New England's defense is the foundation of this team. Always has been, always will be. It would be a disservice to equate them to vanilla, because they have a certain pizzazz all their own. Let's call them rocky road - an ice cream with an edge, loaded with flavor and little hidden surprises that are pleasing to the football palate.
Here's one thing that's been constant with this defense: They set the tone by preventing opponents from scoring on the opening drive. It has been 10 weeks now and not one team has found the end zone on its maiden offensive series. The Patriots are the only team that can claim this distinction.
Opponents wearily point to the same characteristic week in and week out: versatility. When Indianapolis was in the midst of its preparation for New England in the biggest regular-season game of the past decade, do you think it ever occurred to the Colts to focus on exploiting a nickel defense? Why would it? The Patriots under Belichick are a team that traditionally sets up in a 3-4 alignment. And yet, in the biggest game of the year, New England completely altered its strategy. It was a risky gamble, but it paid off because the Patriots have the personnel who are intelligent enough and versatile enough to adjust on the fly.
They mixed it up again Sunday against Buffalo, sprinkling in a 4-3 alignment and bringing Adalius Thomas in from the edge to pressure J.P. Losman. Buffalo's young QB was sacked four times (2 1/2 by Thomas).
"You can watch them on film and you can watch them on tape as much as you want," said Losman with a sigh, "but every game they are going to do something new. They are going to find out what you are doing and counter it - and I'm talking about on the next series."
