With the New England Patriots, one needs a new program every week to see the latest additions at cornerback and safety. The defensive backfield has been playing a game of Russian roulette - New England style. Patriots coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Eric Mangini both have significant experience coaching defensive backs, yet they are now coaching one of the worst defensive backfields in football. The question is why.
Some have wondered if a weak strength and conditioning program in New England is to blame. But the team has played 82 games since 2001 - more than any team in football. This is due to the team's continued postseason success.
The team's cornerbacks have not all been excellent. Mix this with a few badly-timed injuries, and you have the current situation.
Belichick brought in about ten cornerbacks in the off-season. Most are now injured, leaving Ellis Hobbs and Michael Stone as starters. Hobbs is a promising rookie drafted in the second round from Iowa State, and the Patriots are slowly easing him into more and more snaps. Hobbs was able to have a fair amount of success against the Miami Dolphins receivers.
Stone was on the practice squad only two weeks ago. He is now the fifth Patriot to start at strong safety, a list that includes Rodney Harrison, Guss Scott, James Sanders and Duane Starks.
But the Patriots are lucky, as their final seven games are against teams with a combined 24-39 record while the Buffalo Bills, who are only a game behind the Patriots in the division, have a very difficult second half schedule.
At the linebacker spot, Willie McGinest, who has been a mainstay in New England for the past decade, might be playing his final season in a New England uniform. McGinest has been playing with a broken hand, and his production has declined significantly. McGinest's name hasn't been called that much this year. If he continues, the Pats will take an $8 million cap hit. McGinest will have to rework his contract if he wants to stay in New England.
San Diego Chargers
Their record is only 5-4, but the Chargers are probably the second most talented team in the NFL. The Chargers, coming off a bye week, have lost a combined four games to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Denver Broncos by a total of only 12 points, each one in tough last-minute fashion. But if the season were to end today the Chargers would not make the playoffs.
This is a team that knows it has to play better against good teams. Chargers tight-end Antonio Gates told Inside the NFL that while the Chargers offensive firepower has made games fun, the team needs to figure out a way in the fourth quarter to win.
"That Philadelphia game was a lot of fun, until we could not find a way to execute in the fourth quarter and blew it," Gates said after his team defeated the Jets two weeks ago."
The Chargers defense has been much improved, and Wade Phillips can take the credit for it. Two years ago, the Chargers defense was horrible and the squad went 4-12. But Phillips, notorious for never wearing a headset when he was the coach of Buffalo, instituted the three-four defense and found speedy linebackers such as Shawne Merriman to play in the system. That, as much as anything Gates, Drew Brees or LaDainian Tomlinson does, has contributed to the success of the Chargers.
