22 unanswered points - Defense deserves more credit

[JoeSixPat]

Everywhere I look and read I see Brady, Moss, Maroney and others on offense are getting credit for this win that allowed us to keep the Perfect Season train rolling.

But to me I expect this offense to score about 38 points a game. It's the defense that made the appropriate adjustments to hold the Giants when things were looking bleak.

22 friggen unanswered points were the difference in this game. That's a HUGE accomplishment and if they lapsed and even allowed an additional field goal, we're in overtime.

So while everyone's going crazy over offensive records I think it should be noted that without that defensive stand, we could well be 15-1 today.

 

[chrisfx811]

It was a solid stretch, especially in terms of pass pressure.
But let's be fair here. The 'd' gave up 4 td's to the G-men, which was even worse because the 'o' settled for 3 fg's, 2 early on that allowed the Giants to maintain the lead despite being outplayed from a statistical standpoint.

The defense adapted well in terms of shifting their focus from the run game to Eli & the Passing game
Plaxico Burress is a tough cover no matter how you slice it.
Brandon Jacobs isn't easy to get to the ground.
Eli got off to a good start which kept his confidence up, and he's sneaky mobile which kept a few plays alive.

 

[GostkowSKI]

AD came up with a huge sack last night. The Giants had the ball on the Patriots side of the field with a 5 point lead when AD took down Manning for a 12 yard loss. Had the Giants put up points there it could have been a completely different game.

 

[C'est La Vie]

Defense stepped up once again late in the game, in the clutch.

 

[Fencer]

They gave up 28 points and got only one TO. Sure, they were handed questionable field position a few times, but that would be more of an excuse if they'd merely given up field goals.

It was good enough to win, but it wasn't a great performance.

A great performance was 38 points by the offense, 0 TOs, and almost nothing in the way of gift field position. Yes, it could have been even better -- but it was darned good as it was.

 

[Boston Jay]

Not letting the Giants score from about 9:15 in the 3rd til 1:04 in the 4th = good

14 offensive points in the first half = argh

 

[Kdo5]

The defense has always come up big when it matters the most like when we are down. They can play really crappy for 3 Q's and then they force a bunch of punts or turnovers so that the offense can complete a comeback.

 

[chrisfx811]

14 offensive points in the first half = argh

A 28 ppg average would be pretty solid, actually, only 2 & 1 ppg off the Cowboys and Colts averages.

Our scoring defense just dropped to #7 in the league by virtue of last night's game. We give up a lot of passing td's, fwiw.

 

[Boston Jay]

Didn't give it up when it was crucial though so I really can't complain.

 

[Hammer12]

But they are going to have to tighten it up for the playoffs. In the third quarter when we were down 12, scored, kept them from scoring, got the ball back, then went 3 and out, if we had been playing a better team, that could have very easily gotten out of control. The offense wasn't managing the game well. In terms of the defense, yes 22 unanswered points is great, but I'm sorry, Eli manning is Mr. Choke, and usually he pretty much turns the ball over multiple times due to his own ineptitude. There is no way he should have scored that many points. Don't get me wrong, it was great and it was enough to win last night. But both lines are going to have to play a tighter game to win our play-off games.

 

[Dragda]

They did answer with seven points with a minute left. The defense wasn't stellar last night. They were good in the second half, but the Giants did answer albeit too late to make a difference.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

This D isn't pretty but they seem to make the big play when they need to at important points in the game. Let's face it they just need to be good not great. I don't see anyone coming into Foxborough and outscoring us. I think you're going to see our D-front get much more active which will help out the secondary immensely. Also think you're going to see Tom Brady turn back into the relentless surgeon who will use all the offensive scalpals in his possession to carve teams up. No distractions to deter the surgeon.
I feel really good about this team. They're pretty healthy, in many ways the pressure is off them coming into the playoffs, they're at home and they want rings for Junior, for Randy, for Wes, etc.
Can't ask for a better scenario than that!!! :rocker:

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

I don't think the Giant's last drive of the game should be counted when trying to figure out whether the defense played well or not.

The defense has one job in that situation -- put the team in position that it can come out in victory formation if they recover the onside kick. That's the highest win percentage, and that's exactly what the defense did. Keep everything in front of you, don't let them score before the 2:00 warning, and take away the sideline.

That's the way Belichick always plays it in that situation, and the defense did it perfectly.

Yes, you'd like the stop and turnover on downs to win the game right there. But not at the expense of giving up a quicker score that allows your opponent to kick off and call time outs and get the ball back.

It was the exact situation of the superbowl against the Eagles, and the defense let the Eagles go over the top in that situation, which made Belichick furious.

I think the defense did it's job perfectly yesterday on that last drive.

But even taking that away, zero for three on red zone defense is not great.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I guess my point is that it wasn't just one play that the D made... it was many plays for a good stretch to allow the offense back into the game.

If it were one big play one might claim it was part good luck.

I'd like to see them tighten things up in the playoffs to be sure, but I give the Giants some credit too - they were playing pretty flawless ball on the offensive side, so I don't think the only reason they scored 35 points is because our D sucked. They played very very well.

But again - a long stretch of holding the Giants scoreless is what made the difference in this game IMO.