4-3 or Bust? The New England Patriots and Their New-Look Defense

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for NFLSportChannel.com

Published: August 22, 2009

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... game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

After displaying a four-man front almost exclusively in the first game, I went back and looked at the tape of their second game against the Bengals in order to decipher what kind of defense they'll ultimately run this season—and what it might mean for an old war horse suddenly finding himself without a position to play.

Looking at the first half of the game, when most of the Patriots and Bengals starters remained in the game, the Patriots switched between the 3-4 and the 4-3, sometimes within the same series.

Here's the breakdown:

First Bengals possession: 12 plays, with just three down linemen in 10 of them

Second Bengals possession: five plays, all but one run with three down linemen

Third Bengals possession: 10 plays, all run from the 4-3 base

Fourth Bengals possession: one play, ...

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