Around the AFC East, Week 5: Pats Pulpit
Gang Green Nation —
... experience. With the departure of Rodney Harrison, safety would've been a concern but we drafted Patrick Chung. He won't make an immediate impact, but Tank Williams is back this year after being IR'd in 2008.
My biggest concern at this point is OLB. Many Patriots fans were convinced we would pick up an OLB in the draft, but that never happened. Belichick must feel confident with projected starters Adalius Thomas and Pierre Woods while backups Shawn Crable and Vince Redd wait in ...
Patriots Links 6/19/09 - Relay For Life at Gillette Stadium
Pats Pulpit —
... -- if he’s half as good as Willie, he’ll likely spell Pierre Woods on passing downs this season. But like Pierre Woods, ultimately Crable’s playing time this year will depends largely on whether or not the Pats decide to add to the outside linebacking spot. ...
Patriots Links 6/24/09
Pats Pulpit —
... "For all we know, they may believe they’re all set with Pierre Woods, Sean Crable, Tully Banta-Cain and ...
Patriots Links 7/01/09 - Patriots Set at Outside Linebacker?
Pats Pulpit —
... Andy Hart feels the Patriots' answer at outside linebacker is already on the roster.
While I would never rule out the summertime addition of a veteran presence to the OLB spot (probably a lesser name, not a Peppers) I think the team is going with what it has at this point. But I don’t see any one player taking over the bulk of the reps at the spot opposite Adalius Thomas. My guess is that a combination of Pierre Woods and Shawn Crable will be given the chance to fill Mike Vrabel’s ...
Ten Patriots for 2009: No. 8, OLB Shawn Crable
Pats Pulpit —
... or Pierre Woods on this list. Patience, my friends. This is an organic process. ;-) Adalius and Pierre, I'm fairly certain, are locks at this position. They're the everyday workhorses of our 3-4's edges. While Thomas has shown flashes of pass rushing ability, I'm not convinced he's of the ...
Patriots Links 7/02/09 - Who Will Fill the Mike Vrabel Void?
Pats Pulpit —
... Jeff Howe looks at who will fill the Mike Vrabel void.
Even though Vrabel’s exile seemed to have caused widespread panic across New England, the Patriots are still loaded at 10 other starting positions on defense. Not to mention, Pierre Woods and Shawn Crable should be more than ready to fill in. Vrabel, who turns 34 in August, has seen his skills diminish in recent years, but he was still more than capable on the field. He finished fifth on the team with 67 tackles last season, ...
Patriots 2009: What would Norm and Cliff say?
Pats Pulpit —
... Norm: No Cliff, I don't.
Cliff: Well, he's been too busy making googlie eyes at that model there. He's gotta concentrate.
Norm: I think he's professional enough to pull this off, Cliff. I mean, the guy's got three rings, right?
Cliff: Ok. But what about outside linebackah? I mean, what was Billie thinkin'?
Norm: He probably knows what he's doing. Besides, we got Adalius Thomas, Pierre Woods, Tully Banta-Cain and that dude with the long arms, Shawn ...
Around the AFC East: Ranking the Linebackers
Pats Pulpit —
... and Pierre Woods will do a great job, but I'm not, as of yet, convinced they'll scare quarterbacks by generating tons of pressure. ILB is in good shape with DROY ...
Around The AFC East: Ranking the linebacker corps
The Phinsider —
... was once a good linebacker but is now just a shell of himself. And the Pats don't have anyone of note to man the other outside linebacker spot. Pierre Woods, ...
Around the AFC East, Week 7: Linebacker Rankings
Gang Green Nation —
... The first was the versatility of Adalius Thomas. You can play him either inside or outside. Calvin Pace hasn't shown the same. I also think New England has better depth. Tully Banta-Cain was something of a free agent bust in San Francisco, but he got a contract from the 49ers because of his work with the Pats in 2006. As a situational pass rusher, he has shown more than Marques Murrell or Vernon Gholston. I'll also take the relatively unknown Pierre Woods over the known mediocrity Bryan Thomas. Aside ...
Ten Patriots for 2009: No. 2, LB Adalius Thomas
Pats Pulpit —
... Okay, so he's not directly replacing the spot Mike Vrabel occupied this season. I know that. Vrabel's old spot will likely go to Pierre Woods or one of the other OLB candidates competing with him. However, if it's getting after the quarterback we're talking about, why is everyone ignoring Adalius Thomas? ...
New England Patriots acquire Raiders' DE, Derrick Burgess
Pats Pulpit —
... and Pierre Woods can't do the job. Far from it. They're extremely good in coverage and sealing up the edges. But neither of them were "experts" at rushing the passer. Remember Mike Vrabel in 2007? He was an animal. Opposing QB's were always worried because he was in the backfield. In my mind, teams with a dedicated, single-minded pass rusher make problems for offensive coordinators. The moment you have to scheme against one guy, the pass rusher, you're in trouble. That's what good pass rushers do: they ...
Training Camp Observations for Friday
Pats Pulpit —
... to get away and just cut loose," WR Greg Lewis said. "The time is given to get your body back, get mentally prepared for what’s coming up for us and to hone in on the skills and the stuff that you’ve learned so far. And try to bring it back to you when we come back."
Christopher Price notes which players spoke to the media after practice about a variety of topics.
After the workout, Stephen Gostkowski, Pierre Woods and Vince Wilfork all talked to the media about a ...
Philadelphia Eagles 2009 Opponents’ Preview- New England Patriots
Bleeding Green Nation —
... up QB Andrew Walter who was previously with the Raiders to battle it out with Kevin O’Connell for the #2 spot. All in all this adds up to a very powerful offensive unit that will be that much better with Brady back at the helm.
The only potential weak spots for the Patriots are on the defensive side of the ball. They gave up veteran linebacker, Mike Vrabel as part of the Matt Cassell trade to Kansas City but are counting on either Pierre Woods or Shawn Crable to step up and fill the void. The ...
Analysis: New England Patriots defeat Eagles, 27-25
Pats Pulpit —
... made an impact after barely a week in training camp. I want to see more of him in the backfield. Pierre Woods seemed lost on a few plays as did ...
What About a Base 4-2-5 Defense for New England Patriots?
Pats Pulpit —
... The secondary seems much improved already though with still room for improvement. Think about a starting backfield of Leigh Bodden and Jonathan Wilhite at the corners, Brandon Meriweather and James Sanders at safety and Shawn Springs as the nickel back (with Pat Chung and Darius Butler subbing in).
This brings us to the only seeming weakness of this defense: linebacker. All this may change, of course, but Shawn Crable and Pierre Woods have failed to emerge, Tedy Bruschi may be nearing ...
New England Patriots PreSeason Watch - Linebackers
Pats Pulpit —
... R
59
Gary Guyton
ILB
6-3
242
11/14/1985
2
58
Pierre Woods
OLB/DE
6-5
250 ...
New England Patriots 53 man roster - some thoughts
Pats Pulpit —
... 25
DL: Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren, Jarvis Green, Ron Brace, Mike Wright, Myron Pryor (7) - Liking the depth, glad to see Pryor make the roster
DE/OLB: Derrick Burgess, Tully Banta-Cain (2) - Can you say, "4-3?" I knew you could. Here comes the pass rush.
LB: Adalius Thomas, Jerod Mayo, Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods, Eric Alexander, Rob Ninkovich (6) - Might be ...
New England Patriots Links 9/15/09 - Brady Leads Thrilling Comeback Over Bills
Pats Pulpit —
... , who jarred the ball a bit, followed by Pierre Woods, whose extra effort knocked the ball from McKelvin’s grasp. A pileup formed, but Gostkowski, at the back of it, wound up with the football. ...
Post Game Analysis: New England Patriots defeat Buffalo Bills, 25-24
Pats Pulpit —
... I mentioned fundamentals early in this post. This game was a shining example of that, ESPECIALLY the forced fumble on Leodis McElvin's kick return. Hindsight is 20/20 and Leodis should've kneed the ball in the endzone for a touchback and a guaranteed 20, but he didn't and a Pierre Woods fumble was recovered by ...
New York Jets Run Offense vs. New England Patriots Run Defense
Gang Green Nation —
... force safeties Brandon Merriweather and James Sanders to call the box home. Merriweather and Sanders are going to spend time in the box, but if the Jets run effectively, Bill Belichick will have to play there more than they want. It will open up a lot for Mark Sanchez, and the rookie looks like he can exploit it. Of the outside linebackers, Adalius Thomas is very good against the run, but Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess are strongest against the run. Pierre Woods did have a big game against the Jets last season.
I ...
Is Julius Peppers' lack of performance justifiable?
Cat Scratch Reader —
... FF
Peppers vs. Eagles: Vastly outperformed the performance average against Philadelphia. Julius doubled the number of tackles, had a third more than the average number of passes defended and had sacks and forced fumbles to the factor of three. He did his job, and more against Philadelphia.
Atlanta Falcons
Julius Peppers' performance: 2 Tackles
Other RE's/ROLB's who have faced the Falcons: Jason Taylor (MIA), Pierre Woods (NE)
Overall Performance Average: 1.3 Tackles, 0.33 ...
New York Jets Run Offense vs. New England Patriots Run Defense
Gang Green Nation —
... The Jets also need to focus their blocking schemes on Jerrod Mayo, the second year linebacker with 39 tackles in 6 games. He missed the first contest. New England has other quality run defenders at the linebacker position. Pierre Woods, a rotational player who had a big game in last year's visit to Foxborough, is one of them. So is ...
