New England Patriots Forums - PatsFans.com Patriots Fan Messageboard

On the way into work this morning I heard a national analyst talking about every fanboy's favorite subject...power rankings!

He asked how the Pats could be in the Top 5 with that putrid defense and that some power rankings had them as high as #2 behind the Packers. His next statement is what got me thinking and ultimately led to this thread.

He stated that Green Bay is clearly #1 and then went on to list several other teams in order; before returning his attention back to the Pats, once again putting the low ranking on the Pats defensive play.

Now, I don't particularly give two ****s about power rankings. But I do know that most people consider Green Bay to be the best team in the league, which is well deserved coming off a Super Bowl win and opening the season 7-0.

But, I have watched everyone of Green Bay's games, and without stats to prove it, I didn't think the Packers defense was any better than ours. I thought everything that is said about the Pats defense could easily be said about the Packers defense (can't get off the field on 3rd down, terrible against the pass, decent against the run, hold teams to FG's in the red zone etc...).

So, I decided to go through the stats just to see if my observations were accurate. Come to find out, I couldn't have been closer to the truth....

Because of the formatting here is how to read the info below:

1. I listed the team's defensive averages and league rankings at the top
2. Then I listed each teams opponents offensive ranking in four categories (total passing, total rushing, Total offense and Points Per Game scored)
3. Then I listed each opponents offensive average for the season in parenthesis followed by the total season average of the opponents and where that average would rank league wide.
4. Opponent record for each team (includes games played against GB and NE)

Here is the raw data:

Green Bay
Passing: 290 (31st)
Rushing: 102 (10th)
Total: 391 (28th)
3rd down: 43% (22nd)
PPG 20 (9th)

NO : Pass: 1st Rush: 11th Total: 2nd PPG: 2nd
CAR: Pass: 5th Rush: 7th Total: 5th PPG: 14th
CHI: Pass: 17th Rush: 15th Total: 16th PPG: 13th
DEN: Pass: 30th Rush: 8th Total: 27th PPG: 23rd
ATL: Pass: 18th Rush: 17th Total: 17th PPG: 17th
STL: Pass: 26th Rush: 20th Total: 28th PPG: 31st
MIN: Pass: 29th Rush: 3rd Total: 18th PPG: 20th

(Opp season Averages) (Total Avg/would be league rank)
PPG (32.5;23.4;24.3;19;22.6;12.4;21.5) (22.2 / 19th)
Total (441.1;415.1;421;305.4;335;304.3;332.6) (364.9 / 13th)
Rush (117.4;129.6;114.7;125.9;112.7;105.9;150.4) (122.3 / 10th)
Pass (326.8;285.5;222.7;179.6;222.3;198.4;182.2) (202.5 / 24th)
Opp Record: 20-32

New England
Passing: 323 (32nd)
Rushing: 101 (9th)
Total: 424 (32nd)
3rd down: 46% (30th)
PPG: 23 (17th)

MIA: Pass: 25th Rush: 12th Total: 21st PPG: 28th
SD : Pass: 6th Rush: 13th Total: 6th PPG: 15th
BUF: Pass: 13th Rush: 5th Total: 10th PPG: 3rd
OAK: Pass: 23rd Rush: 2nd Total: 12th PPG: 16th
NYJ: Pass: 22nd Rush: 28th Total: 29th PPG: 11th
DAL: Pass: 7th Rush: 15th Total: 8th PPG: 18th
PIT: Pass: 8th Rush: 14th Total: 9th PPG: 19th

(Opp season Averages) (Total Avg/would be league rank)
PPG (15.3; 23; 30.1; 22.9; 24.6; 22.3; 22) (22.8 17th)
Total (318.9; 399.4;380.1;365.6;300.1; 394.3;388.8) (363.9 13th)
Rush (116.9; 116; 140.6; 159.3;92.4;114.7; 115.4) (122.1 10th)
Pass (202;283.4;239.6;206.3;207.7;279.6;273.4) (241.7 12th)
Opp Record: 26-24

My point here for those wondering, is that the "best team in the league" has the exact same flaw that we have. Every team in the league is hurting somewhere. The Eagles O-line is garbage, LB's suck. The Ravens have Flacco and a mind numbing reluctance to run the football. The Steelers O-line leaves a lot to be desired and have LB's dropping like flies due to injury, not mention Big Ben's love affair with turnovers in big games. The Packers defense is a liability. New England's Defense is a liability. I could go on.

I have stayed away from posting this week because this place becomes unbearable after a loss. From garbage like "Maybe Bill Walsh was right" and other threads, one would think this was a 2-5 team coming off a loss to the Rams at home.

We lost to the defending AFC champions on the road by 8 points, playing the worst football we have played all season. The putrid defense held the Steelers to 6 points in the second half. The offense struggled to adjust to the surprising man pressure etc.... it was one loss get over it.

I think far to many people only watch the Pats play on Sunday, then watch highlights on ESPN of the other games. And then listen to uninformed opinions from the talking heads, like my example above.

Maybe they even go as far as comparing these Pats with Patriot teams of the early 2000's; which were one of the most efficient, and well disciplined football teams to ever step on to a football field. Then come to the conclusion that this team isn't good enough to win it all.

The only thing that is relevant now, is how they stack up against the other 31 teams in the league this year. And coming from someone that watches every game, every week, this team stacks up really well!