"General manager Martin Mayhew acknowledged that the defense crumbled a bit down the stretch but said Thursday that he didn't think an overhaul was in order.

"I like our defense," he said. "We didn't finish the season the way we would have liked, but our defense did a lot of good things this year."

He ticked off the accomplishments:

* Seven defensive touchdowns, the most since 1937.

* Forty-one sacks.

* Twenty-one interceptions.

* Thirteen fumble recoveries.

"We made a ton of plays," he said. "We would like to shore some things up as far as stopping the run.""