Will this defense be top ten? (hint: no)

Tony2046 said:

Serious question: Is this Tanguay?

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No. There's writing and spelling involved.

The D played well today. It will get better, the cb situation will sort itself out.

SalemPats said:

i thought in regards to the front seven that Sheard and Collins were dominant today. I love the speed of this young defense

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I think it's going to be a really good game plan defense and won't be a weakness at all. They do have to figure out right CB because it has been their Achilles heel to date.

With such a young and unheralded secondary two of the most important things to watch:
(1) Blown overages/in right position
(2) Of the balls completed against them, was the coverage competitive

Look this is a QB-Offense league. Teams are going to complete passes. The Patriots secondary was not stellar, however, I am not displeased with points 1 and 2 above. Many completions were competitive and I didn't see a lot of blown overages (harmon with that bad angle on the one TD).
If they keep progressing through the season I sense they will be more than sufficiently serviceable and complimentary to the offense.

Defense already moved up to 15th in points and 20th in yards/game from 31st. Definitely trending upward.

The OP looks dumber by the week.

FourierSeries said:

Defense already moved up to 15th in points and 20th in yards/game from 31st. Definitely trending upward.

The OP looks dumber by the week.

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Can't wait to bump this every week

Take out the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville end of game garbage time TDs

318.6 yards allowed per game (would be good for #8)
201.6 pass yards allowed per game (would be good for #6)
18.6 points allowed per game (would be good for #7)

And those would be probably be lower had they made better decisions in buffalo in the last 20 minutes.

Logan Ryan played every snap yesterday. Why did we let Browner with a decent contract go?

voluntarysaftey said:

Logan Ryan played every snap yesterday. Why did we let Browner with a decent contract go?

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Browner has been a disaster in New Orleans.

Browner would have cost more than our entire cornerback corp.

It's still early in the season, and 3 games is not a big sample size by any stretch of the imagination, but for the sake of comparison:

2014 Regular season defensive stats through 16 games
PPG: 19.6
Total Yards/game: 344
Yards per play: 5.3
Passing yards/game: 239.8
Rush yards/game: 104.3
3rd down: 40%
QB Rating: 84

2015 Regular season defensive stats through 3 games
PPG: 23.3
Total Yards/game: 368.7
Yards per play: 5.9
Passing yards/game: 251.7
Rush yards/game: 117
3rd down: 40%
QB Rating: 90.2


Not a huge drop off by any means. Will be interesting to see the comparison going forward. The defense always gets better later in the season.

voluntarysaftey said:

Logan Ryan played every snap yesterday. Why did we let Browner with a decent contract go?

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Because he's a big liability when you don't have a #1 cb that can pretty much remove a receiver, like Sherman or Revis. He would not have been worth close to what his salary was.

The Pats are developing a top-10 defense. Hey, they lost their CBs from last year. And they don't seem to be doing too badly. Who is to say that a trade won't come through before the cut-off? (And who is to say it will even be a CB?) Regardless, Brown & company are learning, whilst the Pats are winning.

FourierSeries said:

It's still early in the season, and 3 games is not a big sample size by any stretch of the imagination, but for the sake of comparison:

2014 Regular season defensive stats through 16 games
PPG: 19.6
Total Yards/game: 344
Yards per play: 5.3
Passing yards/game: 239.8
Rush yards/game: 104.3
3rd down: 40%
QB Rating: 84

2015 Regular season defensive stats through 3 games
PPG: 23.3
Total Yards/game: 368.7
Yards per play: 5.9
Passing yards/game: 251.7
Rush yards/game: 117
3rd down: 40%
QB Rating: 90.2


Not a huge drop off by any means. Will be interesting to see the comparison going forward. The defense always gets better later in the season.

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Agreed but the 2014 D didn't allow a 2nd 1/2 TD in their last 5 reg season games.

As you say we'll see how they do after Veteran's Day

Through 4 games, the defense is:

12th in yards allowed per game
8th in PPG allowed
9th in opponent QB rating

For comparison's sake (just for fun, since we have different sample sizes):

2014 stats through 16 games
19.6 PPG allowed
344.1 yards allowed per game
40% conversion rate allowed on 3rd down
84.0 QB rating allowed
2.5 sacks per game

2015 stats through 4 games
19 PPG allowed
342.5 yards allowed per game
39% conversion rate allowed on 3rd down
83.7 QB rating allowed
4 sacks per game

Better in every category this year so far.

I wonder if @Interception will make an appearance in this thread again. My guess is no.

Every week is a micro-season. A well played game this week is due to this week's specific receivers/competition and does not mean a well played is in store game next week against different competition. So determining/saying 'the secondary has arrived' because of this game is not logical.

However, supposing, just supposing, this game is a sign of things to come for the secondary? I go from leaning optimistic about the Patriots making the SB to approaching loving our odds (save the unpredictable factor of health). The secondary is (or was) the clear weak spot. If that is not the case and their pass coverage is competitive on a consistent basis, the Patriots do not have a second level weak spot. Combine that with the ability in the middle and front edges of the D, a satisfactory depth at DT, superb K/P/STs, the extreme potency of the O, the Patriots are going to be extremely hard to beat. Bottom line on our chances if the secondary can play like they did tonight and health is not bad: we will likely capture HFA throughout. And with the Patriots already being especially hard to beat at home, this season's odds of the Patriots losing in either the DRG or AFCCG drop to a noticeably significant low.

FourierSeries said:

I wonder if @Interception will make an appearance in this thread again. My guess is no.

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Funny how that works around here with (some) people

FourierSeries said:

I wonder if @Interception will make an appearance in this thread again. My guess is no.

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I hope he does.

I don't care I can't stand it: The Sequel.

FourierSeries said:

Through 4 games, the defense is:

12th in yards allowed per game
8th in PPG allowed
9th in opponent QB rating

For comparison's sake (just for fun, since we have different sample sizes):

2014 stats through 16 games
19.6 PPG allowed
344.1 yards allowed per game
40% conversion rate allowed on 3rd down
84.0 QB rating allowed
2.5 sacks per game

2015 stats through 4 games
19 PPG allowed
342.5 yards allowed per game
39% conversion rate allowed on 3rd down
83.7 QB rating allowed
4 sacks per game

Better in every category this year so far.

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Also consider
A) our defenses tend to get better as the year progresses
B) we have already faced our toughest offense (pittsburgh) and unless im forgetting someone they are the best offense on our schedule by a stretch.

Good chance imo we finish at least statistically better than last year.