Your ranking for the Patriots is way too low. They have 9 of 11 starters returning. One of those players is Tyrone Poole, who will be replaced by Ellis Hobbs, who played great last year. The Patriots should be in the top 10.
Why are the Giants so low? Great pass rush, LaVar Arrington...
The Titans should be last, not the Rams.
Other than that, I like it. I would move the Eagles, Colts and Broncos between 12-17.
The defense that "sucked" got much better when Tedy Bruschi was 100 percent. And remember, Rodney Harrison was also out for the year. He makes a HUGE difference in that secondary.
Tennessee was young and bad last year. This year, they will be less young but just as bad.
Well, I may be wrong about this. But it seemed to me that Tennessee had some young talent on defense that was just too young to compete with a bonafide NFL offense. I never get to see the Titans here unless they are playing the Texans and when that happens the game is usually a stinker so I dont even watch so I really cannot make a good argument to you about that.
Rodney Harrison is an old man and will not be the same Rodney Harrison that you are thinking of. Teams wont have much trouble scoring on New England this year. Where would you put them in the defensive rankings? The Top Ten?
Rodney Harrison is old, but let me ask you this: Would you rather have Harrison at strong safety, or Don Davis, a converted linebacker, who is no longer on the team? Davis played Harrison's position last year.
On a side note, would you agree that the AFC is a two-team race if Carson Palmer's knee doesn't recover in time? I'm talking about New England and Pittsburgh.
Indianapolis has no shot because Manning chokes. Denver has no shot because Plummer chokes. Miami is a question mark with Culpepper, who has never won a big game. Kansas City lost Willie Roaf. Jacksonville? Maybe...
I think that it is more like a one team race if Palmer stays injured. Its Pittsburgh.
The Patriots don't have a good enough defense and as good as Tom Brady is, he cannot single-handedly lead a team to the Super Bowl.
The Dolphins are too inexperienced and Daunte Culpepper is less likely to recover than Carson Palmer.
The Bills and Jets suck.
The Browns are hurting from Bentley's injury. They're too young anyway.
The Ravens are not as good as people think they are. Steve McNair is over the hill so he is just a slight upgrade to Kyle Boller meaning that they will be a slightly better team in a much tougher division. Hmmmmm......
The Colts choke and they will be one dimensional again.
The Jaguars are another team that aren't as good as people think they are. They didn't upgrade their team at all, allowing teams like the Dolphins and Chiefs to move ahead of them in the playoff race.
The Texans and Titans suck.
The Broncos have Plummer the Choker.
The Chiefs lost Willie Roaf and they are really old.
The Chargers aren't going anywhere with a quarterback who hasn't started a game yet.
Once again, we disagree about New England's defense. Nine of 11 starters return, one of the two new players is actually an upgrade (Ellis Hobbs) and Rodney Harrison returns from injury.
Don't underestimate Bill Belichick. He'll have that defense in the top 10.
You can't look at last year. Rodney Harrison was gone in Week 3. Tedy Bruschi didn't play till Week 8. Tyrone Poole and Randall Gay were both injured. That's four key starters.
They're saying now that Bruschi's going to be out for awhile too this year. Harrison is over the hill. I dont remember Gay ever being that good. Poole is a good player, not a great player, and he gets injured about every year.
Gay did a solid job in 2004. Poole isn't great, but he was their starting corner. Harrison is past his prime, but like I asked you before, do you want him at strong safety, or converted-linebacker Don Davis? New England's weakness last year was against long passes over the middle -- where they were missing Harrison.
Gay did a solid job but it wasn't like he was a shut-down corner. He will help the Pats but not much.
If Poole can stay healthy then the Patriots defense will be improved from last year, but Im not confident in that. I think that he has been injured each of the last 3 years.
I would pick Harrison over Don Davis but that isn't saying much. The Patriots missed Harrison last year and they will miss him again this year because this isn't the same old Harrison.
I never said Gay was a shutdown corner. But would you rather have a proven veteran, or some rookie who doesn't know what he's doing?
Tyrone Poole is no longer on the Patriots. Oakland signed him.
Rodney Harrison won't be the Harrison of old, but he certainly won't be as bad as some converted linebacker. And doesn't that go against your own rule of saying you won't judge a team based on an injured player? (i.e. Drew Brees, Daunte Culpepper, Chad Pennington)
I'd rather have Ty Law than Gay or the rookie. He's a big reason why New England's defense wasn't as good last year. That and losing Romeo Crenell, plus the loss of Eric Mangini to the Jets.
So lets get this straight, you want to say that the Patriots defense is going to go back to form from 2003 and 2004, huh? Well just for the record from that defense they have lost McGinest, Law, and Poole to free agency, Harrison and Bruschi aren't themselves because of age and ailments, and Romeo Crenell and Eric Mangini have left for head coaching opportunities. That defense is a shell of itself.
Your asking me of the question if I would prefer Don Davis or Harrison isn't saying much. If you were to ask me if I preferred Ryan Leaf or Mickey Rooney as my team's quarterback I would say Leaf but that doesn't mean that he's good, that just means he's a better quarterback than Mickey Rooney.
Im not saying that Harrison is going to be bad because of his injury last year, Im saying that he is going to be bad because he is an old man. That's a proven fact. He can't stay a Pro-Bowler forever.
I would have chosen Ty Law last year as well, but Law wanted too much money, and the Patriots couldn't afford to keep him. But remember, Law didn't play in 2004.
I don't think New England will be as good as it was defensively in 2003 or 2004, but I think it will be a lot better than it was in 2005.
Rodney Harrison won't be a Pro Bowler this year, but I wouldn't think twice about the question I asked. I'd like to change your comparison. I wouldn't say Leaf and Rooney. I'd ask if you preferred Ryan Leaf or Brad Johnson. The latter isn't a Pro Bowl QB by any means, but he can still be solid in the NFL.
True that Law didn't play for most of 2004, but in 2004 the Patriots still had Romeo Crenell as their defensive coordinator. In a different discussion, you made the point that the Braves hitting was worse this year because they lost their coach. If that is true, then the same is true for the Patriots defense. Then, they lost their defensive coordinator again this off-season when Mangini left for the Jets. The Patriots defense is going to suffer another setback without him.
Good point on Crennel, but don't forget that Bill Belichick is a defensive genius himself. Using that same analogy, Bobby Cox might be a great manager, but he's not a great pitching coach.
Belichick may be a defensive genius, but the Patriots defense struggled last year with him on the sidelines. Brian Billick was a great offensive coordinator with the Vikings yet his Ravens teams have never had a good offense.
I wouldn't say Brian Billick was a great offensive coordinator. He happened to have Cris Carter, Randy Moss, Jake Reed, Robert Smith, a great offensive line and Randall Cunningham, who had the arm to get the ball to the three receivers.
Belichick's defense wasn't good last year because of all of the injuries it sustained. If they would have been healthy, the Patriots' defense would have been ranked in the top 10 again.
Billick did have alot of talent but even so, consider that one of those years he had the highest scoring offense in NFL history. No matter what talent you have that is an impressive feat.
Even if they would have stayed healthy last year, they lost some players from that defense and one of the returning starters is Harrison who, as aforementioned, is old and coming off of a serious injury.
I agree that it is an impressive feat, but I think a number of offensive coordinators could have matched that production.
New England's first-team defense has looked good in two preseason games so far. We'll have to see in the regular season I guess, and just agree to disagree for now.
