What/Who do you credit for the Defence turning it around last season?

[G-Man67]

a lot of good debate on this topic ,,, i'm interested to see exactly what people credit for the defensive turnaround ... maybe pick 2 off the list</P>


1. Tuck getting his head together</P>


2. Fewell simplifying the D</P>


3. Boley, Osi, Tuck, Prince, Phillipsall getting healthy / healthier /re-healthy around the same point late in the season</P>


4. Players just getting in each others grilles and going WE CAN/WILL DO BETTER!! ... ALL-IN!!</P>


5. Fewell changing to a more aggressive style of play, strategically, not based on getting healthier ... maybe even Coughlin demanding changes from Fewell</P>


6. The offense improving therunning game, limiting turnovers and STs with Weatherford giving the D alittle better field position to defend from</P>


7. We didn't improve much... teams like the Jets and Atlanta and even NE weren't really playing all that well on offense esp. with theGronk hurting... Rodgers was a bit rusty ... Alex Smith isn't John Elway, etc.</P>

[smashndash715]

I would have to say 3...health was a big issue throughout most of the season and once we got everyone back we clicked

[chasjay]

From that list of selections, I go with #3 and #6

[burier]

Seriously unless you think Prince getting n the lineup was the difference then health is beside the point.

There was nothing wrong with Tuck to begin with.

If anything you could say that being UNhealthy helped us since Herz getting hurt lead to Blackburn getting signed which turned out to be an upgrade.

Other than that..I started to see less of the three man rush nonsense and guys like Canty and Joseph started playing better. Not healther but better.

We turned it up a notch down the stretch is all.

[ashleymarie]

#3. The momentum shifted to the Giants when everyone who wasnot upto snuffstepped back on the field. </P>

[steve12smith]

HEALTH.

once all of our defensive players started getting healthy and our best lineup we could put out there came together they started playing great. team got used to playing with each other instead of a different starting LB every week, Rolle covering slot WRs, Tuck playing thru injuries, etc.

[Bohemian]

[quote user="G-Man67"]

a lot of good debate on this topic ,,, i'm interested to see exactly what people credit for the defensive turnaround ... maybe pick 2 off the list</p>


1. Tuck getting his head together</p>


2. Fewell simplifying the D</p>


3. Boley, Osi, Tuck, Prince, Phillipsall getting healthy / healthier /re-healthy around the same point late in the season</p>


4. Players just getting in each others grilles and going WE CAN/WILL DO BETTER!! ... ALL-IN!!</p>


5. Fewell changing to a more aggressive style of play, strategically, not based on getting healthier ... maybe even Coughlin demanding changes from Fewell</p>


6. The offense improving therunning game, limiting turnovers and STs with Weatherford giving the D alittle better field position to defend from</p>


7. We didn't improve much... teams like the Jets and Atlanta and even NE weren't really playing all that well on offense esp. with theGronk hurting... Rodgers was a bit rusty ... Alex Smith isn't John Elway, etc.</p>[/quote]

I think that a combination of options 1 through 6 is the likely choice. 7 seems too unrealistic, but Gronk getting hurt in the playoffs certainly affected the Pats... specially after seeing what Vernon Davis did in the NFC championship against our defensive backs. Hernandez is a nice player, but not nearly as effective in stretching the field vertically.

All in all, that run to close the regular season was amazing.

[jakegibbs]

[quote user="G-Man67"]

a lot of good debate on this topic ,,, i'm interested to see exactly what people credit for the defensive turnaround ... maybe pick 2 off the list</P>


1.* Tuck getting his head together</P>


2.* Fewell simplifying the D</P>


3.* Boley, Osi, Tuck, Prince, Phillips*all getting healthy / healthier /*re-healthy around the same point late in the season</P>


4.* Players just getting in each others grilles and going WE CAN/WILL DO BETTER!!* ... ALL-IN!!</P>


5.* Fewell changing to a more aggressive style of play, strategically, not based on getting healthier ... maybe even Coughlin demanding changes from Fewell</P>


6.* The offense improving the*running game, limiting turnovers and STs with Weatherford giving the D a*little better field position to defend from</P>


7.* We didn't improve much*... teams like the Jets and Atlanta and even NE weren't really playing all that well on offense esp. with the*Gronk hurting*... Rodgers was a bit rusty ... Alex Smith isn't John Elway, etc.</P>[/quote]

8. SPY GATE it's been used before & worked against the greatest show on turf.

[yoeddy]

I would add "Rolle buying into the team concept" was a big factor...but #3 is probably a bigger factor...

[buddy33]

Nothing was wrong with Tuck? Was that supposed to be in red? He was absolutely hurting for a majority of the season and even had shoulder surgery since the season has ended.

For the final game of the season and the post season Tuck and Osi where finally on the field together payin at as about as healthy as they could be.