Patriots Defense Has Locked Down When It's Counted

[PatsFans.com Article]

Patriots Defense Has Locked Down When It's Counted
By: Christine Roy

The defense may not be the best, but they've come through when it's counted.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS STORY​

 

[MSU]

Minus the first Bills game and against the Giants. Which is somewhat worrisome because they'll be playing Manning tier QBs in the playoffs, not Matt Moore or Fitzpatrick.

 

[The_Riddler]

Telling you right now, getting Chung and Spikes back is going to make a huge difference with this defense. I am loving what I am seeing out of Sterling Moore at CB. Kid is physical and is always around the football and it stuck out even more after I just watched the Replay on the Network.

Two cold weather games at Foxboro and our defense is getting healthy and we're finding some nice gems in the tall grass. I believe this defense will step up. They're generating TO's and they'll build off of that shutout performance for last 3 quarters.

Opportunistic D combined with this scary offense is the same recipe that the Saints used to take out the Colts for the hardware. We can be that team.

 

[jmt57]

Minus the first Bills game and against the Giants. Which is somewhat worrisome because they'll be playing Manning tier QBs in the playoffs, not Matt Moore or Fitzpatrick.

Yes, if you focus on the team's weakest unit's worst games then you will find reason to be worried. Same holds true for the eleven other playoff teams, and their weakest unit's worst games.


Let's get through the AFC first and worry about the potential opposing Super Bowl quarterback later. I think I would put Andy Dalton, Tim Tebow, T.J. Yates (or Jake Delhomme), Joe Flacco and a gimpy, one-legged Ben Roethlisberger a whole lot closer to Moore and Fitzpatrick than to Manning.

 

[MSU]

Yes, if you focus on the team's weakest unit's worst games then you will find reason to be worried. Same holds true for the eleven other playoff teams, and their weakest unit's worst games.


Let's get through the AFC first and worry about the potential opposing Super Bowl quarterback later. I think I would put Andy Dalton, Tim Tebow, T.J. Yates (or Jake Delhomme), Joe Flacco and a gimpy, one-legged Ben Roethlisberger a whole lot closer to Moore and Fitzpatrick than to Manning.

I was just sayin'. I like our chances this year, but calling this defense clutch (or "lock down") is a little premature.

 

[Rob0729]

I think this defense gets too much unwarranted crap. I don't think it is a good defense, but it has shown it can be as good as any defense at times. Their biggest problem is consistency, not that they always suck.

 

[supafly]

I think this defense gets too much unwarranted crap. I don't think it is a good defense, but it has shown it can be as good as any defense at times. Their biggest problem is consistency, not that they always suck.

Right. They do not "suck," but they do lack consistency.

Well said.

 

[Keyser Söze]

That Indy game still bothers me. And don't give me that bs "garbage time"

 

[Rob0729]

Right. They do not "suck," but they do lack consistency.

Well said.

Well, then the offense sucks too because they lack consistency too. The offense has always started out crappy for first quarter to half of games since midseason. There is a difference between sucking and lacking consistency. The reason both the Dolphins and Bills got off to huge shutout leads in the first quarter wasn't all on the defense.

 

[supafly]

Well, then the offense sucks too because they lack consistency too. There is a difference between sucking and lacking consistency.

???

No, I am agreeing with you.

 

[supafly]

Their biggest problem is consistency, not that they always suck.

Isn't this exactly what you just said?

How is my saying that they "lack consistency" and do not suck any different?

 

[Rob0729]

???

No, I am agreeing with you.

Sorry, I thought you were being sarcastic. Sorry, my bad.

 

[Rob0729]

That Indy game still bothers me. And don't give me that bs "garbage time"

It is disconcerning that the Pats would lay down in garbage time like that, but it was garbage time. The Pats pulled starters from both sides of the ball including replacing Brady for Hoyer. The Pats played the fourth quarter like the garbage time it was, but they definitely shouldn't have gotten rolled over like that. But the offense takes part of the blame there because they didn't do anything to run down the clock and just went three and out.

 

[supafly]

Sorry, I thought you were being sarcastic. Sorry, my bad.

No, I know it wasn't ground-breaking additions to your statement, but I just thought you had really hit it on the head and didn't have much more to add.

I do think that you are totally right. I think the defense has proven very worthy at times, hell we've seen it with our own eyes. I think the problem is exactly what you claim...that they are just up and down at times.

 

[deroc5050]

Right. They do not "suck," but they do lack consistency.

Well said.

Semantics lol how ever being a Pats fan I agree

 

[supafly]

Semantics lol how ever being a Pats fan I agree

Looking over it again, I can see how he took it for sarcasm.

I may say "I don't agree with you," or even "you've got to be kidding me," but straight up nasty sarcasm just isn't my style

Back to the topic at hand--I think that by stopping the other team when it mattered (granted, not every single time, but we've certainly seen examples) the team has proven that they can get it done when it matters.

The other side of the coin of course, is that they have also looked pretty bad at times too. It's certainly been a Jeckyll and Hyde type season for the defense, no doubt about that...For example:

Just think of the first 3 games, and the porous defense giving up a ton of points and yards. Then they improve dramatically, hold Dallas to 16, and look very nice against the NYJ. Then they look bad again vs PIT and the NYG, parlayed with the 2 game losing streak.

Then they look improved again, with nice performances against KC, PHI, and the second NYJ game. There was a point during the first 3 quarters of the IND game where they looked downright dominant.

Then the fourth quarter collapse vs IND, followed by giving up 27 to WAS, and the horrible first quarter to DEN.

Followed by the stifling last 3 quarters of the DEN game, only to look horrible again giving up a 17-0 lead to MIA. Then they looked real good again, closing out the MIA game in the second half, only to look absolutely horrible vs BUF in the first quarter...they then closed the season out with a 3 quarter shutout of the Bills.

????

I don't remember seeing such stifling performances at times, only to be reminded that they can look awful in the process too.

Consistency was a key word, and Rob described it best. We've got to be consistent, at least more consistent than in the regular season.

This season also reminded many of us that the whole 60 minutes of an NFL game means exactly that, 60 minutes...

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

This is a different animal....this is the playoffs and not the scrubs of the last 8 weeks.

Out of the next game..and hopefully 2 games to play,there is going to be times where the offense gets controlled by the opposing defense and it could last longer than 2 quarters.

This is the point where the defense has to take over and cover the offense's struggles by keeping the game within reach.

This will be the point in the game where the game will be won or lost depending on the defense doing thier part to give the offense a chance to pull out the win.

The defense WILL have exposure and WILL have to do thier part when the offense isn't scoring points in bunches.

And it's at that very time when we will know if the team is worthy of going to Indy in February or not.

 

[goheels22002]

Not much work went into that piece.

A better defensive indicator is that the Patriots lead the AFC in takeaways at plus 17 and are third in the NFL behind only - you guessed it - Green Bay and San Francisco.

The Ravens are a measly +2 and the Steelers are the worst in the AFC at -13. The Steelers enter the playoffs as a mess with Roethlisberger hobbling and Mendenhall out.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I think this defense gets too much unwarranted crap. I don't think it is a good defense, but it has shown it can be as good as any defense at times. Their biggest problem is consistency, not that they always suck.

Actually, they have been exceedingly consistent.

When there is a big lead. Go into some sort of prevent mode and give up yardage.

Chade Henne, Jason Campbell, Mark Sanchez, Vince Young, Dan Orlovsky all have career days and..............get blown out.

I went back through the season and looked at the second half where they were up 4 scores and the fourth quarter up by 2 scores.

Totals: 88 minutes, 66 points, 1252 yards.

If you prorate the numbers for the other 872 minutes, it's 362 yards and 18.8 points.

That's 20th yardage and 4th points.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Yes but it's still worrisome to give up the points they are giving up. When you're averaging 20+ PA against the crap offenses we are facing, that is not good. The opposition is only going to get tougher. And aside from Indy/Philly, these are not garbage points but important, relevant scores given up. The yardage isn't as much of a concern but the red zone defense has not been as good lately. You can have your slow starts, like the Jets were notorious for in the '09-'10 seasons, but you have to be able to weather the storm. Make key stops, force FG attempts. That hasn't been happening lately.

Hopefully the new wrinkle of Moore at CB/McCourty at safety if used makes a difference. Also the addition of Spikes/Chung.