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The Titans were abysmal at the time the Patriots played them. Now? Not so much now, as you see by the points scored. The Buccaneers had a different starting quarterback in, and he was not better than Freeman. The Dolphins no longer have Ronnie Brown or Chad Pennington. The Patriots defense allowed Mark Sanchez to beat them.
When this is what's happening, the rankings become useless without context.
Let's just look at the Titans for the most obvious example:
10
31
17
17
9
0
That's the scoring for them to start the season, and up to the Patriots game, where they clearly quit on the game very early on.
30
34
41
20
20
17
That's the scoring for them since. So the Titans have gone from scoring an average of 14 ppg up to the Patriots game to an average of 33.7 ppg since.
To say the Patriots have given up the 7th fewest points is accurate. To say the Patriots have the #7 defense in the NFL is not. It's a below average defense.
Yeah and I don't think Kyle Orton and the Broncos are quite as good now as they were at the beginning of the season. Also Falcons opponents now are enjoying life without Michael Turner and Matt Ryan while we had to face both healthy. Weren't the Dolphins 0-3 before Henne took over, and now back in the playoff hunt? You can talk talk talk and make excuses either way but the #'s are right there. Our strength of schedule is on par with the rest of the league and we're 7th in PPG, deal with it.
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For any apoligists that are out there, ask yourself this. Do you trust the defense with the game in their hands? That tells you how good they are, just answer it.
Yeah and I don't think Kyle Orton and the Broncos are quite as good now as they were at the beginning of the season. Also Falcons opponents now are enjoying life without Michael Turner and Matt Ryan while we had to face both healthy. Weren't the Dolphins 0-3 before Henne took over, and now back in the playoff hunt? You can talk talk talk and make excuses either way but the #'s are right there. Our strength of schedule is on par with the rest of the league and we're 7th in PPG, deal with it.
I am dealing with it, because I look at stats in context. Feel free to listen to the analysts, both local and national, rather than just sticking your fingers in your ears and screaming "7th in PPG!". It's a below average defense. That's just the reality of the situation. Pretending it's better than that isn't going to make it better, and it's not going to change the 7-5 record miraculously into 11-1.
p.s.
Denver up to the Patriots' game: 19.8 ppg
Denver post Patriots game: 20.1 ppg
P.P.S. Dolphins first 3 opponents: Falcons, Colts, Chargers
6-6 and the only team with a winning record that they've beaten is the Patriots.
__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius
For any apoligists that are out there, ask yourself this. Do you trust the defense with the game in their hands? That tells you how good they are, just answer it.
Belichick doesn't. (see 4th and 2)
__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius
Well than there ya go. This isn't close to a top ten defense. They're awesome against **** teams, but when that game is on the line, you just know those huge completions are comin' fast.
I am dealing with it, because I look at stats in context. Feel free to listen to the analysts, both local and national, rather than just sticking your fingers in your ears and screaming "7th in PPG!". It's a below average defense. That's just the reality of the situation. Pretending it's better than that isn't going to make it better, and it's not going to change the 7-5 record miraculously into 11-1.
I don't listen to analysts. And I dont use this ranking to tell me it's an elite defense. But it definitely says it's not as bad a defense as many of you claim. Unless you've watched every game of each of the other 31 defenses which I doubt any of you have, how can you even be so sure how it stacks up according to what you see?
Moving from 7 to 14-16 seems a bit extreme. 10-12 seems more reasonable.
IN ANY CASE, having the #7 defense or the #10 or even the #14 is NOT terrible.
Top 10? Please. 10-12 or 14-16? Who cares? This defense almost always lets down when it matters most, and has for some time (even against the likes of Orton, Henne & Sanchez). I understand that this defense is not the defense of the last few years, so I guess we have to give it more time - but, I don't think things will change until we get some pass rushers. This is a passing rushing league now, the DB's are less important (unless you have a Revis - I hate to admit). The Saints beat us with CB's that were furniture movers the week before.
You're right. The offense can't score more than 3.5 points in the last half of games, half of which were set up by the defense of special.
The defense needs to be one of the top 3 defense in the league to be expected to win when the offense is not scoring any points at all in the second half. Thid would need to be a special kind of defense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb6592
Top 10? Please. 10-12 or 14-16? Who cares? This defense almost always lets down when it matters most, and has for some time (even against the likes of Orton, Henne & Sanchez). I understand that this defense is not the defense of the last few years, so I guess we have to give it more time - but, I don't think things will change until we get some pass rushers. This is a passing rushing league now, the DB's are less important (unless you have a Revis - I hate to admit). The Saints beat us with CB's that were furniture movers the week before.
Re: Patriots have a Top 10 defense
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