It already was a hot topic in this area last week and only will be a hotter topic this week now that the New York Jets have advanced to play the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC title game on Sunday: Are the Jets better positioned on defense going forward -- defense, of course, being the bread and butter of Bill Belichick -- than the Patriots?
A position-by-position breakdown seems to indicate that, yes, the Jets had a significantly more talented defense this season and will have a significantly more talented defense going forward, especially as the Patriots grapple with the uncertain situation surrounding Vince Wilfork and the Jets anticipating the return of their defense almost intact next season:
(In parentheses are the regular-season performance rankings by the film analysts at ProFootballFocus.com.)
Nose tackle
Jets: Sione Pouha (plus-15.2)
Patriots: Vince Wilfork (plus-9.6)
Rex Ryan's defense appears not to have lost much since the injury to Kris Jenkins. Pouha is a terrific run-stopper who can shed blocks quickly enough to make tackles. Wilfork, however, still is a Pro Bowler and one of the top nose tackles in the NFL. Edge: Patriots.
Defensive end
Jets: Shaun Ellis (minus-0.7), Marques Douglas (minus-2.7)
Patriots: Jarvis Green (minus-14.1), Ty Warren (plus-3.9)
Green had a chance to seize control of the job at defensive end upon the trade of Richard Seymour but too often found himself pushed off the line on running plays and unable to get close to the quarterback on passing plays. When Wilfork moved to end in the Patriots' playoff game, it was Green who went to the bench with Mike Wright playing the nose. In a 3-4 defense, the defensive linemen first and foremost must occupy blockers to give the linebackers a chance to make plays, and Douglas and Ellis did that better than Green and Warren. Edge: Jets.
Outside linebacker
Jets: Calvin Pace (plus-6.9), Bryan Thomas (plus-11.8)
Patriots: Tully Banta-Cain (plus-21.8), Adalius Thomas (minus-8.5)
As disappointing as Thomas was, that's how surprising Banta-Cain was. Pace, on the other hand, played a well-rounded game against both the run and the pass, even finishing with eight sacks, while Thomas thrived as a run-stopper off the edge, finishing the regular season with more than 50 tackles for the third time in four seasons. Edge: Jets.
Inside linebacker
Jets: David Harris (plus-6.8), Bart Scott (plus-4.7)
Patriots: Gary Guyton (minus-2.2), Jerod Mayo (minus-3.5)
No contest. While Mayo endured something of a disappointing second season, Harris emerged as a star alongside the veteran Scott, an import from Ryan's Baltimore Ravens defenses. Scott plugged the middle of the line on runs and Harris thrived both in blitzes and in pass coverage, finishing with 5 1/2 sacks, three pass break-ups and two interceptions. Edge: Jets.
Cornerback
Jets: Darrelle Revis (plus-29.1), Lito Sheppard (minus-1.7)
Patriots: Leigh Bodden (plus-6.8), Shawn Springs (plus-1.7)
Quarterbacks just don't throw at Revis. The Patriots haven't had anyone like that since the departure of Ty Law. Edge: Jets.
Strong safety
Jets: Jim Leonhard (plus-5.1)
Patriots: James Sanders (minus-1.4)
Leonhard, another Ryan import from Baltimore, had an uneven season against the run but broke up five passes and thrived in deep pass coverage. Sanders lost his job to Brandon McGowan early in the season and won it back down the stretch, finishing with his lowest tackle total (48) in three seasons. Edge: Jets.
Free safety
Jets: Kerry Rhodes (plus-11.0)
Patriots: Brandon Meriweather (plus-5.0)
Despite Meriweather's selection to the Pro Bowl, the last memory one will take into the offseason will be the way Ray Rice blew past him on his 83-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the first round of the playoffs. Meriweather intercepted five passes and forced two fumbles, but his play generally was more inconsistent than it should have been. Rhodes, on the other hand, didn't have a particularly bad game all season, and he broke up 13 passes in his center-field role for the Jets. Edge: Push.
***
Let's revisit the question: Of the Jets' and Patriots' top 11 defenders, who would you take? In other words, if the rosters were combined, who of the Patriots' defenders would start?
Wilfork would start at nose. Warren would start at end with either Douglas or Ellis at the other end. Banta-Cain would be a third-down pass-rusher behind Pace, probably. Bodden would start at corner opposite Revis. Meriweather might -- might -- start at free safety instead of Rhodes, but that's a toss-up at best.
The Jets' top-ranked defense wasn't a fluke, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. If quarterback Mark Sanchez takes a reasonable step forward in his second season, the Patriots are going to have some serious trouble hanging onto the AFC East title.
Showing posts with label bodden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bodden. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Christmas comes early for Bodden
Mark Sanchez has a new favorite receiver, a speedster who always seems to know where the quarterback is going to throw the ball.
Oh, were all of those passes not intended for Leigh Bodden?
"I didn't know today was December 25th," linebacker Adalius Thomas said. "Three fair catches?"
"I think it was a conspiracy or something," linebacker Pierre Woods said. "Three wide-open fair catches -- two were on a knee, and one was right there to him and he ran it in for a touchdown."
OK, so it wasn't the most challenging day for Bodden, who picked off a career-best three passes and returned one for his first career touchdown. It certainly was a rewarding day, though, especially for a player who previously had spent his career with the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions. With the win, the Patriots moved three games ahead of the New York Jets and stayed two games ahead of the Miami Dolphins for first place in the AFC East.
The three interceptions Bodden had -- the same number of catches as Jets receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller -- had as much to do with the victory as anything else.
A quick rundown of the three interceptions:
* First quarter: Sanchez threw behind Cotchery on a third-and-8 pass along the left sideline. It appeared as though he expected the wide receiver to run a hitch or a curl and not to cut back toward the middle of the field, but Bodden also seemed to force Cotchery out of his intended route. Whatever the reason, Bodden turned before Cotchery turned and returned the interception for a touchdown.
* Second quarter: With Brandon McGowan coming around the edge on a blitz, Sanchez threw too far in front of Braylon Edwards down the left side. Wilhite appeared to be covering Edwards with Bodden sitting back in zone coverage, and the ball just hit him in the hands.
"The first two interceptions were just poor throws," Sanchez said. "Good reads. Poor throws."
* Fourth quarter: On perhaps the worst pass he threw all day, Sanchez had no pressure on him but still somehow threw a pass so inaccurate it was tough to tell whether it was intended for Cotchery or for Edwards. If it was intended for Cotchery, it was badly overthrown. If it was intended for Edwards, it was badly underthrown. If it was intended for Bodden, well, it was perfect.
The interception Sanchez threw to Brandon Meriweather later in the fourth quarter was his worst decision of the day, a floater that would have been better off landing in the second row of the stands than anywhere on the field. That, though, was a throw made under pressure and out of desperation -- it might have been the worst decision by Sanchez all day, but it wasn't the worst pass.
"The last two were definitely bad decisions," Sanchez said, "trying to do too much and not letting the offense work for me. ... I need to be smarter and more conservative with the football in those situations."
It was Bodden, coming on a corner blitz, who applied some of the pressure on that play, too, drilling Sanchez just after he released the ball.
"I saw the ball in his right hand," Bodden said, "and I thought I was coming to get a strip sack."
As it turned out, all he was coming to get was a helping hand in the Patriots' fourth interception of the game.
The Patriots review their opponents' turnovers every Saturday. With Sanchez, they had plenty of material with which to work. The Jets' rookie quarterback now has thrown 11 interceptions in his last five games -- including five in Week 6 against Buffalo and two more in Week 10 against Jacksonville.
"He's thrown some balls to guys, so we definitely knew we could get some of those today," Bodden said. "We just have to catch them. That's what one of my old coaches always said: You've just got to catch the ones that go to you."
That's what happened on Sunday. Most of the passes the Bills and Jaguars intercepted, though, took at least a little bit of effort and athletic ability on the part of the defensive backs. The three passes Bodden picked off all were thrown pretty much right to him.
"I really can't tell you if it was accuracy or what, but (Sanchez and his wide receivers) probably weren't on the same page," said Bodden, who wore a No. 23 Michael Jordan jersey to his postgame press conference.
When a reporter asked if the No. 23 should be retired, Bodden quipped, "Not here. Not yet. I've got to get a few more three-pick games -- and then maybe."
Oh, were all of those passes not intended for Leigh Bodden?
"I didn't know today was December 25th," linebacker Adalius Thomas said. "Three fair catches?"
"I think it was a conspiracy or something," linebacker Pierre Woods said. "Three wide-open fair catches -- two were on a knee, and one was right there to him and he ran it in for a touchdown."
OK, so it wasn't the most challenging day for Bodden, who picked off a career-best three passes and returned one for his first career touchdown. It certainly was a rewarding day, though, especially for a player who previously had spent his career with the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions. With the win, the Patriots moved three games ahead of the New York Jets and stayed two games ahead of the Miami Dolphins for first place in the AFC East.
The three interceptions Bodden had -- the same number of catches as Jets receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller -- had as much to do with the victory as anything else.
A quick rundown of the three interceptions:
* First quarter: Sanchez threw behind Cotchery on a third-and-8 pass along the left sideline. It appeared as though he expected the wide receiver to run a hitch or a curl and not to cut back toward the middle of the field, but Bodden also seemed to force Cotchery out of his intended route. Whatever the reason, Bodden turned before Cotchery turned and returned the interception for a touchdown.
* Second quarter: With Brandon McGowan coming around the edge on a blitz, Sanchez threw too far in front of Braylon Edwards down the left side. Wilhite appeared to be covering Edwards with Bodden sitting back in zone coverage, and the ball just hit him in the hands.
"The first two interceptions were just poor throws," Sanchez said. "Good reads. Poor throws."
* Fourth quarter: On perhaps the worst pass he threw all day, Sanchez had no pressure on him but still somehow threw a pass so inaccurate it was tough to tell whether it was intended for Cotchery or for Edwards. If it was intended for Cotchery, it was badly overthrown. If it was intended for Edwards, it was badly underthrown. If it was intended for Bodden, well, it was perfect.
The interception Sanchez threw to Brandon Meriweather later in the fourth quarter was his worst decision of the day, a floater that would have been better off landing in the second row of the stands than anywhere on the field. That, though, was a throw made under pressure and out of desperation -- it might have been the worst decision by Sanchez all day, but it wasn't the worst pass.
"The last two were definitely bad decisions," Sanchez said, "trying to do too much and not letting the offense work for me. ... I need to be smarter and more conservative with the football in those situations."
It was Bodden, coming on a corner blitz, who applied some of the pressure on that play, too, drilling Sanchez just after he released the ball.
"I saw the ball in his right hand," Bodden said, "and I thought I was coming to get a strip sack."
As it turned out, all he was coming to get was a helping hand in the Patriots' fourth interception of the game.
The Patriots review their opponents' turnovers every Saturday. With Sanchez, they had plenty of material with which to work. The Jets' rookie quarterback now has thrown 11 interceptions in his last five games -- including five in Week 6 against Buffalo and two more in Week 10 against Jacksonville.
"He's thrown some balls to guys, so we definitely knew we could get some of those today," Bodden said. "We just have to catch them. That's what one of my old coaches always said: You've just got to catch the ones that go to you."
That's what happened on Sunday. Most of the passes the Bills and Jaguars intercepted, though, took at least a little bit of effort and athletic ability on the part of the defensive backs. The three passes Bodden picked off all were thrown pretty much right to him.
"I really can't tell you if it was accuracy or what, but (Sanchez and his wide receivers) probably weren't on the same page," said Bodden, who wore a No. 23 Michael Jordan jersey to his postgame press conference.
When a reporter asked if the No. 23 should be retired, Bodden quipped, "Not here. Not yet. I've got to get a few more three-pick games -- and then maybe."
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Patriots lead Ravens at half
A handful of observations from the Patriots-Ravens first half:
* The Patriots haven't sat back against Flacco the way they did against Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez two weeks ago. Pressure got to quarterback Joe Flacco on back-to-back drop-backs early in the second quarter, including a hit from Mike Wright on a deep ball to Derrick Mason on first down.
Taking a snap out of the shotgun on the ensuing third down, Flacco underthrew a wide-open Mason off his back foot even though no one really was near him, and Brandon Meriweather caught up in time to swat the pass away. That's what pressure can do to a quarterback.
Then again, Derrick Burgess hit Flacco on the touchdown pass he threw to Mason in the first quarterk. But the amount of pressure the Patriots have put on Flacco is a good sign.
* The Patriots mostly have played in a 4-3 aligment in the first half, though they did seem to switch to a 3-4 set late in the second quarter. Along those same lines, Bill Belichick has rotated almost all of his available defensive personnel: New acquisition Terdell Sands even made his first appearance on the Ravens' third possession.
Sands doesn't totally have the hang of things yet, though. On one second-quarter play, Adalius Thomas grabbed him around the waist and shoved him to his left to make sure he was in the right gap.
* Wes Welker, playing in his first game since the season opener, has a team-best three catches for 29 yards and has shown off his signature elusiveness after the catch.
* Sammy Morris, relegated mostly to fullback duty in a backfield that includes Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney and Fred Taylor, has a key fourth-and-2 pickup and a 12-yard touchdown run to his credit.
* Roughing the passer penalties are the order of the day. The Ravens have been flagged for two -- a hit to the helmet and a hit to the knees -- and Wright was flagged for a blow to the helmet when he sacked Flacco in the second quarter.
* Leigh Bodden's toe-tapping interception along the sideline was the Patriots' first of the season. Bodden jumped a Mark Clayton route -- Flacco either underthrew the ball or Clayton ran the wrong route -- and picked it off, dragging both toes before falling out of bounds.
* Ray Lewis already has nine tackles. Ed Reed, so far, has mostly been a non-factor.
* Ravens tackle Jared Gaither was taken to Mass General for further tests on his neck and shoulder after a scary collision with Flacco. He did, however, have moment in all extremities.
* The Patriots haven't sat back against Flacco the way they did against Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez two weeks ago. Pressure got to quarterback Joe Flacco on back-to-back drop-backs early in the second quarter, including a hit from Mike Wright on a deep ball to Derrick Mason on first down.
Taking a snap out of the shotgun on the ensuing third down, Flacco underthrew a wide-open Mason off his back foot even though no one really was near him, and Brandon Meriweather caught up in time to swat the pass away. That's what pressure can do to a quarterback.
Then again, Derrick Burgess hit Flacco on the touchdown pass he threw to Mason in the first quarterk. But the amount of pressure the Patriots have put on Flacco is a good sign.
* The Patriots mostly have played in a 4-3 aligment in the first half, though they did seem to switch to a 3-4 set late in the second quarter. Along those same lines, Bill Belichick has rotated almost all of his available defensive personnel: New acquisition Terdell Sands even made his first appearance on the Ravens' third possession.
Sands doesn't totally have the hang of things yet, though. On one second-quarter play, Adalius Thomas grabbed him around the waist and shoved him to his left to make sure he was in the right gap.
* Wes Welker, playing in his first game since the season opener, has a team-best three catches for 29 yards and has shown off his signature elusiveness after the catch.
* Sammy Morris, relegated mostly to fullback duty in a backfield that includes Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney and Fred Taylor, has a key fourth-and-2 pickup and a 12-yard touchdown run to his credit.
* Roughing the passer penalties are the order of the day. The Ravens have been flagged for two -- a hit to the helmet and a hit to the knees -- and Wright was flagged for a blow to the helmet when he sacked Flacco in the second quarter.
* Leigh Bodden's toe-tapping interception along the sideline was the Patriots' first of the season. Bodden jumped a Mark Clayton route -- Flacco either underthrew the ball or Clayton ran the wrong route -- and picked it off, dragging both toes before falling out of bounds.
* Ray Lewis already has nine tackles. Ed Reed, so far, has mostly been a non-factor.
* Ravens tackle Jared Gaither was taken to Mass General for further tests on his neck and shoulder after a scary collision with Flacco. He did, however, have moment in all extremities.
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