cupofjoe1962

We would probably have 3 more championships (2006, 2007, 2011) if we could stop our opponent from going the length of the field in the last 2 minutes.

The defense played great in the superbowl, right up until the Giants got
the ball for the last drive.

The samething happened in the AFC Championship game against the
Ravens. On their last drive Flacco marched the Ravens down the field.

onegr8om

This is frustrating and true. Remember back to our last Superbowl WIN vs Philly? That Patriots team SHUT the eagles DOWN when they had their last drive, ending iit with that INT by Rodney. The good news is i think we're close enough to just add a couple pieces and compete again, hopefully suring up that 2 minute D and getting us that Lombardi at LEAST one more time under Brady/Belichick.

MoLewisrocks

I think there is already an in depth thread discussing this.

Stopping the other team when they need to only pass

black&gold

Personally, I think it's defense between the 20 yard lines that does it, and the timing issue is just a symptom of that. Their inability to play man coverage is sort of masked when they get in the red zone and the secondary can use the end line to their advantage.

ATippett56

Our biggest problem .... the defense. Fixed it for ya!

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Hardboiled

You should remember that the Eagles scored on their previous drive. I don't know how much of a SHUT down it was. The Pats couldn't get a 1st down to seal the deal (sound familar). The Eagles got the ball back on their 4 with 46 seconds left. The interception was with 4 seconds left. If that pass was incomplete or even completed, the Eagles had no time to do anything.

So I wouldn't call the Eagles Super Bowl the exception. Carolina and St. Louis scored on their last drives.

But the point about the last drive is well-taken. But let me pose it in a different light. If you allow 17 points or 19 points in a game, does it really matter when you did?

If the Football Gods tap you on the shoulder and say, "The Giants offense will score 19 points." You might "Great!" But then the Football Gods add, "Also the Giants will score 6 on their final drive." You'd say, "So what?! It's only 19 points. Wait, hold on - how many points to we score?"

convertedpatsfan

It's amazing how the good old days look. Yeah, we stopped the Eagles on the last drive. But that wasn't exactly a shut-down performance by the D, which gave up 79 yards for a TD on the previous possession. It was a huge break for Westbrook to catch that pass as well, which forced them to chew up a lot of clock.

Think about the win over Carolina. The Panthers scored TDs on their final 3 drives of the game, even taking the lead for a brief moment.

Think about the win over the Rams. They scored on their final drive, outscoring us 14-3 in the 4th quarter before Brady led the team down the field for the winning field goal.

There's all this revisionist history that goes on when we compare championship teams to those that fell short, but the simple truth is we gave up 17 and 19 points in losses to the Giants, and 17, 21, and 29 points in victories.

Was the D better back in the day? Absolutely. More stars, more big plays. But is our current D the only one that had trouble stopping a hot QB in the 4th quarter of the last game of the year? Nope.

Deus Irae

Yes, because when points are scored can change a game just as total number scored can.

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condon84

Both defense and offense converting on crucial game ending plays are the problem. Brady completes that third down play against BMore and the defense doesn't have to go on the field again. Brady throws a better ball to Branch on that third down play after the Welker drop, the drive keeps going. While the defense deserves some blame, it's not like we didn't know they can't stop anyone when it counts. It's been that way for a couple of years. I'm more disappointed in Brady and the offense.

DonBlackmon55

So, let me get this straight...

It is the DEFENSE that was unable to stop the Giants on last drives in SB42 and 46 thus to be blamed for the losses

BUT

It is the DEFENSE that also to be blamed for the loss against the Colts where they were standing on the sidelines on the last drive when Brady had 1minute to go and get a tying FG, and he drives them down and throw an INT with 17 seconds left, inside Colts 45yard line where a safe sideline 10 yard completion or maybe even two gives them good chance to attempt tying FG. So, the D is to be blamed for the loss since Brady threw INT.

you even conveniently forget that Pats would not have made it to the AFCCG had it not been for Troy Brown strip of Mcree INT in the game against Chargers. Colving also intercepted Rivers and Pats O could not convert that. Mcree hangs onto that INT, and another loss for Pats, just like in 2006 season when Brady threw INT to Champ Bailey in playoff game - 101 yarder that effectively killed the Pats , and then another one to John Lynch to close out that loss. Or the Troy Brown muffed punt. Hey, the Pats D is to blame for that loss too, right.