Let's hear it for the defense!

[Kontradiction]

I said it earlier this week and I'll say it again: Our defense is bad, but Tebow just cannot match up well with the two gap. Add to that a powerhouse offense that Denver cannot stop, and you have the beautiful end result that we saw tonight.

 

[supafly]

I said it earlier this week and I'll say it again: Our defense is bad, but Tebow just cannot match up well with the two gap. Add to that a powerhouse offense that Denver cannot stop, and you have the beautiful end result that we saw tonight.

I think our defense has gone from what many would call 'bad' early in the season to respectably mediocre or middle of the road now.

You have to be pleased with the improved pass rush, the current (and much better) secondary that they are fielding, the resilience, the drive and the heart that they have showed at times throughout the yr.

I certainly recognize the negatives, no doubt. (and to be honest, I would even include the ability to consistently stop the run) But it does seem like the health of the unit has improved dramatically with the return of Fletcher, Spikes, Chung etc. Moore has found a nice niche for himself, and looks like he really belongs.

Long gone are the days of Tracey White, Guyton and #90 being forced to play LB on the regular, long gone are the days of having to use Sergio Brown at starting safety. Long gone are the first few games of getting torched in man coverage against the pass, using a revolving door at CB in the likes of special teamers etc.

This current side of the ball is at the very least, average or mediocre, with the ability to play with a lot of heart.

Certain improvement has been made, no doubt about that.

That all said, I do agree with you that they are definitely not as good as they appeared tonight against the lowly high-school offense of the Broncos; but they definitely look a lot better and you have to give them credit for righting the ship.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think our defense has gone from what many would call 'bad' early in the season to respectably mediocre or middle of the road now.

You have to be pleased with the improved pass rush, the current (and much better) secondary that they are fielding, the resilience, the drive and the heart that they have showed at times throughout the yr.

I certainly recognize the negatives, no doubt. (and to be honest, I would even include the ability to consistently stop the run) But it does seem like the health of the unit has improved dramatically with the return of Fletcher, Spikes, Chung etc. Moore has found a nice niche for himself, and looks like he really belongs.

Long gone are the days of Tracey White, Guyton and #90 being forced to play LB on the regular, long gone are the days of having to use Sergio Brown at starting safety. Long gone are the first few games of getting torched in man coverage against the pass, using a revolving door at CB in the likes of special teamers etc.

This current side of the ball is at the very least, average or mediocre, with the ability to play with a lot of heart.

Certain improvement has been made, no doubt about that.

That all said, I do agree with you that they are definitely not as good as they appeared tonight against the lowly high-school offense of the Broncos; but they definitely look a lot better and you have to give them credit for righting the ship.

It's certainly easy to say this when you're playing a quarterback who can either drop the ball in his receiver's lap or can't hit the broad side of a barn at any given time. Let's do the same to the Ravens next week and then we'll talk.

 

[deroc5050]

well they played great today.. I don't care if the denver offense is well below average.. Denvers offense was destroyed by the Pats tonight.. utterly destroyed. They played with emotion.. they seemed like they played with confidence and with a purpose. If they give that kind of effort from here on out.. and Brady plays at a high level like he did tonight. We will be SB champs. But they have to elevate there play from here on out. I feel good about this team.. I think the team really wants to get a SB for Robert, more than ever before.

 

[supafly]

It's certainly easy to say this when you're playing a quarterback who can either drop the ball in his receiver's lap or can't hit the broad side of a barn at any given time. Let's do the same to the Ravens next week and then we'll talk.

Like I said, I certainly agree that their performance will be way overblown by beating the lowly Broncos, but just the personnel difference alone has to make you feel a lot better than you did a while back.

I don't even think they're all that great vs the run, let alone the pass, but they have improved in the aspect of switching McCourty in subs, adding Moore, and getting Chung, Fletcher, and Spikes back to health. Even if it comes down to having to use Edelman, he at least plays with a lot of heart and knows how to properly tackle.

Those moves are huge, and they shouldn't be overlooked.

However, I do admire your sense of cautiousness at the same time.

I think it's certainly possible to hold Rice and the BAL offense to around 21 pts or so, and that should be good enough.

I do not think they could hang with Green Bay, but we may not have to worry about that either.

 

[supafly]

On top of that, I think the D-line and front 7 have improved too.

Love, Wilfork, even Deaderick have all been doing pretty well for an 'average' defense. Anderson has been holding his own vs the run (at least better than we thought), and has proved to be a decent pass rusher.

Ninkovich certainly has been playing with a lot of heart. Even Mayo has been more of a playmaker in the past month. Fletcher brings some good aspects to the unit, no doubt. Spikes has looked good, and even is involved on some bigger type plays.

I think that when you throw in the improvement of the secondary, that side of the ball has been gelling more and that has proved to be useful.

You are right, only time will tell.

 

[ausbacker]

On top of that, I think the D-line and front 7 have improved too.

Love, Wilfork, even Deaderick have all been doing pretty well for an 'average' defense. Anderson has been holding his own vs the run (at least better than we thought), and has proved to be a decent pass rusher.

Ninkovich certainly has been playing with a lot of heart. Even Mayo has been more of a playmaker in the past month. Fletcher brings some good aspects to the unit, no doubt. Spikes has looked good, and even is involved on some bigger type plays.

I think that when you throw in the improvement of the secondary, that side of the ball has been gelling more and that has proved to be useful.

You are right, only time will tell.

The performance of the front 3/front 4 is the point I've hung my hat on with the defense. The Broncos O/L aren't mugs. The Pats abused them.

 

[manxman2601]

The defense was really special tonight but I do have a caveat. If any offense is built to make the Pats D look good, it's the Broncos. BB practices assignment sound defense and has got the players to match and that was what showed tonight. As fans we look for pass rushers interminably. Would we have had the same defensive impact tonight with a 'pin your ears back' outside rusher and a one gap DT. I'm not so sure.

And I know this is about defense but I haven't had a chance to check the other threads yet, but what about our offensive line keeping Brady so clean? Elvis Dumerwho?

 

[Kontradiction]

Like I said, I certainly agree that their performance will be way overblown by beating the lowly Broncos, but just the personnel difference alone has to make you feel a lot better than you did a while back.

I don't even think they're all that great vs the run, let alone the pass, but they have improved in the aspect of switching McCourty in subs, adding Moore, and getting Chung, Fletcher, and Spikes back to health. Even if it comes down to having to use Edelman, he at least plays with a lot of heart and knows how to properly tackle.

Those moves are huge, and they shouldn't be overlooked.

However, I do admire your sense of cautiousness at the same time.

I think it's certainly possible to hold Rice and the BAL offense to around 21 pts or so, and that should be good enough.

I do not think they could hang with Green Bay, but we may not have to worry about that either.

I think we could hang with Green Bay only because they were the only defense that was worse than our's this year. I don't see how they would stop our TE's just like I don't see how we would stop their WR's. That game would probably shatter the single-game record for points scored. Out of the NFC, I would be far more nervous about the 49ers and the Giants than the Packers.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Because the Patriots had just played Denver a month ago, the improvement in the defense is quantifiable. In the first game, the Patriots gave up an insane amount of rushing yards in the first half and didn't have a true scoring stop in the first half (2 fumbles by Denver, an end of half possession, and 3 scoring drives). In the second half, while now getting stops, allowed a TD drive in the early fourth quarter to allow Denver within 2 scores. Tebow ended up with 200 yards passing and a 50% completion percentage and the Broncos with 250 yards rushing.
This time around Denver had 144 yards rushing (they had that much in the first quarter of the first game), half the passing, and besides basically starting a drive in the red zone (due to the Brady interception) they had one trip to the red zone all game (with the Patriots getting a 4 down goal line stand).

To me this says the Patriots are a better defense than a month ago. I suspect this is due to getting some players healthy (maybe McCourty at S?). However, being better than we were a month ago does not equate to being a "good enough" defense. That remains an open and concerning question.

 

[mosi]

I said it earlier this week and I'll say it again: Our defense is bad, but Tebow just cannot match up well with the two gap. Add to that a powerhouse offense that Denver cannot stop, and you have the beautiful end result that we saw tonight.

The only thing that worried me was the way McGahee was running amuck back there. McGahee is very shifty, like a slightly bigger and slower Ray Rice.

 

[DarrylS]

what impressed me most was that they were really "punishing them", a few missed tackles.. but Spikes, Ninkovich, Mayo were very impressive. Along with the rotating D Line.. Gerard Warren his number has hardly been called the past 16 weeks... they played with attitude and were punishing the Bronco's on just about every play...

The D backfield pretty much the same, overall they played 4 quarters with chips on their shoulders..

This was the most physical I have seen one of our defenses in a very long time.

What I do not understand is why they do not call more holding penalties on Denver, at just about every play there was a player in a white shirt holding onto a blue shirt.. I was going out of my mind.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Ok, Brady was otherworldly other than a brief stretch early, but I think the story was the defense tonight.

They have been much maligned all year, but other than after the Brady INT they were the exact opposite of what people biatched about them this year,. They were agressive, swarming, disciplined, stingy, and shutdown. The defense was great from start to finish.

Yes, the Denver offense isn't great, but they have played very well at times this year including last week (granted against a depleted Steelers with a stubborn DC who wouldn't adjust). Even against a bad offense, what the defense did today was impressive.

All you "With this defense, the Pats are one and done" crowd have a bit of crow to eat tonight.

Yeah the defense played great.....and yet I have zero confidence they can stop a quality offense.
Last night's game was great (was so nice just to have fun with a playoff game for a change) and at the end of the day it means very little in terms of getting a read on the Patriots defense and how they'll perform against a good offense. That Denver O-line made the Patriots D look like the '85 Bears. My fear going forward is that some players on that D will think they're much better than they actually are and the on-field discipline will be diminished because of it.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

It was a resistible force confronting a movable object... this time, the movable object won

 

[Triggerfish]

I have to admit, I was impressed by the Pats D last night. Most suprising to me was the pass rush they were able to generate. I mean, let's face it...the Pats certainly aren't known for their fierce pass rush, but they got the job done. They flushed Tebow out of the pocket a lot, and as much as the idiot talking heads calling the game like to talk about how he's so "dangerous" outside the pocket, Tebow is MORE apt to making bonehead mistakes when scrambling (fumble, etc) in my opinion.

All of this being said, I'm not a 100% believer yet. Some of this MIGHT have been smoke and mirrors. No credit taken away from the Pats, but in fairness the Broncos played a pretty horrible game in general last night. That's just their thing. They look terrific at times, and terrible at other times. They showed a lot more terrible than terrific last night. Tebow was off his game, the receivers dropped a lot of passes, the secondary looked like they were sleeping at times, and their usually-solid O-line crumbled. The running game with McGahee was heating up, until they were pretty much forced to abandon it. That let the Pats D pin their ears back and tee off on Tebow, since the score dictated that they'd be passing a whole lot more than Denver would have liked to. I told my wife (who is the big NE fan in our household) that Denver was virtually done for when they were down by 14+. That team just isn't built for the BIG comebacks. They need to keep the game close to work their late game magic, and anything more than 2 scores spells a whole lot of trouble for them.

I give credit where credit is due. The Pats defense definitely exceeded expectations, but Tebow and the Donkeys helped by just looking like a different team from last week. Maybe an emotional win like last week took its toll on them or something? Who knows, but if I were a Pats fan, I'd want to see more before I get too excited. But boy....that offense was definitely firing on all cylinders. I'm not convinced that either of the remaining AFC teams are going to be able to score enough points to stay in the game against Brady and Co. if they continue to be this sugical and efficient on offense.

Best of luck in the AFCCG. As hard as it is for me to root for or even compliment the Pats, I'm glad your boys may have finally put an abrupt end to all of this Tebow hype.

 

[Rob0729]

Yeah the defense played great.....and yet I have zero confidence they can stop a quality offense.
Last night's game was great (was so nice just to have fun with a playoff game for a change) and at the end of the day it means very little in terms of getting a read on the Patriots defense and how they'll perform against a good offense. That Denver O-line made the Patriots D look like the '85 Bears. My fear going forward is that some players on that D will think they're much better than they actually are and the on-field discipline will be diminished because of it.

What defense can? The 49ers' defense is one of the best defenses in the league and they could only slow down Brees and the Saints for a while. The Saints still had 472 yards and scored 32 points even after turning the ball over 4 times on offense. If a top defense cannot stop a quality offense, who can?

Also, the Broncos' o-line is a great o-line. Say what you will about their entire offense, it is generally recognized that the Broncos' o-line is one of the best in the league. The Pats consistently went through it like a knife in warm butter. Pittsburgh (who are great at pressuring the QB) last week not only had zero sacks last week, they had zero QB hits (granted they lost 2/3 of their d-line early, but weren't pressuring Tebow before that). The Pats had 5 sacks and caused 14 negative plays last night. You look at that as discrediting what the Pats' defense did, but I think it is the biggest evidence they have turned the corner.

 

[Steve1iron]

Easily the best game of the year for the defense.

Neither Baltimore or Houston scares me with there offenses. Flacco will be his usual self and focus will have to be on stopping Rice. I like our chances against Flacco.

Also like our defense against Houston's rookie QB Yates. Again, focus will have to be on stopping Foster and Tate.

It was refreshing to watch a dominating defensive performance. Nothing plain vanilla about tonight's performance and as we all know plain vanilla won't get it done.

 

[vyrago]

...one clap!

Really?!?!

I was very happy with and proud of the whole team tonight, but particularly our much-maligned (especially by this board) defense.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

They did play well but Denver is not much of a offensive threat.

The good news is whoever they play next week are not the Saints.
Neither team has a great offense but very good defense's.

I agree that it wasn't the Saints or Packers, but the Broncos did put up 29 points on the #1 defense this season last week. The D held them to 10 points, all off of turnovers. The much-maligned secondary gave up 136 passing yards to a QB who threw for 316 the week before.

I'm not saying the Patriots defense is the second coming of the Steel Curtain or the Purple People Eaters, but let's not discount a solid performance against a play-off team's offense.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The only other elite offense left is GB. So hopefully all the Brady needs to be perfect throughout the playoffs talk can end, even though he was last night aside from one throw. BB has this defense playing, hope it keeps up