Will Aqib Talib have an immediate effect for the Patriots?
“I think he can make a significant impact on the outside,” Lombardi said. “This week against the Colts, it’s a little different game because the Colts have a couple of those receivers who have quickness and vertical speed in [Donnie] Avery and T.Y. Hilton so they’re not really the matchup for Talib. But certainly I think he can help on outside. What it will allow the Patriots to do is, if you really break down Patriots tape, the middle of the defense — the ‘backers, the safeties — this is where they’re getting killed more than anything. … Get more speed on the field at linebacker, try to create some more situations where there is more depth in the zone drops, something that didn’t happen last week.”
I'm not really going to worry about Talib yet. Of course, if he has an awesome game I will probably go nuts, but if not I would just chalk it up to him not playing football for awhile.
I'm just not ready to believe that this defense is one player away from becoming an even mediocre defense. I think, at best, they can be a team thats ranked somewhere around 24th in the league.
The secondary isn't the only problem on this team. They have limitations at nearly every spot. Their best safety used to also be their best cornerback. Their other starting corners, before Talib, were an undrafted rookie and a seventh round pick. Their linebackers are all stout against the run but are poor pass defenders. Their defensive line cannot generate a pass rush - outside of one player.
Everyone wants to make it all about the secondary, like there's one issue on this team. You don't get ranked near the bottom of the league in defense because of just one issue. It's a team game and there's eleven players on the field.
Talib can not magically turn the defense around even if he has a Pro Bowl caliber second half. There's still glaring weaknesses at nearly all the other spots. Will Talib help? Hell yeah. Do I think the trade was worth it? Yes, absolutely.
However, I don't want to raise my expectations now to the point that I think can be elite on defense. It's just not true. There are too many other problems.
