down. If they can start doing that just 1-2 more times per game this will be a top ten defense. It’s really just that simple. More on this coming this week I’m sure…

– There was some debate about Devin McCourty vs. Kyle Wilson early this year. Is there any question who has been the better player? Oh by the way the Jets only real contributions from their rookies is coming from their backup fullback, John “the prophetized leader of the human resistance against Skynet” Conner. Wilson has been just okay, Ducasse and McKnight aren’t even dressing. Doesn’t bode well for a team with so many veteran free agents after this year. But it bodes well for the Patriots who have at least 12 first or second year players who are major contributors.

– What can you say about that 4th down stop, it was potentially the difference in the game and it was all made possible by Ron Brace who hadn’t played last week. With both Deaderick and Brace contributing it doesn’t necessarily mean the Pats will be forced to take a DE in the 2011 draft. At least not in the first round.

– I hope Deion Branch’s hamstring doesn’t get any worse. Thank Hoodie that Brandon Tate stepped up. But did Minnesota make conscious effort to take Hernandez out of the equation? Hernan did have one sick catch on third down that I have no idea how he caught it. It was like he looked back and the ball was literally on his hip.

– It’s not often you see a running back slowly brought along for two seasons before taking over full time like BJGE. Sure, some of it has had to do with Fred Taylor getting hurt but it’s rare you see a runningback really starting to break out in their third year. 

– What can you say about Danny Woodhead. He’s making blocks and serving as a solid replacement for Kevin Faulk, which is a HUGE feat. Every time he scores or gets a first down I can feel Rex Ryan groaning. He’s making big plays every game now. Gotta love it!

– I think Logan Mankins is really going to take this offense to the next level. Connolly has been solid but Mankins is better than solid. 

– Just the simple fact that Mangini coaches the Browns makes me a little apprehensive about this game. With a young defense no game is a given, even if Peter King has us at #1 in his Fine Fifteen.