New England Patriots LBs Mayo, Spikes, Hightower Leading Defensive Turnaround

September 23, 2012   ·   Randolph Charlotin   ·   Jump to comments

At the heart of a great Bill Belichick defense has always been the linebackers. He coached formidable units as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants (Lawrence Taylor, Pepper Johnson and Carl Banks), as head coach of the New York Jets (Johnson, Mo Lewis and Bryan Cox) and the dynasty New England Patriots (Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest).
Based on first impressions, Belichick has done it again. Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and Dont’a Hightower have been great together upon assembly. With the trio leading the way, the defense is ranked seventh or higher in all three yards-allowed categories and fourth in points allowed after two games.
With the defense under a lot of scrutiny to improve dramatically from last year, it has responded thanks to the combined contributions of the SEC trio. And with them being so young (Mayo is 26, Spikes 25 and Hightower 22), they could be together for a long time.
Collegiate rivalries haven't kept them from develo...

Read Complete Article at Bleacher Report - NFL
Article is property of BleacherReport.com