How concerned are you about the defense?

How concerned am I about the defense? Extremely. Many questions in the secondary, questions about the run contain, questions about pass pressure.
But I take great comfort in Confucius when he said: Man who jump off cliff has jump to conclusion...

mgteich said:

All it takes is one game where Ninkovich has trouble setting the edge. Of course, much of the problem would not even have been perceived if more holding calls were made.

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And the chances of it happening in one game are not insignificant. Fortunately it isn't about the one game it's about the 15 remaining. That one game concern is a couple months off yet
(sorry MG, I know yours was a comment on Jones v Ninko).

I (and a few others) have pointed out that on paper, this D has a lot of similarities to the Carolina Panthers defense of 2013. Strong front 7, including a trio of elite LBs, and a below average-to-average at best secondary. (Although the Pats have the edge here with McCourty being an elite FS. No notable DBs in Carolina that year. )

That Panthers team finished as the 2nd overall defense in yards allowed (2nd rush D, 6th pass D) and 2nd in points allowed per game (15.1) only behind Seattle.

Given the great coach Belichick is, I'd surely hope he can get this defense to the top 10 at least.

A lot of members here are high on Malcolm Butler. Keep in mind that he was an undrafted free agent with a part time role last year. He appears to be a good athlete and a good student and will grow as he gains experience. Hopefully that is true for several other players too.

Ask me again in 18 hours.

TBR said:

I (and a few others) have pointed out that on paper, this D has a lot of similarities to the Carolina Panthers defense of 2013. Strong front 7, including a trio of elite LBs, and a below average-to-average at best secondary. (Although the Pats have the edge here with McCourty being an elite FS. No notable DBs in Carolina that year. )

That Panthers team finished as the 2nd overall defense in yards allowed (2nd rush D, 6th pass D) and 2nd in points allowed per game (15.1) only behind Seattle.

Given the great coach Belichick is, I'd surely hope he can get this defense to the top 10 at least.

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I'd take a 2013 Panther's D level/be happy with a top 10 provided it translates to a good record (which, IMHO, in all likelihood it would). It would exceed my current expectations though not by a huge margin. While I think the Patriots just breaking into the top 10 is not unattainable, A 10-15 is more likely IMHO.

Yet I don't think that a top 10 is, per se, needed. I'll take a defense that is sufficiently complimentary to the offense a la 2011. While 2011 had some excruciating moments on D, by the time the season ended the D was adequate in a relative way. That 2011 formula ended up being: Very potent offense + adequate(complimentary) D + solid STs = frequent winning and solid chance to be there at the end. I don't see a compelling reason why the Patriots as a tea, couldn't repeat 2011 (except the Brady-Welker pass is of course completed). The D just needs to settle into that complimentary/satisfactory level and the other parts should more than hold up their end of the formula. And the extra good news if that happens --at least good news for those that love tension -- is the likelihood there will be edge of the seat, 'this can't be happening', come if off the ledge, KMN moments along the way.
If we can get a few bounces our way then our chances to be there at the end are good...

VectorPrime said:

Ask me again in 18 hours.

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Even after 18 hour..i won't be concerned...week 4 come back to me

All we hear all week is how Bill's defense is going to this and going to that to our Offense. How about our Def showing up under radar. This is a perfect time for our pass rush, front seven to make a statement and turn tables on Bills. Won't be surprised here to see Brady put up big points here after all those months of drama.

I don't know man. Today's game was so bizarre. On one hand, our defense was excellent when it could put pressure on Tyrod (giving him 8 sacks) and kept the Bills off the scoreboard. But then something happened towards the end: The defense didn't seem like they wanted to play the last quarter of the game, and they gave up three straight touchdown drives without really putting up a fight. It's as if they didn't want to be there any more.

Chiuba E. Obele said:

I don't know man. Today's game was so bizarre. On one hand, our defense was excellent when it could put pressure on Tyrod (giving him 8 sacks) and kept the Bills off the scoreboard. But then something happened towards the end: The defense didn't seem like they wanted to play the last quarter of the game, and they gave up three straight touchdown drives without really putting up a fight. It as if they didn't want to be there any more.

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2 of those TD's came on the Brady fumble and us turning it over on downs for the second time. Gave them a short field to have to work.

Statistically, the D is a bottom five crap fest...but.....my 19-0 season record prediction has never felt more secure. So many awful teams.
Brady/Gronk/BB.......unstoppable

I think today what we saw were some breakdowns in coverage when the front seven lost contain on Taylor, and the personnel in coverage did not stick with their assignments downfield. A good example of this was the Clay touchdown.

The touchdown to Woods was placed perfectly just above Butler's outstretched hand.

The one to Watkins to make it a one possession game was simply a case of Fletcher outclassed by a superior athlete like he was last season in Philly against Bryant.

All in all, there are a lot of things to like from today's game, but also a lot of things to get cleaned up as far as execution, focus, attention to detail, etc. I think that there is room for improvement for sure, but it is a work in progress ATM.

OK, the front seven was awesome in pressuring the passer. Just look at the hurries, knockdowns and sacks as a percentage of the total number of passes. The front seven can't help the secondary more than it did.

So, of course, the secondary great. But, they didn't. They were far, far from great. To talk about perfect passes by a scrub, inexperienced quarterback continually under pressure seems somehow wrong.

you gotta question our deep ball defense

moejr said:

2 of those TD's came on the Brady fumble and us turning it over on downs for the second time. Gave them a short field to have to work.

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Look, there's no question that there were flashes of brilliance today in the D. But there has to be more consistency from that group of players...football is a full 60-minute game

Its week two.
Ask me in middle of november what kind defense patriots have.
But right now i am highly pumped about it. The only concern is CB 3 and god forbit any injury to Tarell Brown and Malcolm Butler. I still hope that Coleman will provide something useful in two months

Also I want to add, I am liking what I am seeing from the secondary! They are tipping the balls and intercepting them! Their ball skills are getting better and better.
Logan Ryans is playing well, everyone except Fletcher is playing well.

Ninkovich probably said it the best "“We have to continue to improve. We did a great job for 40 minutes, and then the last 20 minutes, we started to try to get a little too aggressive and pin our ears back too much.”

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/09/patriots-pass-rush-lives-up-to-vaunted-potential-in-win-over-bills/

Belichick basically said the same thing. We had our moments,” Belichick said. “We let them run around a lot, too. Taylor ran around, and he scrambled and threw for big yardage. I didn’t think it was all that great. We made some plays, and we gave up some plays. It wasn’t very consistent.

The defense is still a work in progress. Pass rush has improved. Run defense still needs work. Secondary is okay but not great but getting better. We don't seem to have a good #2 corner. Hopefully the defense will improve and not be one that made avg QB's look like Hall of Fame ones like we had before. Still 8 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles in the Bills game looks very encouraging.

I know it is common from posters on a blog such as this to posit dread forebodings.

But I am thoroughly happy with where the several areas of "diagnosed weakness" are turning into strengths.

First we had the "worst secondary in a decade". Then we had grudging acceptance of McCourty and the Safeties.

Then we had acceptance that CB1 was going to be OK, and Butler was no chimera.

Then we had our CBs are OK, except for Bradley Fletcher. Then we recognized he plays well, but doesn't have the speed or recovery for deep coverage. Soon the deep Safety will be routinely helping out like what was done with Browner and the secondary will earn grudging respect.

I would remind everyone that Reiss's Superbowl performance was really subpar overall.

Meanwhile the Pass Rush is turning into a Nascar, even with Easley and Flowers dinged a bit. This is on the verge of Greatness. Yielding useless yardage and scores when trying to play a clock eating conservative prevent D is only game winning tactics; and not indicative of anything else at all.

AzPatsFan said:

I would remind everyone that Reiss's Superbowl performance was really subpar overall.

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Who now?