2013 New England Patriots Preview: A 2 part comprehensive look at the upcoming season

By Mike Devarenne
Editor-in-chief

Part II – Can the defense take the next step?

            The 2013 season for the New England Patriots will most likely be remembered for a lot of things. The Summer of Aaron Hernandez. The Ghost of Wes Welker.  Jesus Tebow Christ. While all these are certainly serious and important headlines (not to mention very juicy topics for the talking heads of local radio and ESPN) lost in the chaos is the development, or lack of development, of the defense of this team. For some time now, Bill Belicheck & co. have been trying to build a young defense to take some load off the shoulders of Tom Brady, to mixed results. Obviously every team has its ups and downs in the draft, and teams are destined to miss on some players that seemed like sure contributors (I’m looking at you, Ras-I Dowling). Although I will brush briefly on the previous drafts, I am not here to evaluate the decisions that were made in the past, but talk about which players need to either contribute or pick up their play so this team can maximize its potential on the defensive side of the football. Cliché alert – defense wins championships. The Patriots in the early years had a stifling defense and a competent offense and was rewarded with three Super Bowls in four years. Now we have a historically dominant offense and a below average defense with nothing to show for it but two excruciating Super Bowl losses to the New York Giants. After ripping the band-aid off and telling it how it is, lets get to the defense of the 2013 New England Patriots.

                                                     

As a whole, the Patriots are a very young defense (25 years average to be exact) and they do have solid veteran leadership in each layer of defense with Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, and newly added free agent Adrian Wilson. It is almost a tradition now in New England to gripe about the secondary, and for good reason as they have been miserable for quite some time now. However, the mid-season acquisition of Aqib Talib last year was an immensely critical piece of the puzzle in my eyes. Talib added some much needed swagger and toughness to the defense, and obviously has some serious skill as a physical cover cornerback. He is also playing on a one year contract, and he has an incredible incentive to play well so he can get a big pay day from the Patriots or someone else at the end of the season. The Talib acquisition was also fantastic because it bumped everyone into a role they were more comfortable with. Kyle Arrington moved to slot corner, where he used his physicality to work the middle of the field. Devin McCourty moved to safety, where he can use his natural ball-hawking instincts (five interceptions) instead of having his back to the quarterback trying to keep up with the receiver he is covering. While all that is well and good, Alfonzo Dennard could put the entire thing in jeopardy, reverting the players back to the places they were before Talib came in. This summer, Dennard was arrested on suspicion of a DUI while he was on probation. His probation hearing is August 27, and if he misses substantial time the Patriots could be in some serious trouble. Here is to hoping the previously mentioned Dowling can finally make it on to the field without breaking a nail, or rookie Logan Ryan can surprise people with meaningful contributions. The secondary definitely isn’t perfect, but it won’t be so much of a laughing stock as it has been if Dennard doesn’t screw everything up.

Moving onto the linebackers, the Patriots have assembled quite the young core. Starting with the backbone, Jerod Mayo is one of the most underrated linebackers in the game. He led the league in tackles three years ago, and was fourth last year. However, the knock on Mayo is he doesn’t have a nose for the ball in terms of forcing turnovers, and that talk is totally justified. If he wants to take the leap from star LB to superstar LB, you need to make dynamic plays that can decide games for your team. We’ll see if Mayo is up for the challenge, but at 27 years old I think this the Mayo we have for the long haul. After that, we have Brandon Spikes. He is an average or below average line backer in all facets of the game except one: he is a tremendous run stuffer, and that is why he has a roster spot on the team. For the rest of the crew, I am particularly fond of Dont’a Hightower because I think you can’t really go wrong with the defensive captain of the college football champion in 2011. He had a strong rookie year coming in on situational downs, and his frame is huge but he also has the speed and agility to go from sideline to sideline. I will mention Adrian Wilson here, even though he is technically a safety. Wilson is massive in terms of build for a safety and I am putting him in this category because I really want him to be on the field in 2^nd and 3^rd & long situations as a coverage linebacker, because this group of linebackers is miserable in coverage and continually get burned by opposing tight ends. Dane Fletcher showed glimpses of promise in the first preseason game, and hopefully he can add depth to the middle linebacker crew where he was sorely missed last year because of a torn ACL last year in the preseason. Finally, the Patriots’ rookie second round pick Jamie Collins should look to develop his football IQ to go along with his super athletic ability as a rookie. In the NFL, raw talent can only get you so far, so let’s hope he can bulk up a little and play smart.

                And finally, the front line. While Patriots fans have been treated to the beast that is referred to as Vince Wilfork for ten seasons now, only until the past couple years did he start getting the national attention he deserved. He truly is the anchor to our defensive line and what makes it formidable. Following the release of the competent Kyle Love, they added Tommy Kelly to bolster their defensive tackle depth. If he hasn’t lost a step, it would prove to be a great pick up, so that remains to be seen. On the ends, we have a handful of interesting traditional defensive ends and hybrid linebackers. Chandler Jones is the most promising, and should look to take a huge step forward after showing flashes of greatness in his rookie campaign. The other pass rusher who should have a good season is Rob Ninkovich, who has grew into his primary role of typically being used to rush the quarterback on the edge.

                  This is a pivotal year for the Patriots’ defense and the entire Patriots team. If this defense can prove it is above average, it would take a lot of pressure off of Tom Brady, who is 36 this year and isn’t getting any younger. Due to their seemingly limited offense outlined in Part I of this piece, the defense is going to have to step up because Tom and his crew won’t be able to put up 30-35 points consistently to bail them out. Instead, more often that not they will have to gut out victories like 24-21 and other close games like that. I personally am higher on this defense than others, because the secondary is comfortable with their positions finally (Dennard notwithstanding), the linebackers have another year of experience, and the defensive line has some newly added depth it lacked last year.