Bill Belichick is master of game planning based off match ups

Kyle Arrington defends a pass, via NESN

Alfonzo Dennard was inactive for Sunday's game against the Bears, and Kyle Arrington only saw the field 9 times (He only saw it once against the Jets).

Don't read too much into this. Dennard is a smaller cornerback, still dealing with some injuries, going up against big physical receivers. Big receivers and Dennard don't exactly mix, while Browner dominates them. Leaving Dennard out makes room for linebacker depth, which was needed.

Kyle Arrington is best at the inside corner position against slot receivers...the Bears aren't exactly full of those, and neither are the Jets, so it's not surprising he didn't see much of the field in those games.

This isn't a sign that Belichick is unhappy with these players, but rather about the matchup week to week. Bill tries to utilize the strong points of each player, so why throw Dennard or Arrington out there against big physical receivers? That wouldn't make sense.

Belichick focuses on week to week match ups, so let's take a look at the Denver receivers and who we might see on who.

-Julius Thomas: We could see Brandon Browner put on Thomas. The bigger the guy, the better Browner does.

-Demaryius Thomas: Darrelle Revis. Best corner on best receiver. Simple.

-Emmanuel Sanders: This could be Logan Ryan, Alfonzo Dennard, or even Malcolm Butler. This is tricky because those three cornerbacks are similar. One of the three will likely be inactive, leaving a rotation of two guys on Sanders.

-Wes Welker: Remember earlier when I mentioned that Kyle Arrington is best against slot receivers, this is likely where we'll see Arrington. If Welker is on the field a lot, expect to see Arrington on the field more often than he has been in past weeks...simply because of the match ups.

Bill Belichick is notorious for employing different players based on match ups, so don't look too much into a player not seeing the field as much. The only time that should draw attention, obviously, is if Bill pulls a player from the game if he's playing poorly.

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-Brian Thibodeau

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