Floundering Patriots defense needs Dont'a Hightower to take charge

The Patriots defense, as we are all well aware of at this point, has been wretched through the first three games of the season.

I mean, when Aaron Schatz of FootballOutsiders.com (a big Patriots fan) writes something that includes the words, "There's no way New England can be a Super Bowl contender if its defense continues playing this poorly," then you know things are bad.

Even with what we've seen in years past, when slow starts and soft coverages are the norms for the Patriots in the early stages of seemingly every season, this is something altogether different. For the Patriots to be last in the league in yards and points (31.7), something's not right.

We're used to the yards. The Patriots trademarked the bend in "bend-but-don't-break defense" way before they stamped Blitz For Six as their own. Bill Belichick would trade an 80-yard drive for a field goal every single time. We've gotten used it and rationalized it because the Patriots were always in the top half of the league in scoring defense. "Suckers. You think yards or third-down conversions matter? Pfft. Points baby. They don't declare winners by total yardage; it's points." 

And, by the end of the season, the Patriots usually prove the critics wrong. I learned my lesson in 2011 when Belichick took basically an Island of Misfit defensive players (Julian Edelman covered Anquan Boldin in the AFC Championship Game for crying out loud) and nearly won a Super Bowl. That collection of stink allowed 26.3 points in the first three games, and by the end of the season they were 31st in yards (bend) but 15th in scoring at 21.4 (don't break).

There is little doubt in my mind this defense is twice as good as the '11 version. Yes, they're thin, the linebackers leave something to be desired and the pass rush is middling. But Alan Branch (whenever he decides to play), Malcom Brown and Lawrence Guy are a very good interior group. Trey Flowers is almost a star, and the essential players in the secondary are playing their third season together and added The Thirteen Million Dollar Man in Stephon Gilmore from the Bills.

But if there's one thing missing, one thing that can pull the unit together and turn the defense from downtrodden to formidable — like they should be — it's No. 54.

This is Dont'a Hightower's defense. It's time for him, in his expected return to the lineup today against the Panthers, to take charge of the unit and whip them into shape. There is no one more vital to this unit. And even though it has survived without him in the past for stretches, they need him more than ever.

With all apologies to Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon, who were also voted captains by the teammates, Hightower is the straw that stirs the drink. He keeps the trains running up front and communicates what's going on to the back end. He knows when someone's out of place and barks them into proper alignment. It's great that Kyle Van Noy wore the green dot after Hightower went out in the opener, but he doesn't have the skins on the wall that Hightower does, and he certainly doesn't know the scheme as well as The Captain. The Patriots were a communications mess in the opener with Van Noy in the middle instead of Hightower, who started on the edge. The Patriots coaches thought, and it was understandable, they could get better with Hightower rushing the quarterback and Van Noy holding the fort in the middle. And then it blew up in their face.

What Hightower observed from the sidelines must have made him sick. This was his defense, the one he starred on making this play in Super Bowl XLIX, and then this one in Super Bowl LI to win titles. Now it's being made a mockery of.



It's time to quit screwing around. It's time for Hightower to be back where he belongs in the middle of the Patriots' defense with the green dot.

The Patriots need his smarts. They need his tough and physical play, which is sorely lacking on this soft unit. They his leadership and reputation to get into Branch's face and say, "Enough's enough. It's time for you to start balling out like you can." Van Noy can't do that. Hightower can and will.

"He's made a lot of big plays for us," Belichick said of Hightower this offseason. "He’s got good leadership on and off the field. He’s a very smart player, has been in a lot of big games, been in a lot of big situations. He’s got a good demeanor, good even-keel poise and presence: not too high, not too low, but is able to make good decisions, have good communication, recognize situations and help other players around him do that or do it with him. Yeah, he’s a key player for us."

Hightower is the alpha male on this defense. Everyone orbits around him. You've seen how they have played without him, now it's time for him to return to where he belongs and stake his territory in the middle of the unit, where he can keep everyone in check.

Then we'll get a look at where this Patriots' defense really is. Here's guessing it will look a lot better. Hightower makes that much of a difference.