Miami 24, Georgia Tech 7: Miami’s Defense Tames Georgia Tech

Lamar Miller rushed for 93 yards and a score for Miami (4-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Miami’s defense was dominant, holding the Yellow Jackets more than 300 yards and nearly 36 points below their season averages entering the game.

Mike James also had a touchdown run for Miami, which has beaten Georgia Tech three straight times by a combined score of 92-34.

“Everybody talks about the A.C.C. race or this and that,” Miami Coach Al Golden said. “I’m trying to teach them the process. The process, when it takes traction, is what allows you to win multiple games in a row. That’s it.”

Georgia Tech (6-2, 3-2) came into the contest averaging 517 yards a game. The Yellow Jackets got only 211 on Saturday, their lowest total since a loss to Iowa in the Orange Bowl after the 2009 season.

In its last 35 games, Georgia Tech has rushed for less than 200 yards only three times, all at Sun Life Stadium — 95 at Miami in 2009, 143 in the Orange Bowl and 134 in this one.

“It’s frustrating every time you lose,” said Georgia Tech quarterback Tevin Washington, who threw for 63 yards and ran for 36 more — a team high. “All week long we had a good game plan to come out and get a victory. It’s frustrating for me because I feel I let the team down.”

Washington threw right to Nicholas on the Yellow Jackets’ first offensive snap of the game, a mistake that set up Miami at the Georgia Tech 46. It was doubly costly for the Yellow Jackets, with center Jay Finch going down with what appeared to be a knee injury. Finch was carted off the sideline for evaluation.

The Hurricanes needed 12 plays to score from there, quarterback Jacory Harris extending the drive with a 13-yard pass to Phillip Dorsett on fourth-and-3 from the 39, and James capping it with a 2-yard run for a 7-0 Miami lead.

Nicholas’ other big plays in the first half included lots of hustle, and lots of help from Georgia Tech.

“Something we’re doing ain’t right,” Georgia Tech Coach Paul Johnson said.

Yellow Jackets wide receiver Roddy Jones took a pitch and ran 34 yards with 4 minutes 9 seconds left in the first quarter, fighting Nicholas off a little too vehemently for the last few of those yards. Jones was pulled down by an illegal horse-collar tackle, but he also got his fingers inside Nicholas’s face mask while stiff-arming the Miami safety on the play. The penalties offset, and the big gain was wiped away.

With 10:17 left in the half, Nicholas again found himself in the right place at the right time for Miami.

Zach Laskey dropped back to receive a punt for Georgia Tech, the bouncing ball coming straight at him as he stood at the 9. He tried to grab it as a horde of Hurricanes sprinted toward him, misplayed it, and could only watch as the football kept going into the end zone. Nicholas dived on it just past the goal line for a touchdown that put Miami up, 14-0.

“On that punt, my job is to get to the ball,” Nicholas said. “It just so happened the ball came to me.”

In the first half alone, Georgia Tech failed on a fake-punt attempt, had the interception to help create one Miami touchdown and then the blown punt return to give the Hurricanes seven more points. Nonetheless, with 1:02 left in the half, the Yellow Jackets were within 14-7.

A 20-play, 92-yard drive got Georgia Tech on the scoreboard. Washington completed all three of his passes during the marathon possession and also rushed the ball nine times for 22 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown plunge.

“We never hit any big plays,” Johnson said. “We had a heck of a drive in the second quarter to get back in the game, then we give up the touchdown.”

That they did.

Travis Benjamin ran back the ensuing kickoff 48 yards, and Harris hit Tommy Streeter with a 32-yard gain on first down to get Miami to the Georgia Tech 14.

Two plays later, Miller ran up the middle for a touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half, restoring the 14-point cushion and getting help from a sealing block by guard Jon Feliciano.

It was a costly celebration. Feliciano was hurt jumping around after the score, leaving the game with a leg injury. He rejoined his teammates on the sideline late in the third quarter, on crutches and wearing a walking boot on his left ankle. An X-ray was negative, but Golden was not sure of Feliciano’s status.

View the original article here

Big Ten Is Bullish on Defense This Season

Three of the top six teams in the nation at preventing scoring and three of the top seven against the pass and also in total defense come out of the Big Ten.

"It is a league filled with exceptional defenses this year," Purdue coach Danny Hope said.

Clearly, the conference is good at building stone walls against the many offenses designed to create mismatches or apply leverage against a defender. Six of the top 30 teams in scoring defense come from the Big Ten.

The defenses are winning out this year because of several factors.

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, whose defense is No. 1 in the nation against the pass, second in total defense, third against the run and fourth in points allowed, put the onus on familiarity.

"There's continuity for a lot of football teams in this conference," said Dantonio, whose 15th-ranked Spartans host No. 4 Wisconsin in the conference's game of the year (to date) coming up on Saturday. "One of our biggest attributes here and the reason we are being successful is that we've had the same defensive staff in place for five years now. So our players are hearing the same things and we can adjust things and critique it and make it better."

The Big Ten earned its label as a defense-first conference back in the 1960s and '70s, when Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Ohio State's Woody Hayes prowled the sidelines. A lot has changed since then — the conference is 12 teams and now plays in the Leaders and Legends divisions, just for a couple of obvious examples. But one thing that hasn't been altered is the belief that as much as talent and strategy and effort, toughness wins games.

"There's always some things that people go to with the spread and different types of offenses," said Brady Hoke of No. 18 Michigan. "But at the same time I still think it's an awfully physical football league. The way teams play in this league, that physicalness is always there."

It begins even before a player enrolls. It's an integral part of the only-the-strong-survive process known as recruiting.

"The one thing you can't overlook is toughness," said Ohio State interim coach Luke Fickell. "All the guys you're going to try and recruit you think can run well enough. But can they tackle? Are they tough enough? To me, the two things that separate people once they get to college, I don't care what the position is, is their work ethic and their toughness."

If the late Schembechler and Hayes, wherever they are, saw the stat sheet from Ohio State's 17-7 upset of No. 16 Illinois last week, they had to be smiling. The Buckeyes ran the ball 51 times but threw just four passes — completing only one. To put that into perspective, tailback Montee Ball completed one pass to quarterback Russell Wilson in No. 4 Wisconsin's 59-7 win over Indiana last week.

Wisconsin's Bret Bielema has the nation's highest-scoring offense — and also a defense which is in the top 10 in most major categories.

He's not a bit surprised that the Big Ten seems to emphasize defense over offense, since most of the coaches come from that side of the ball. Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, Hoke, No. 13 Nebraska's Bo Pelini, Dantonio, 23rd-ranked Illinois' Ron Zook, Fickell and Bielema himself all were former defensive players and/or coaches.

They all respect the oftentimes anonymous defenders. When the mercury drops or the rain falls, as is the case every October, the coaches all recognize that the games will likely be decided by the guys in the trenches and the guys on defense.

"We do talk to our defensive players about you're going to get to play in an environment where defense is appreciated," Bielema said. "That's something that's kind of unique in the Big Ten."

There are conferences where the laser-throwing quarterbacks and fleet wide receivers rule. But not necessarily this one.

"If we're playing good defense, at least we have a chance to be competitive," Iowa's Kirk Ferentz said. "To try to outscore people all the time, that's a challenge."

It's a basic tenet of the sport, but nowhere is it embraced more than in the Big Ten: the offensive guys get the headlines, while the defensive players decide the outcome.

"There's always been great defenses in this conference. I can't say that we're one of those right now," Fitzgerald, a former All-Big Ten linebacker, said with a laugh. "At the end of the day, yeah, you win championships on defense. There's no question about that."

___

Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap.

View the original article here

OSU defense gets it done in Austin

Oklahoma State's defense has gotten a bad rap this year thanks to some deceiving final numbers.

It made enough plays to get a 38-26 win in Austin, the program's second in two years after winning just two of 24 games against the Longhorns before last season.

Oklahoma State gave up just one offensive touchdown in the second half, which included a goal-line stand and a fumble recovery in OSU territory late in the fourth quarter.

A less-than-stellar day from the offense still resulted in 38 points on the road against the Texas defense. For Oklahoma State, that's now 18 consecutive games with at least 30 points when Justin Blackmon is in the lineup.

Brandon Weeden had a season-low 222 yards on 23-of-41 passing. Not a good day for him, but the defense picked up the slack in this one. For Oklahoma State, winning with style is fruitless. The road to an unprecedented national title season is paved. They only need to win.

The Cowboys did that today.

Texas has to be encouraged by the progression of one of its freshmen today. Malcolm Brown racked up a career high 135 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, but true freshmen David Ash (22-of-40, 139 yards, 2 INTs) and Jaxon Shipley (3 receptions, 22 yards) were unimpressive.

The biggest development, though, was the disappearance of Case McCoy. McCoy didn't throw a pass on Saturday and spent the majority of the day with a headset on, rather than a helmet.

My guess is that continues through the rest of the season. Ash is nowhere near as limited in the packages he can run, which was the case earlier this season in comparison to McCoy.

Ash has superior physical skills, and showed them today, despite his underwhelming stat line.

A good day for Oklahoma State's defense, though. Texas managed 370 yards of offense, below the Longhorns' average of just over 388 this season.

The lost turnover battle (3-1 in favor of Texas) is troubling, but what does it say about Oklahoma State when it can lose that turnover battle, allow a safety and still beat the Longhorns by double digits on the road?

View the original article here

Harrison Speaks His Mind on a Defense Gone Bad

James Harrison vs Seattle

James Harrison has never been one to hold back. The Steelers defense for all but one week of the 2011 season has been downright awful, and it is starting to sound like the Warren Sapp’s of the world maybe are right – it’s a defense that looks old.

They are missing tackles, not getting turnovers (how about one in four games) and are not sacking the QB (none against Matt Schaub Sunday in Houston). Harrison spoke his mind after the loss to the Texans, and here’s some of his comments.

“Every man needs to do his job, take care of his responsibilities,” Harrison said Sunday. “It’s not the scheme, it’s not other BS; it’s each man doing his job, and, right now, every man is not doing his job, period.”

Exactly right James, and as a former defensive player of the year, it needs to start with you and Troy Polamalu. You guys need to step it up, and need to make plays. Making one huge play against the Colts isn’t enough, and if you don’t make plays this week, the Titans are going to send you to 2-3.

“People are getting beat. You have to come out there and work the man who’s in front of you, and we’re not doing that right now.”

And why is that? It may be the biggest question, and if each player doesn’t figure out how to start beating the guy in front of them, it’s going to be a long season.

“Each man needs to nut up, look at himself and get in there and take care of his responsibilities. Each play is 11 individuals; if one person doesn’t get the job done, it looks bad for the whole squad.”

Hmmm….sounds like a little finger pointing there. Maybe at fellow LB LaMarr Woodley, who over ran Arian Foster on the game-clinching TD run in the fourth quarter? Then again, you could find blame for just about every player at one point or another for a missed tackle or allowing a big play.

“Worried? No,” he said. “Concerned? Yeah. We have to get things shored up. Whether that’s changing this and changing that, I don’t know, but we have to get something done because it’s not working so far. I haven’t seen it like this, maybe a preseason game here and there, but not like this the way it’s going right now.”

Amen, couldn’t have said it better myself. Keep playing like you are, and you’ll find yourself 2-3 after Sunday.

View the original article here

Where's the defense?

Can we talk about defense?

No, not quarterbacks. They're great. The best in the nation. No, not running backs. They're great, too. Or tight ends or receivers or NFL-quality offensive linemen. The Pac-12 is fine on offense.

Yes, defense. Let's take a look at the numbers. Yeesh.

Hey, did you say something about quarterbacks?

Defense, the part of football they say wins championships, has been mostly lousy in the Pac-12 as we close in on the midseason mark.

No team ranks among the top-25 in total defense (Stanford is No. 26 and California is No. 27). Eight rank 50th or worse.

Well, scoring is really what defense is about, right? Right. And nine conference teams rank from No. 55 to No. 112 in scoring defense. Nine teams give up between 24.3 and 37.6 points per game. (Stanford is No. 6 in scoring defense, while Utah is 25th and Arizona State is 32nd).

And we can't entirely excuse these numbers by pointing to the super-awesomeness of Pac-12 offenses. We're only two or three games into the conference slate.

Arizona might own the second-worst defense among AQ conferences (Kansas is almost comically bad). The Wildcats' numbers are so bad writers spent much of the weekend finding fun ways to illustrated their badness -- here and here.

USC ranks 67th in total defense and 68th in scoring defense, terrible numbers for a unit with tons of talent that is coached by Monte Kiffin, a certifiable coaching legend. Things are worse across town, where UCLA ranks 105th in scoring and 98th in total defense. Who was stupid enough to write about UCLA's defense being "sneaky good" anyway? Never listen to that guy again.

So what gives? Does the conference just not care about defense?

Injuries are a legitimate excuse. The Wildcats have been missing three starters and a key reserve the entire season, and defensive tacle Justin Washington is now hurt. Arizona State is missing four top players. In fact, there are lots of big names out, including Washington defensive end Hau'oli Jamora, Stanford linebacker Shayne Skov and USC defensive tackle Armond Armstead, to name a few.

Still, every team has injuries.

Some guys who looked like budding stars have been disappointing so far: Washington, Washington defensive tackle Alameda Ta'amu, Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris and UCLA defensive end Datone Jones come to mind.

But, really, it comes down to this: No Pac-12 team has scary talent on all three levels. I'm not talking about LSU in 2011 scary or USC under Pete Carroll scary or Washington in 1991 scary. I'm talking Stanford in 2010, UCLA in 2006, Washington State in 2003, California in 2004 or Oregon State in 2000 scary.

If Arizona State had cornerback Omar Bolden, defensive back James Brooks, linebacker Brandon Magee and defensive back Junior Onyeali, it probably would be a top-25 defense. Stanford is good but took a step back when its leader and best player, LB Shayne Skov, was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Who has a pair of lockdown corners who are able to press at the line of scrimmage and handle man-to-man coverage? Who can consistently get pressure with a four-man rush? Who can stonewall an opposing running game and force a team to throw to win? Who can beat you without using risky stunts every other play?

In the early going, it appears Stanford has the conference's best defense. Oregon's defense is probably better than its early numbers suggest (its yards per play -- 4.84 -- is better than Kansas State, which ranks 16th in total defense and is a top-30 number). California has young talent on all three levels. Washington has shown improvement he past two weeks. Utah is well-coached and solid across the board. USC can't possibly be this mediocre. Arizona State has been above average, despite the injuries.

Defense might not win championships in the Pac-12, but here's a bet that the two teams playing for the Pac-12 title on Dec. 2 will rank in the top-third of the conference and top-50 in the nation in most major defensive statistical categories.

And when the smoke clears on the 2011 season, conference teams might need to figure out a way to kick up the defensive recruiting a notch or two.

View the original article here

TCU defense struggling

TCU remains on course to become a member of the Big East. At least today, anyway. You never know in the changing landscape of college athletics.

With that in mind, I bring to you the first of what will be weekly installments on how the Horned Frogs are faring this season.

The most glaring problem for TCU has been its defense. TCU has finished ranked No. 1 in total defense three straight seasons, but the likelihood of that happening in 2011 is remote.

Right now TCU sits at No. 103 in total defense. TCU has finished outside the Top 25 twice since Gary Patterson became head coach in 2000. That happened in 2003, when TCU was ranked No. 38, and in 2004, when it was ranked No. 99.

Patterson is a defensive guru, so to see his unit struggle like this has been unusual. His team has faced radically different styles of offenses, but the primary problem seems to be against the pass. TCU has four new starters in the secondary, and they have yet to jell completely.

Linebacker Tanner Brock also is expected to miss his third straight game with a foot injury, which has not helped the situation. But Patterson says he has seen incremental progress in three games so far.

TCU gets Portland State this weekend before a huge test against a passing team next week in SMU.

"Here's how I look at it," Patterson said. "In the San Diego State game (last year), we gave up three or four touchdown passes. But we won the Rose Bowl. For us, you've got to keep things in perspective. We're playing so many read-option teams, there's so many other variables we have to work on. I thought we played the pass a lot better in the Air Force game. ULM dinked and dunked. We've made some tremendous strides, but have some good throwing teams coming up."

TCU in NCAA total defense rankings under Gary Patterson:

2010: 1
2009: 1
2008: 1
2007: 15
2006: 2
2005: 25
2004: 99
2003: 38
2002: 1
2001: 24
2000: 1

View the original article here

Data Points: Texans defense stepping up

Published: September 22nd, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Peyton Manning, Wade Phillips

It’s only been two games — but so far, so good for the Wade Phillips-led defense in Houston. The Texans have been struggling for years to field a playoff-caliber defense, and the results have been far less than satisfactory. Enter Phillips as the new defensive coordinator.

Hopes were high, and the numbers after two weeks, compared to all of last season, are very positive — albeit against the Dolphins and the Colts sans Peyton Manning. This week should be a true test, as the Texans go on the road to face Drew Brees and the high-powered Saints.

Posted in: News   comments    

Comments may be no longer than 2000 characters and will post to the site shortly after submitting.

View the original article here

Giants intern given some face time with defense

Published: September 20th, 2011 | Tags: Ryan Brown, Michael Boley, New York Giants, St. Louis Rams

Giants video intern Ryan Brown found himself a little too close to the action Monday night at MetLife Stadium.

Giants LB Michael Boley returned a Rams fumble 65 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, then felt the need to celebrate. So he fired the ball out of the end zone — and into an unsuspecting Brown’s face.

nfl.use('nfl-video', function (Y) { var video = new Y.NFL.Video.Player({ srcNode: "#video-player-09000d5d82267190", align: "right", contentId: "09000d5d82267190", related: "home", adSetting: "1", dartURL: "http://ad.doubleclick.net/pfadx/nfl.special/blog/home;s1=blog;s2=home;slot=inpage;nfl=ad;tile=3;sz=640x360;ord=?", playerName: "blog_small_embedded", render: true, size: "inline", uniqid: "09000d5d82267190"});});

ESPN’s cameras revealed Brown, donning a white Giants jacket and a backpack, studiously observing the game-changing play — but in the way a fan would, nowhere near ready for Boley’s bullet (which impressed Panthers QB Jimmy Clausen enough for him to tweet, “Got too excited and hit the guy in the face w the ball!! Lol”).

Brown wasn’t injured, but he was a little red-faced — literally.

“I’ve been getting blown up all night on Facebook,” he told The Star-Ledger after the Giants’ 28-16 victory.

When Boley found out about the incident after the game and learned that Brown was fine, he had a laugh about it. And according to an NFL Network producer, Boley later hugged Brown in the Giants’ locker room.

Welcome to the NFL, kid.

– Marc Sessler

Posted in: Around The Web   comments    

Comments may be no longer than 2000 characters and will post to the site shortly after submitting.

View the original article here

Top non-AQ players, defense

Earlier today I did a post with the top non-AQ offensive players, according to the final NCAA stats. Now let us take a look at the top NCAA defensive players from the non-AQs.

We start with tackles. Seven of the top 10 leaders in tackles per game came from non-AQ teams:

No. 3 Jamon Hughes, Memphis, 12.25

No. 4 Mario Harvey, Marshall, 11.92

No. 5 Archie Donald, Toledo, 11.23

No. 6 Dwayne Woods Jr., Bowling Green, 11.17

t. No. 7 Bobby Wagner, Utah State, 11.08

t. No. 7 Craig Robertson, North Texas, 11.08

No. 10 Dan Molls, Toledo, 11

Only three of these players return for next season -- Woods, Wagner and Molls. Donald and Molls formed one of the best linebacker duos in the nation if you want to look at their numbers alone. Donald finished with 146 total tackles, while Molls had 143. The only other school with two tacklers in the top 30 was Akron with Brian Wagner (130) and Mike Thomas (113).

Next up: sacks. Five of the top 10 in the NCAA stats are from non-AQ schools.

No. 4 Jonathan Massaquoi, Troy, 13.5 (1.04 pg)

No. 5 Vinny Curry, Marshall, 12 (1.0 pg)

No. 7 Jamari Lattimore, Middle Tennessee, 11.5 (0.88 per game)

No. 8 Mario Addison, Troy, 10.5 (0.88 per game)

No. 9 Chris Carter, Fresno State, 11 (0.88 per game)

Just missing the list is Kent State true freshman Roosevelt Nix, who will most definitely be a player to watch for 2011. Nix had 10 sacks and 20 tackles for loss in his debut season, en route to winning MAC defensive player of the year honors. Troy will lose one member of its sack duo -- Addison just finished his senior season. So did Lattimore and Carter. Massaquoi is an early candidate for Sun Belt defensive player of the year. The honors went to Lattimore this past season.

Finally, we take a look at interceptions. Many non-AQ players made the list here if you want to count total interceptions:

No. 3 Mana Silva, Hawaii, 8 (0.57 pg)

t. No. 5 Dexter McCoil, Tulsa, 6 (0.5 pg)

t. No. 5 Sean Baker, Ball State

t. No. 5 Domonic Cook, Buffalo

t. No. 10 Marco Nelson, Tulsa (.046 pg)

t. No. 13 Evan Harris, Miami (Ohio), (0.43 pg)

t. No. 13 Dayonne Nunley, Miami (0.43 pg)

Everybody on the list but Silva had six interceptions this past season. Impressive to see duos from Tulsa and Miami on the list. Each of those players returns for 2011. There were only three seniors on this list -- Baker, Cook and Silva.

Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

View the original article here

Cowboys defense becomes the play

Published: December 17th, 2010 | Tags: Donovan McNabb, Brodie Croyle, Dallas Cowboys, Jason La Canfora, Joe Webb, Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Flynn, Peyton Manning, Rex Grossman, St. Louis Rams

The old cliché states that defense wins championships. Well, it might also help you win a fantasy championship, too.

Just look at some of the starting quarterbacks — or at least potential starting quarterbacks — this week: Packers QB Matt Flynn, Chiefs QB Brodie Croyle, Vikings QB Joe Webb and recently promoted Redskins QB Rex Grossman. A proverbial “who’s that?” of starting quarterbacks.

And that makes some under-the-radar defenses pretty good plays this week.

The Patriots were already a good play, but are even better now if Flynn starts for the Packers (as we will find out Saturday). But St. Louis (vs. Kansas City) and Dallas (vs. the Redskins) are also going to be great plays. Seriously, if Grossman can help deliver Colts QB Peyton Manning a Super Bowl, he is certainly good enough to help you win your fantasy league.

And this Redskins situation has the ability to become so toxic that even Jacksonville might be a solid play next week. Our Jason La Canfora is reporting that many of the Redskins players are very upset with the situation, meaning that you should bench all your Redskins starters. And conversely, the Cowboys figure to score lots of points this week.

Including the defense. So if you are looking for a defense to pick up, start with the Cowboys.

Tweet your fantasy questions to @nflfantasy. Your Tweet might end up on the air on NFL.com Fantasy LIVE.

Posted in: Fantasy  

View the original article here

Young defense will hold Patriots back

I credit Bill Belichick for rebuilding the Patriots defense on the fly, but the unit just isn’t good enough right now. I’ve said it before, but the Patriots just don’t play a championship-caliber defense.

The Patriots play very soft zones and don’t disguise them well enough to throw teams off. They also don’t have decent edge rushers. If you look at them statistically, they have the worst overall pass defense, they’re the worst on third down and they’ve also given up more first downs than any other team.

Thus, the rest of the league just doesn’t fear the Patriots defensively.

The only reason they’re 9-2 is because Tom Brady has been that good. He’s managed games, he doesn’t turn the ball over and he doesn’t put the defense on a short field. Brady has been excellent with ball-control, short passing game and has led the Patriots to a lot of points.

But I don’t believe the Patriots defense is good enough to beat the Jets, win the AFC East or go deep into the playoffs.

Belichick has rebuilt the defense on the go by working in six first-year players this season — guys who are really still learning how to play the game. But the biggest problem with the Patriots’ 3-4 defense is the lack of strong outside pass rushers. You need just one consistent edge rusher, but they haven’t had that player since Mike Vrabel left. To get to the quarterback out of that defense, you must have a rusher like the Steelers, Cowboys and Dolphins have. The Patriots don’t have that player.

Belichick knows this and it’s why he’s trying to change things up. But he’s ultimately playing much of the same defense he did with the Giants in 1986. In this league, you have to get free hitters to the quarterback, overload pressure and break down protections better than the Patriots do. Belichick is still playing defense as if he has Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.

I think the deficiencies on defense are part of the reason why the Patriots unloaded Randy Moss. Belichick knows they have to beat the Jets, and his offense couldn’t hold the ball long enough for Moss to get open. Taking advantage of their two rookie tight ends gives the Patriots flexibility with personnel packages and match-up advantages in the passing game. And by utilizing shorter, quicker players like Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and Deion Branch, it allows the league’s most accurate quarterback to play pitch and catch to keep the Patriots defense off the field.

Belichick had a defense that went to four Super Bowls, and he realized that he couldn’t keep winning by bringing back old players. He drafted the youngsters, teaching them the game and allows them to gain experience while he puts the ball in the hands of his franchise quarterback to carry the team.

Eventually, though, the organization will need to hit on a pass rusher in the draft. It’s the one ingredient the Patriots are missing.

Follow The NFL Network on Twitter @nflnetwork.

Posted in: NFL Network  

View the original article here

Defense as well as offense responds to new Cowboys coach Garrett

One of the questions we were having about Jason Garrett’s rise to head coach of the Dallas Cowboys was how would the defensive players respond to him. When Wade Phillips was the coach Garrett had little to no influence on the defensive players and what they did week in and week out. Some of the players even criticized the Cowboys offensive player caller for not calling a balanced game until the Green Bay shellacking.

If I had to choose an image from Sunday’s win over the Giants, it would be that of OLB DeMarcus Ware joking and laughing with his new head coach on the sidelines as the clock was winding down. It wasn’t just Ware either, there were visible shots of Brooking, James, and Newman all exchanging hugs or joking with Garrett at the end of the game. It was an answer to the question that a lot of people were asking.

While one game doesn’t mean anything, it is great to hear that the defensive players have also bought into what Garrett is selling. “You feel a different vibe around here,” Bowen said, “Everybody was all in behind coach Garrett and you see what happened out there.” Bowen is just an example of the attitude that is starting to spread, not just amongst the defense, but the whole team.

View the original article here

Chizik offers impassioned defense of QB

An emotional Auburn coach Gene Chizik sternly told the media Tuesday during his weekly news conference that he wasn’t taking one question about any of the Cam Newton allegations.

That’s after spending more than four minutes defending his star quarterback and calling the latest FOXSports.com report that Newton was caught cheating multiple times at Florida “pure garbage.”

Last week, ESPN.com reported that a man claiming to represent the Newton family, former Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers, tried to shop Newton to Mississippi State for $180,000. Newton’s father, Cecil Newton, said the NCAA asked him within the past month to provide bank statements. Both Cecil Newton and Cam Newton have denied any wrongdoing.

The NCAA is currently investigating, but Auburn officials have been emphatic that there are no issues with Newton’s eligibility at Auburn.

“Let me tell you something: He’s the leader of the Heisman race because he deserves it. That’s fact,” Chizik said. “So distractions or whatever’s out there, whatever people want to drum up and dream up and try to distract, it is what it is and it’s not changing. Cameron’s going to be focused on playing Georgia this week. Nothing’s changed in terms of who he is and what he is. But he is like our son here, and I’ve got a problem with this, got a problem it.”

Earlier, Chizik offered an impassioned defense of Newton, who wouldn’t address the cheating allegations.

“Cameron Newton is one of the young men on our football team that has not only excelled as a tremendous athlete, he has done everything we have asked him to do since the day he stepped on campus at Auburn,” Chizik said. "So I want to make this very clear, because I'm wasting my time addressing allegations that completely, to be frank, blow my mind that they're even out there because there are federal privacy laws that dictate that these things don't even get out in public.

“But I'm standing up here on a very important week trying to defend something that quite frankly is garbage. Is there a wizard behind the curtain? I don't know. Is there one? Is there two? Are there 10? I don't know, and I don’t care. But what I do care about is coming to the defense of not only a great football player, but a great human being who comes from a great family.”

Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

View the original article here