NE snippets on defense

[Czarina]

Keep in mind that Borges frequently doesn't have anything much good to say about the Pats, but here's his take on the game the other night. I was just relieved to see that Beisel had played at all, because he's missed a fair amount of practices.

 

Exhibition shows team not bulging at middle

By Ron Borges, Globe Staff  |  August 13, 2005

 

CINCINNATI -- Anybody got Roman Phifer's home phone number?

 

One meaningless exhibition game does not answer many questions about a football team, and that surely was the case last night at Paul Brown Stadium if you were hoping to get an idea of who might replace Tedy Bruschi and Ted Johnson in the middle of the New England Patriots' revamped defense.

 

Between now and Sept. 8, Bill Belichick and new defensive coordinator Eric Mangini will have to come up with something, but the opening lineup of 35-year-old Chad Brown and outside linebacker Mike Vrabel in the middle of a 3-4 defense that was missing Richard Seymour and Ty Warren up front made no one think: ''Harry Carson and Pepper Johnson Revisited."

 

With two of the defense's top three defensive linemen in street clothes, it wasn't really a fair test of what the revamped inside linebacking corps might do under optimum circumstances, but it showed that the middle of New England's defense remains populated by more questions than answers.

 

Vrabel did not distinguish himself, looking a bit hesitant at times and whiffing in the first quarter on two potential tackles in the middle, and Brown played like any 35-year-old veteran tends to in the opening game of summer, which means we still don't know how well he's going to do.

 

Thus do we arrive at young Monty Beisel, who was imported in free agency to add youth and speed but suddenly finds himself being asked to step in at inside linebacker after starting only nine times in a four-year career in Kansas City.

 

With the Chiefs, Beisel was groomed to make the transition from college defensive end at Kansas State to undersized middle linebacker. At 238 pounds, he was still learning the position when he was asked, out of necessity, to start nine games last season, working at both middle and outside linebacker. What he was never asked to do was what he did last night -- play inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.

 

He showed some flashes, both good and bad, as Belichick would say, with the best of it coming late in the third quarter when he made back-to-back plays that decked running back Chris Perry before he could react. The first took him down after a 2-yard pass reception and the second came on the next play when he shot through a gap between the center and right guard and flattened Perry in the backfield for a 2-yard loss.

 

Those plays showed the speed and anticipation that fascinated the Chiefs' personnel and coaching staffs the past four years. It was the same speed and anticipation that led the Patriots to go after him hard in free agency. But that same speed took him completely out of several plays when he relinquished his ground chasing what he thought he saw instead of what was in front of him.

 

''Any time you're learning a new defense, it takes time," Beisel said. ''There's a huge difference between inside linebacker in the 3-4 and a 4-3 middle linebacker who's just hitting downhill and one gaping. At this position, you've got to take on the guards and stack things up."

 

For all his ups and downs though, his most significant moment came in the second quarter when he missed a tackle on a kickoff and then lay on the ground for an uncomfortably long period before getting up slowly, his left arm in the air in the universal sign of a player seeking reinforcements.

 

Beisel kept his right arm pinned to his side as he came to the sideline and a lot of people, including Belichick and Mangini, held their breath as he trotted toward them. It turned out he had an apparent stinger (momentarily pinched nerve) because he was soon back in the game. He made a few tackles, unloaded on Perry twice, and didn't embarrass himself or his coaches. But he also ran himself out of several plays and didn't always seem able to hold his ground, which isn't all that surprising at 238 inexperienced pounds.

 

One exhibition game says little about anyone, so all judgments must be reserved, but Beisel made clear he has closing speed and lateral movement, which can be used for good or ill depending on whether he ran the play down or ran himself out of position. The latter is a malady of youth and inexperience he also showed in Kansas City, but those are things he can overcome with time and opportunity, both of which he will get more of in the next few weeks.

 

As for Brown and Vrabel, who left with an undisclosed ankle problem before halftime, they are two veteran players who very likely can only get so geeked for an exhibition game in August's steam heat and humidity. Worse for them, they, along with Beisel, Izzo, Davis, and Matt Chatham, were forced to play without Seymour or Warren, a significant absence for even the most experienced inside linebacker.

 

We still haven't learned who will replace Ted Johnson and Tedy Bruschi. But on first blush, the Patriots might want to keep Phifer's phone number on speed dial, just in case.

 

[Darrell Green]

Keep in mind that Borges frequently doesn't have anything much good to say about the Pats, but here's his take on the game the other night. I was just relieved to see that Beisel had played at all, because he's missed a fair amount of practices.

 

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Good article, sounds like it might be Beisel ultimately when he ge's healthy and more reps in.

[crispirons]

if i was a new england patriots fan, i would be very concerned about the run defense. they made mcallister, stecker, and anotwan smith look like they were payton, sanders, and smith. i think this is going to be a big downfall for the world champs. especially against the good running clubs of the afc.....pitt, indy, k.c., jets.

[Caveman_Nick]

I would really like to see Klecko standing up behind the line in the midde. He's flat out too small to be a down lineman, but he obviously is a bright player because he is being used at 3 or 4 positions.

 

I mean, the braintrust in Foxborough obviously knows what's going on better than I do, but It seems to me that Dan would be one of their 4 best options at ILB along with Banta-cain, Vrabel, and Beisel.