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They play very well within the scheme. No argument there.
But if anyone in the front 7 other than Hightower were to be put on IR tomorrow you'd see absolutely zero drop-off.
It's what I was trying to tell people last year talking about the guys in the Chiefs front 7. Make it about the scheme and longevity with regard to salary cap and not so much about highlight reel players.
What Belichik has done is mastered the salary cap from an analytics perspective defensively.
Even if your front 7 is as talented as the chicago bears you still need guys that can cover. At some point it becomes cost prohibitive and you end up with a very uneven roster.
Belichik puts big run stoppers at every position in the front 7, and big run stoppers can be found cheap. There's really not a single freaky athlete anywhere in that front but they are all difficult to move. The secondary is actually very talented though and most players would start for any team.
So you defend the run via personnel, defend the pass via having good coverage guys, and get pressure via scheme & coverage. Add it all up and it's a very high value defense.
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