shakadave

When we acquired AD, there were numerous stories in the sports media about how now Belichick has an extra toy in his arsenal, so that our LBs will play all these confusing schemes, and opposing QBs will have fits.

Now, given that our defense is not quite as highly ranked as usual in recent years (based on points allowed) I ask: Has this been happening?

On a related note, AD was seen as the single most obvious answer we could find to the Dallas-Clark-in-the-AFCCG problem. Now I read that he probably can't cover Clark, so we'll do something else. Anyone have insight on how AD is playing compared to his billing? And on what this should mean in this weekend's Colts matchup?

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RayClay

Our defense is fine. Points allowed? Have you been watching the games? We score 40-50 points these days.

The defense is playing prevent defense allowing teams to run the clock down and score rather than giving up quick hits which could possibly allow them to score the 20-40 points they need.

At this point, Adalius is going to be more confused than the offense when the schemes get too fancy. That crazy stuff takes a lot of time to do without revealing a glaring weakness.

He's got great athleticism, though and that will shine through.

Our scheming D should peak when it counts since we have so many vets to work with A.D.

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Deus Irae

2007 Patriots: 15.9 ppg (#5)
2006 Patriots: 14.8 ppg (#2)
2005 Patriots: 21.1 ppg (#17)
2004 Patriots: 16.2 ppg (#2)
2003 Patriots: 14.9 ppg (#1)
2002 Patriots: 21.6 ppg (#17)
2001 Patriots: 17.0 ppg (#26)

This shows me two things. The first is the relatively consistent defense this team puts on the field, giving up between 14.8 and 16.2 ppg for 4 of the 7 years. The second is that people are still overhyping the supposed negatives about this team. The defense is currently ranked 5th and is allowing its 3rd lowest ppg of the Super Bowl era, yet people are acting as if the defense has been disappointing.

gomezcat

I agree with your comments about the D and find the negative comments completely baffling. If you want to know how good the D is this year, fast forward through the Skins game.
I watched most of the game at a later point and was really struck by how little time they spent on the field. The one team that has looked, at any point, like it might beat us is Dallas.
I would say that one of the biggest improvements has been in the secondary where the communication appears to have improved massively. As far as I can see, the number of blown coverages has reduced in comparison to the last two or three years.
Of course, Manning and the Colts will test that secondary to destruction tomorrow...

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Mack Herron

Excellent post. Another point is that the Pats typically improve over the season, and with Seymour and Rodney getting their sea legs, the best is yet to come.

BWareofDWare

I'm thinking there's no way 17 points in 01 was good for 26th in the league? Might have been 6th?

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sarge

I think when he shows the ranking, that is the overall defensive ranking which is ranked by yards allowed and for some reason I think skips points all together.

I remembered that in 2001 that the Pats where in the bottom half for defensive rankings but in the top 5 for points allowed.

satz

Remember in past year the defence was tuned into stopping the offence and giving back the ball to the offence. They are playing 40% of the game full tilt and go into preventive mode the rest of the game .
Hence the stats are messed up.,

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FloridaPatsFan

Also, Adalius was moved from outside LB (at Baltimore) to inside LB for us. Perhaps, he is still making the adjustment on reads but otherwise, I don't see offenses running at his side very often. They go at Bruschi or Seau more often.

BelichickFan

Additionally, the 15.9 PPG is skewed to the second half when we have huge leads. We're allowing 6 PPG per first half; a rate of 12 PPG for the whole game. And that's with no Seymour and for more than half with no Harrison.