RADIO
Patriots Defense 2020 Outlook: Stability in Secondary, New Faces Elsewhere
5 years agoThe Patriots Defense lost Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, Danny Shelton, and Duron Harmon. While Belichick's scheme is fairly plug-and-play, the elite 2019 defense should not be expected to repeat in 2020. For starters, their first-half schedule was a cake walk with their AFC East counterparts, Redskins, Giants and Browns. The unit didn't crumble in the much tougher second-half but showed cracks. Elite coverage carried them but that is hard to translate year-to-year even with consistency in the back-end. Their pass-rushing talent is mediocre, even with the addition of Josh Uche this year and Chase Winovich in 2019. Dont'a Hightower is maybe the most unheralded player in the league and even he is not good enough to cover every hole that will open up with the downgrades around him. Do not pay full price for last year's Patriots defense, it is not worth it.
