Do the Patriots have enough depth on defense?
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| Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins, via CBS Boston |
The Patriots have the number one pass defense and number three overall defense, in terms of yards allowed. That's something we haven't heard in a while, but Bleacher report brings up a good point when they say that we've played some of the weaker offenses this league has to offer. That's not to take credit away, because in years past, we've made those bad offenses look elite. So clearly this defense is better on the top end, but the depth is in question, specifically with the front seven.
Depth in the secondary is great, but aside from the usual starters at linebacker and on the defensive line, New England doesn't have a lot. Correction...it's not that we don't have a lot, we just don't know what we have...which may or may not be a problem.
Sometimes unknowns can come in and play great, just look at Tom Brady, but that doesn't happen very often. Jerod Mayo could go down and Deontae Skinner could come in at linebacker and become a great player, or he could be a huge liability, making Patriots fans everywhere count the days till he returns.
I'm not speaking in terms of quantity at depth, I'm speaking in terms of quality. The depth hasn't been tested yet. It was a little bit with Jamie Collins going down against Minnesota and Sealver Siliga now out for a while, but I still wouldn't consider that "tested". It was tested last year when Mayo, Tommy Kelly, Wilfork, and Aqib Talib were all out. Something of that extreme hasn't happened yet, and Patriots fans everywhere certainly don't want it to. Ultimately, it's hard to say whether or not the Patriots have enough depth or not, because we don't know what the Patriots have.
-Brian Thibodeau
Follow me on Twitter - @b_thibs34
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