Never judge a book by its cover

11.13.08 11:10PM

Things are never as they appear to be
Unnamed Jets player cowardly calls out Pats defense

A member of the New York Jets offensive unit told New York Post columnist Mark Cannizzaro, in today’s newspaper, the Patriots defense was “vulnerable.” In addition to saying they were vulnerable, he added the Pats were “slow and old.” The player did not want to go on the record because he was afraid of giving New England bulletin board material.

Now I will agree the Patriots are vulnerable in the defensive secondary but some of the other things I have been hearing about the Patriots defense is malarkey and this takes the cake. Once I heard the nonsense the same nonsense, referred to by the national commentators about the Pats defense, come out of a Jets player’s mouth, I knew I had to comment.

First off, this is stupid on the Jets player's part. Just because you did not put a name to the comment does not mean it is not going be going on the Patriots locker room bulletin board? Where is that logic? The Pats will use any verbal threat against them no matter who said. All you did Mr. Anonymous Jet was throw your entire team under the bus because the Patriots will just go for the jugular and step on the throats of the entire Jets team than go after one play like they did to Anthony Smith of Pittsburgh last year.

And secondly, the myth of the Patriots defense is old is nothing more than a fallacy. Many national commentators and fans like to believe this myth because for the last five years, the five corps members of the Patriot defense have played together for the last five straight years. But in reality does that make the defense older? Like Jamie Hyneman, from the TV show Mythbusters, I was set out to dispel the notion New England was an aging defense and succeeded.

Much like the Red Sox have been doing recently of incorporating the younger guys with the veterans, the Patriots patented the trend. They started on the defensive line because every defense starts with the front line. If there are holes, the size a tractor trailer can pass through in the front line, then the opposition’s artillery will easily run right through. In 2001 Bill Belichick drafted a young 22-year old defensive end out of a Georgia, Richard Seymour and inserted him into a line of veterans. Two years later, Belichick did the same with 2003 first round pick, Ty Warren and the next year with Vince Wilfork. Now here we are five years later, with the same front three still all under the age of 30.

Sure Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel are getting up there in age but this past off-season Belichick made it a point to get young on defense. With the 10^th overall pick in this year’s draft, Patriots selected the 22-year-old out of Tennessee, Jerod Mayo, who is currently leading the team in tackles through nine games. In one sense the Patriots are slow; they are slowly incorporating youth with the veterans. It is the only way to re-build their franchise without looking like they are re-building

It is the M.O. of a championship team. They are constantly rebuilding their system like at the college level. Did the Red Sox look old this past year? Yes. They had an aging and diminishing catcher, third baseman and designated hitter that are the face of the franchise. But after incorporating Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Masterson and Jed Lowrie with the good group of veterans each of the last four years, they have two World Championships to show for it. Belichick is no different.

When it comes to football, Belichick’s heartless. He knows there is no room for loyalties when winning is at stake. It is a cruel "what have you done for me lately" business. He released Lawyer Milloy, a player who Belichick liked so much, back before the season in 2003 when he thought the safety no longer could help the team. He let Ty Law, now with the hated Jets, and Willie McGinnest walk when their skills were diminishing. And every time he let a player go, either on defense, offense or special teams, more times than not, Belichick has made the right move.

It may appear to the casual football fan the Patriots are getting older on the defensive side of the ball but you have too look a little closer and go deep into the endzone to see the truth. The average age of the Patriots defense, at 27.6 years of age, is not just younger than the offense (28.1) but they are younger than the Jets defense (27.7) on the other side of the field. So I sign off once again digging through the memory bank to the days of elementary school to “never judge a book by its cover” because on the inside things are not always as they appear to be on the outside.