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On the way into work this morning I heard a national analyst talking about every fanboy's favorite subject...power rankings!
He asked how the Pats could be in the Top 5 with that putrid defense and that some power rankings had them as high as #2 behind the Packers. His next statement is what got me thinking and ultimately led to this thread.
He stated that Green Bay is clearly #1 and then went on to list several other teams in order; before returning his attention back to the Pats, once again putting the low ranking on the Pats defensive play.
Now, I don't particularly give two ****s about power rankings. But I do know that most people consider Green Bay to be the best team in the league, which is well deserved coming off a Super Bowl win and opening the season 7-0.
But, I have watched everyone of Green Bay's games, and without stats to prove it, I didn't think the Packers defense was any better than ours. I thought everything that is said about the Pats defense could easily be said about the Packers defense (can't get off the field on 3rd down, terrible against the pass, decent against the run, hold teams to FG's in the red zone etc...).
So, I decided to go through the stats just to see if my observations were accurate. Come to find out, I couldn't have been closer to the truth....
Because of the formatting here is how to read the info below:
1. I listed the team's defensive averages and league rankings at the top
2. Then I listed each teams opponents offensive ranking in four categories (total passing, total rushing, Total offense and Points Per Game scored)
3. Then I listed each opponents offensive average for the season in parenthesis followed by the total season average of the opponents and where that average would rank league wide.
4. Opponent record for each team (includes games played against GB and NE)
Here is the raw data:
Green Bay
Passing: 290 (31st)
Rushing: 102 (10th)
Total: 391 (28th)
3rd down: 43% (22nd)
PPG 20 (9th)
(Opp season Averages) (Total Avg/would be league rank)
PPG (15.3; 23; 30.1; 22.9; 24.6; 22.3; 22) (22.817th)
Total (318.9; 399.4;380.1;365.6;300.1; 394.3;388.8) (363.913th)
Rush (116.9; 116; 140.6; 159.3;92.4;114.7; 115.4) (122.110th)
Pass (202;283.4;239.6;206.3;207.7;279.6;273.4) (241.712th)
Opp Record: 26-24
My point here for those wondering, is that the "best team in the league" has the exact same flaw that we have. Every team in the league is hurting somewhere. The Eagles O-line is garbage, LB's suck. The Ravens have Flacco and a mind numbing reluctance to run the football. The Steelers O-line leaves a lot to be desired and have LB's dropping like flies due to injury, not mention Big Ben's love affair with turnovers in big games. The Packers defense is a liability. New England's Defense is a liability. I could go on.
I have stayed away from posting this week because this place becomes unbearable after a loss. From garbage like "Maybe Bill Walsh was right" and other threads, one would think this was a 2-5 team coming off a loss to the Rams at home.
We lost to the defending AFC champions on the road by 8 points, playing the worst football we have played all season. The putrid defense held the Steelers to 6 points in the second half. The offense struggled to adjust to the surprising man pressure etc.... it was one loss get over it.
I think far to many people only watch the Pats play on Sunday, then watch highlights on ESPN of the other games. And then listen to uninformed opinions from the talking heads, like my example above.
Maybe they even go as far as comparing these Pats with Patriot teams of the early 2000's; which were one of the most efficient, and well disciplined football teams to ever step on to a football field. Then come to the conclusion that this team isn't good enough to win it all.
The only thing that is relevant now, is how they stack up against the other 31 teams in the league this year. And coming from someone that watches every game, every week, this team stacks up really well!
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I think it's a lot of fans blindly following whatever the media tells them, and right now the Packers are flavor of the month. My guess is that once the Packers lose a game or two the tide will quickly turn and some of these very same analysts that are hyping them today will label them as overrated tomorrow.
I haven't seen every game like you have but from the games of theirs that I have seen I had the same identical impression. Thanks for taking the time to pull those stats together.
Packers have played crap teams..I love how people just ignore these things
__________________ "The people who are claiming that the Pats are dead are the same ones who would go up and check if Jason Voorhees is "really" dead by leaning over his body." -Someone at jetnation.
Packers have played crap teams..I love how people just ignore these things
This is off-topic, but related to this. People are talking about Rodgers as a legitimate candidate to set the passer rating record. What they don't realize is that he hasn't faced a top-half passer rating defense yet, and he won't until he plays the Lions.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fake Nate Ebner
No big deal...only took me 3 defensive plays to be drafted before Tom Brady
Packers have lost Collins and Cullen Jenkins...those guys were big pieces in that last years D.
They are still better than our D though.
Based on what? The stats tell you they are nearly identical against similarly ranked offenses. Actually, the Packers defense is ranked 31st in the league in passing against an opponent average passing yardage per game that would rank 24th in the league. The Pats opponents on the other hand would rank 12th.
So once again please explain what makes GB's defense better?
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Hey, Bill you're wasting Brady's prime years......oh wait.... To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
stating that the packers are 31st and the patriots 32nd and acting like theyre sooo close isnt telling the true story. the patriots allow almost 40 more passing yards per game than the packers, have fewer turnovers, and the packers have a passer rating against of 70 versus the patriots' 92
i wont get into how much more talented the Packers are at DB cause i really Dont care cause come playoff time the Packers have to face the Giants Saints and 49ers to get to the SB not the Ravens Jets steelers and the up and comeing Texans who have Arian Foster Andre Johnson Matt Schaub and a top 5 defense,
out of the NFC playoff teams right now only the 49ers have a top 10 defense every AFC playoff team other then the Bills has a top 10 defense and they pitched a shut-out last week, what does that mean ? no team in the NFC will hold the Packers under 25 points maybe the 49ers but they Dont have the passing game to beat the packers... the pats have not beat a team with a winning record this year when scoreing under 25 points and every team in the AFC has the talent to hold the pats under 25 and they all have the passing game to light up this defense
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GB vs NE Defensively
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