CHFF: Fascinating stat on Patriots Defense

[letekro]

Lets not forget that 1. the Pat lost BOTH their starting safeties DURING the game (the worst time). and was down to their 3rd C and 2nd RT. 2 actually you are wrong in your 3rd point, because Cruz's production was consistent throughout the year. Its not like he got better after this game. 3. you are also wrong in your 4th point. The Giants came into that game one a roll and it was AFTER this game that they took their dip.

The Giants have a better running game with Bradshaw than without him. But think about this. He isn't nearly as good as Ray Rice who was controlled by the Pats, and if you wanted to pick a Giant player most likely to turn the ball over, even Giants fans would pick Ahmad Bradshaw.

Cruz had 590 yards in his first 8 games, and almost 1,000 in his last 8. So, despite your authoritative stance to the contrary, my statement was correct. On the fourth point, you're saying that something happened in the week of practice after the Pats game that sent them into a tailspin? More likely, the Giants were not playing well at the time, even in victory, and after the pats that poor play began to turn into losses. Clearly, the Giants have been a different team the last 5 weeks than they have been all season.

My ultimate point was that that game was not really representative of what the Giants can offer on offense. The patriots defense is also obviously improved from that game, I'm not saying otherwise.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Cruz had 590 yards in his first 8 games, and almost 1,000 in his last 8. So, despite your authoritative stance to the contrary, my statement was correct. On the fourth point, you're saying that something happened in the week of practice after the Pats game that sent them into a tailspin? More likely, the Giants were not playing well at the time, even in victory, and after the pats that poor play began to turn into losses. Clearly, the Giants have been a different team the last 5 weeks than they have been all season.

My ultimate point was that that game was not really representative of what the Giants can offer on offense. The patriots defense is also obviously improved from that game, I'm not saying otherwise.

So the Giants were playing poorly on their way to a 6-2 record but now they are winning games with Hail Mary's, punt return fumbles, and horrendous opponent execution, getting turnovers without touching the opponent and dysfunctional opponents like the Jets and Cowboys but are playin great?

Amaing what some can believe.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Actually the long drives by the Patriots offense reduces the number of drives opposing offenses have to respond. I think the Patriots D faced the fourth fewest opposing drives.

According to the numbers here they had the 6th fewest, but I believe the numbers showed that the long time consuming drives they yielded were just as much the cause, if not more, for that. This was the reason that they often lost the TOP battle. Over the course of the season they yielded 1.9pts/Dr, which was good for 21st.

On to the original post. The consistency of the defense in points surrendered was pointed to before the POs by many posters here as a reason to have faith in the defense. So far they've done more than could be expected of them, and hopefully the offense will show up for the SB because I have little doubt that if they hang 30 on the Giants they'll win.

 

[PatriotSeven]

So the Giants were playing poorly on their way to a 6-2 record but now they are winning games with Hail Mary's, punt return fumbles, and horrendous opponent execution, getting turnovers without touching the opponent and dysfunctional opponents like the Jets and Cowboys but are playin great?

Amaing what some can believe.

Not at all, but their opponents have not played their best game. Not GB, not the 49ers and certainly not Atlanta.

The Giants played very good, but the quality of the execution of their opponents helped. Patriots win most of their games the same way, because the other teams execute poorly and makes more mistakes while they always execute their game plan.

But in this case, especially when it came to GB and the 49ers these were teams that executed well all season and clearly executed poorly. The 49ers special teams and defense was what executed the worst. For GB it was Aaaron Rodgers. The two most solid foundations of each team.

And it wasn't because the Giants figured out how to do something they didn't do all year, and nobody else could do to those teams all year. Both GB and 49ers have faced tougher defenses this season and GB could cut through anyone like a hot knife through butter.

It doesn't take anything away from their wins. They didn't make the mistakes and their opponent did. That's part of football. But it doesn't make me worried that they have improved tremendously.

It would have been a different story if they beat the 49ers and GB while those teams still played like they had all season. Then I'd be worried. As it stands, I feel much more confident in the Patriots after what I saw in the Ravens games, than what I saw from the Giants and the crazy amount of missed opportunities despite their opponents bad play. They played GB great. But the 49ers, Giants were just as bad as they were. They both executed like crap, and they didn't capitalize on the 49ers bad playing.

That tells me, they were likely coming off a high prior to this win. It also doesn't bode well for them going into the Super Bowl. If either one of those teams played the Patriots that poorly, they would have gotten murdered.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Not at all, but their opponents have not played their best game. Not GB, not the 49ers and certainly not Atlanta.

The Giants played very good, but the quality of the execution of their opponents helped. Patriots win most of their games the same way, because the other teams execute poorly and makes more mistakes while they always execute their game plan.

But in this case, especially when it came to GB and the 49ers these were teams that executed well all season and clearly executed poorly. The 49ers special teams and defense was what executed the worst. For GB it was Aaaron Rodgers. The two most solid foundations of each team.

And it wasn't because the Giants figured out how to do something they didn't do all year, and nobody else could do to those teams all year. Both GB and 49ers have faced tougher defenses this season and GB could cut through anyone like a hot knife through butter.

It doesn't take anything away from their wins. They didn't make the mistakes and their opponent did. That's part of football. But it doesn't make me worried that they have improved tremendously.

It would have been a different story if they beat the 49ers and GB while those teams still played like they had all season. Then I'd be worried. As it stands, I feel much more confident in the Patriots after what I saw in the Ravens games, than what I saw from the Giants and the crazy amount of missed opportunities despite their opponents bad play. They played GB great. But the 49ers, Giants were just as bad as they were. They both executed like crap, and they didn't capitalize on the 49ers bad playing.

That tells me, they were likely coming off a high prior to this win. It also doesn't bode well for them going into the Super Bowl. If either one of those teams played the Patriots that poorly, they would have gotten murdered.

Remember: the Giants punted 12 times vs. the 49ers. . . .

 

[Reckedtrek]

27 points... points? Who the hell cares about points?! Today's NFL is all about yards! And that's why this team will never make it to the superbowl with this D, and anyone who thinks they could is a blind, Kool aid chuggin' homer who can't handle the truth. Today's NFL has passed Belichick by. When it comes to the playoffs this season and for the next few, it's one and done, at best. Book it!

 

[mgcolby]

I think we have to look at points per drive. I imagine that the Patriots offense gives the patriots a higher time of posession (and thus fewer opportunities for the other team's offense to score) as well as the fact that the other team is usually playing from behind, thus it limits their playbook some.

The Pats finished 27th in the league in TOP with 28:32.

 

[Ivan]

Agreed, I have absolutely no gut feeling about how this game will go. The Giants are extremely talented but extremely inconsistent; the Patriots defense is just settling into a stable identity; the Patriots' weakness in the defensive backfield is a tough matchup with the Giants' strength at WR; the Giants' weakness in the interior OL is a tough matchup with the Patriots' strength up front....

In short, anybody who feels confident about how this game will go must have one heck of a crystal ball.

I have no idea how the game will go I just have a great deal of confidence and belief in this team. Belichik has managed this season and this team beautifully all the way through and has them peaking at exactly the right time. The tournament has broken well for them throughout and they are in good health and as ready as they can be to face the Giants. I respect the Giants and Coughlin as a really good coach, especially in big games but so is Belichik and i just don't see the Giants beating them twice in a season. Belcihik and Brady are really good in rematches and Brady is always good after a bad performance so i expect him at his best for the Bowl.

I have said it before but i really believe this is a bonus. They were a good but not great team this season and they are still building. They have put themselves in a position to win one on the way up and will be a better team next year than they were this, so they have an opportunity to grab an unexpected title, and that's pretty sweet. No matter what happens in a couple of weeks this season has been a blast and I have had a great time watching it. Enjoy the Bowl, this is as good as it gets imo.