Don't care what you say, the defense played very well yesterday...

[DonBlackmon55]

Honestly, I don't care how the Pats playing this year. Forget about the homefield and all that crap. Homefield advantage doesn't mean anything if you can't win in the playoffs, it's make you even more disappointed as a fan.

But what I really like to see them do is, just make it to the Wild Card and win ALL THE WAY to the end like Giants did in '07!!! If that happens, everything else won't matter at all.

Ever since 2007 when Pats decided to totally rely on Passing as their strategy, homefield avantage has been more or less negated due to weather conditions. You can throw for 350+ yards and TD's in Sept, but as exposd, not happening in January.

The runaway scoring machine of Pats beat Jags 31-20 and Chargers 21-12, followed by SB blowup in '07. Then last 2 yrs thoroughly beaten at home by Ravens and Jets. In Ravens game Brady had 42 attempts and vs Jets 45 attempts.

 

[Rob0729]

People keep saying there's no good NFL defenses...why does our main rival have a good defense, a defense that ended our season last year?

To say the defense played well enough to win is, well, at this point it's something a Patriot fan would say. Any football fan would say they should win if their QB throw for opver 300 yards, 4 TDS. It wasn't enough for the team this week, it barely is most weeks, and it wasn't enough this week.

Tedy Bruschi himself said on ESPN that the Patriots live and die with Brady. He even said they can't be that way, that other guys need to find ways to step up. Games like the one against Buffalo prove this. When Brady is off, we have noone who can step up and win us a game. IJS.
Does tha

Funny, you go to the Jets Insiders board and they are complaining about their defense. So far, the Jets defense has been average at best. If they weren't lucky enough to face Luke McCown, their defense might not be much better than the Pats' defense right now. They have given up 61 points on defense and the Pats have given up 73. The Jets were able to keep the Jags and the future HOFer, McCown, to 3 points, but they gave up 24 to Dallas and 34 to the Raiders. They are not a good defense right now.

But they do have an advantage because they can live and die on the arm of Mark Sanchez when the Pats have to settle for Brady's arm. As a certain Jet troll has pointed out, Sanchez's ceiling is limitless while Brady's ceiling is only the greatest QB of all time.

 

[TheComeback]

This shouldn't necessarily end the debate, but

Let's slow down a little bit. I don't know if you could throw for 300. I think the defense picked up the team at the beginning of the game, with Kyle Arrington's two interceptions. The defense helped the Pats get up 21-0. The problem as the game progressed was penalties, particularly two roughing-the-passer penalties on the long Bills drive. Those are mistakes that can't be overcome.

I'd say there's a lot of truth to that idea. The defense looked very good in the first half. I think they'll be fine by the end of the season.

 

[Kid~Brady]

People keep saying there's no good NFL defenses...why does our main rival have a good defense, a defense that ended our season last year?

To say the defense played well enough to win is, well, at this point it's something a Patriot fan would say. Any football fan would say they should win if their QB throw for opver 300 yards, 4 TDS. It wasn't enough for the team this week, it barely is most weeks, and it wasn't enough this week.

Tedy Bruschi himself said on ESPN that the Patriots live and die with Brady. He even said they can't be that way, that other guys need to find ways to step up. Games like the one against Buffalo prove this. When Brady is off, we have noone who can step up and win us a game. IJS.
Does tha

I meant as far this season.

All of the teams that has had the best defenses in the league are also giving up alot of yards that we arent used to seeing.

 

[Kid~Brady]

I can agree with Kid~Brady that there are is not shut down defense anymore because the game has changed. However this pats defense is not even serviceable at this point. QB's are lighting up the pats secondary and pats can barely stop the run. So yeah I am not sure if this OP serious or not with this topic.

Exactly.

The game has changed to a more passing league, defenses will be shredded more this season then we've ever seen.

 

[FalconHeavy]

There was a time when our D will play prevent , bend don't break when we are leading by a couple of scores. of late even with a 21 point lead, they give cough it up

I blame indy for this, they put on a damn hex in that RCA dome, I tell ya in that AFCC game

 

[TheComeback]

Ever since 2007 when Pats decided to totally rely on Passing as their strategy, homefield avantage has been more or less negated due to weather conditions. You can throw for 350+ yards and TD's in Sept, but as exposd, not happening in January.

The runaway scoring machine of Pats beat Jags 31-20 and Chargers 21-12, followed by SB blowup in '07. Then last 2 yrs thoroughly beaten at home by Ravens and Jets. In Ravens game Brady had 42 attempts and vs Jets 45 attempts.

Complete myth.

GB 27 @ NE 31
MIA 7 @ NE 38
NYJ 3 @ NE 45

From 07:
PIT 13 @ NE 34
MIA 7 @ NE 28
NE 38 @ NYG 35

You may want to consider the caliber of defenses we play in the postseason instead of just the weather.

 

[billdog3484]

you can say what you want. i know what i saw. our defense stunk. a good defense makes plays when it needs to. we didnt. and, we had several opportunities to do so thanks to our offense scoring so many points. i will say, that pick in the end zone called back was a horrendous call, but we will get them next time. if we beat the raiders then the jets ill be pretty damn happy sitting at 4-1.

 

[ensoul]

The secondary of most teams is going to give up tons of yards because you cannot even breath on the receivers without the refs throwing a flag. However it does not help when the pats are getting ZERO pressure on opposing QB's giving them about 10 seconds to throw the ball.

 

[letekro]

The thing that was so exciting about the preseason/Miami defense was the havoc created by the interior D Line, which led to opportunities for the D-ends. Now, one of those mainly responsible for that havoc--Pryor--is gone for the year. Another--Haynesworth--has been up and down and now is hurt. Wright was effective in Miami early on and now he's gone for an indeterminate amount of time.

I don't think we will see much improvement from the pass rush until at least two of Haynesworth, Wright and Cohen are playing and playing at a high level.

As for the backend, it also comes down to health--We can hide one subpar player back there as long as Chung, Dowling, McCourty, and Bodden are healthy and playing to their ability. Unfortunately, given this group's history with injuries, that may be wishful thinking.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

There's no sugar coating it. The defense stinks on ice right now. That being said, the old coaching axiom probably applies here: it's never as good or as bad as it looks.

Hopefully everyone rallies and re-focuses. Otherwise, they aren't going to stop a nose bleed moving forward.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't care what the total yards were. I watched the game and understand the ebb and flow of football. This game is about momentum, and the new NFL means lots of passing yards, almost regardless of your defense. Did anyone notice that the mighty Samuel/Asomugha/Rodgers-Cromartie trio allowed 4 TDs to Eli Manning yesterday?

The Bills came in to the game averaging nearly 40 points per game, playing at home in one of their biggest games of the last decade. The Patriots were missing Pat Chung, Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright, and Ras-I Dowling. You'd think the Bills would score 50 points, right?

They scored 27 points on offense. In addition, the Patriots forced two turnovers, and many believe it should have been three turnovers (PI call in the end zone.)

The Bills first touchdown drive was extended on a ludicrous late hit call on Dane Fletcher, who put his fingers on Fitz's shoulder pads.

The Bills third touchdown drive was a terrible PI call in the end zone; should have been an interception... instead, the Bills were handed 7 points.

The only drive the defense should be ashamed of is the last one. That is the sign of a weak team; they didn't even make them earn it. Devin McCourty should not be the guy getting burned in the most critical point in the game, nor should he have been dumb enough to tackle FJ on the one-yard line.

But one of the problems with four turnovers isn't just the lack of scoring; it's also the field position, and most importantly, time of possession problems that the defense must absorb. Few defenses would be able to play well late into the second half with that many turnovers from the offense.

I know what the season stats look like as well, but that doesn't tell the entire story either. The defense needs to improve a lot, but really, how many grind-it-out 13-10 games do the Patriots have compared to other teams? None. You can expect tons of yardage against us (as well as lots of turnovers) this year. Teams won't play for field position and field goals against Brady.

How do you call it good defense when we took the field defensively with the game on the line twice (last 2 drives) starting at the 5 and 20, and proceeded to allow them to go 174 yards on 7 snaps, 5 plays and 2 penalties?
That on 2 game deciding drives the best play our defense made was a 12 yard completion and the second best was a 15 yard penalty?
That we allowed them to go the length of the field twice in 7 snaps and 2:33?
I could care less about stats. It means nothing to me that Chad Henne threw for 400 yards with no chance of beating us.
But when the game is on the line and we put up the worst clutch defensive effort possibly in NFL history, its insulting to defenses everywhere to say the defense played well.

 

[mgteich]

You are correct. Obviously, folks over-reacted. They always do. And yes, I strongly agree. It is not yards that matter. We were a solid defense as measured by points allowed for the last half of 2010. Perhaps we will be so this year also. But we have a long way to go.
==========================================
27 points is an aweful lot of points to give up to Buffalo, unless you consider their offense to be on a par with ours, one of the very best in the nfl. Near the end of the game, Brady tied up the game. As I recall, it took 3 plays for the defense to fold yet again.

Even then, it's back to basics. Who did we take out of the game? The two weeks before we took out Bush and Gates.

How can no safety help for corners be acceptable? How can no backup safeties on the roster be acceptable. We should not be counting on Barrett and Brown to play 100% of the reps.

How can it be acceptable to have no dime back?
Having 7 defensive backs on the roster than can actually play just won't work, unless they are all always healthy. All teams need backups. We have none.

I don't care what the total yards were. I watched the game and understand the ebb and flow of football. This game is about momentum, and the new NFL means lots of passing yards, almost regardless of your defense. Did anyone notice that the mighty Samuel/Asomugha/Rodgers-Cromartie trio allowed 4 TDs to Eli Manning yesterday?

The Bills came in to the game averaging nearly 40 points per game, playing at home in one of their biggest games of the last decade. The Patriots were missing Pat Chung, Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright, and Ras-I Dowling. You'd think the Bills would score 50 points, right?

They scored 27 points on offense. In addition, the Patriots forced two turnovers, and many believe it should have been three turnovers (PI call in the end zone.)

The Bills first touchdown drive was extended on a ludicrous late hit call on Dane Fletcher, who put his fingers on Fitz's shoulder pads.

The Bills third touchdown drive was a terrible PI call in the end zone; should have been an interception... instead, the Bills were handed 7 points.

The only drive the defense should be ashamed of is the last one. That is the sign of a weak team; they didn't even make them earn it. Devin McCourty should not be the guy getting burned in the most critical point in the game, nor should he have been dumb enough to tackle FJ on the one-yard line.

But one of the problems with four turnovers isn't just the lack of scoring; it's also the field position, and most importantly, time of possession problems that the defense must absorb. Few defenses would be able to play well late into the second half with that many turnovers from the offense.

I know what the season stats look like as well, but that doesn't tell the entire story either. The defense needs to improve a lot, but really, how many grind-it-out 13-10 games do the Patriots have compared to other teams? None. You can expect tons of yardage against us (as well as lots of turnovers) this year. Teams won't play for field position and field goals against Brady.

 

[TheSolderKing]

what game were you watching topic creator

 

[goheels22002]

How do you call it good defense when we took the field defensively with the game on the line twice (last 2 drives) starting at the 5 and 20, and proceeded to allow them to go 174 yards on 7 snaps, 5 plays and 2 penalties?
That on 2 game deciding drives the best play our defense made was a 12 yard completion and the second best was a 15 yard penalty?
That we allowed them to go the length of the field twice in 7 snaps and 2:33?
I could care less about stats. It means nothing to me that Chad Henne threw for 400 yards with no chance of beating us.
But when the game is on the line and we put up the worst clutch defensive effort possibly in NFL history, its insulting to defenses everywhere to say the defense played well.

8 penalties + 4 interceptions = L

The key to your post was the repeated use of the word penalties. Other than the two uncharacteristic penalties on Logan Mankins that stood out, the defense repeatedly got flagged to keep drives moving. There's a lack of discipline or experience here that we can only hope can be fixed.

It was weird to watch part II of A Football Life on Thursday evening with Belichick preaching about "one penalty can kill us" and then watch the game Sunday with 8 penalties for 93 yards.

8 penalties + 4 interceptions = L

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

what game were you watching topic creator

He thought the Bills were wearing the White uniforms :bricks:

 

[SONS_OF_BELICHICK]

he must have been flipping between channels with the Giants game and thought they were us .....and missed the bills driving up and down the field....

 

[Kontradiction]

The defense allowed a ton of yardage to an offense that isn't particularly talented or deep and then failed when we needed them the most. I thought they played well last week, certainly better than Week 1. But the defense that took two steps forward last week took four back this week.

 

[TheSolderKing]

he must have been flipping between channels with the Giants game and thought they were us .....and missed the bills driving up and down the field....

Good point.

 

[Deus Irae]

The defense was lousy.