ESPN James Walker "Reasons why the Patriots will make it to the Super Bowl"

[Deus Irae]

Yes. The Patriots Defense is not good.

It is as bad as Green Bay's and New Orleans'.

It's worse than either of those defenses.

 

[shmessy]

It's worse than either of those defenses.

No, it's not.

(My best Deus Irae style imitation).

 

[Nikolai]

Fantasy Football sensibilities dictate that the Pats have the worst D. End of story.

 

[fnordcircle]

The fact that 3 of the consensus top 5 teams in the league have woeful defenses (Patriots, Packers, Saints) is strongly indicative of something. What - I don't know.

It could be the ripple effect of the lockout. It could be the impact of greater attention paid to reducing big hits, etc. It could be other things or it could be a combination of all of them.

The fact is that there is no complete team going into the playoffs this year. Probably the closest one is the Steelers and they have a crappy OL and a QB who is in bad shape atm.

The Ravens are too inconsistent.

It's going to be a fun post season either way.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

It's worse than either of those defenses.

It gives up more yards but as its been pointed out, they give up less points than NO and are even with GB, they're also pretty good with turnovers. Are they good, hell no, but the offense is fantastic so the question remains, is it good enough to hold teams to less points than the offense can score. This is the question that I guess the ostriches answer, yes.

 

[ausbacker]

It gives up more yards but as its been pointed out, they give up less points than NO and are even with GB, they're also pretty good with turnovers. Are they good, hell no, but the offense is fantastic so the question remains, is it good enough to hold teams to less points than the offense can score. This is the question that I guess the ostriches answer, yes.

[B]Defense       YPG P Rank YPG R Rank YPG Total Rank Points Rank INT Rank  FR Rank[/B]

Green Bay     289.4   31 108.4   12     397.8   31   21.2   14  27   01  05   27
New England   296.7   32 117.6   19     414.4   32   21.2   14  18   04  10   08
New Orleans   256.1   28 109.9   13     366.1   28   21.8   18  08   28  05   27

 

[wistahpatsfan]

Last time I checked, YPG had nothing to do with who wins. You combine a bottom third defense and a top three offense, ..especially with the new rules and penalties...you get a viable contender for the winner of the SB. It's less far-fetched than if you had a top three defense and bottom third offense, IMO. Too bad defense doesn't rule anymore. It's different this year and BB knew that coming into training camp. It's not like he can't play to strengths and weaknesses when it comes to game-planning or even season-planning.

 

[strngplyr]

Like stated, the defense is far from good, but it has either scored or given 28 extra possessions to the offense. Only one team has done that more.

 

[mgcolby]

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

There is so much ignorance in this post that I honestly don't know where to begin my response.

I think the 1981 Baltimore Colts own the distinction of the worst defense ever...they allowed 33.3PPG and 424.5 yards per game. Yard wise this Pats team is in the ballpark, but for much different reasons than the 2-14 Colts.

The Steelers, do you mean the defending AFC Champions that were hosting one of their biggest rivals of the decade? Shocker they got up for the game...

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

Here are 10 defenses I would say are legitimately worse than the 2011 Patriots:

The last three numbers are points for, allowed, and differential.

1 BAL 1981 16 2 14 0 0.125 259 533 -274
2 DET 2008 16 0 16 0 0.000 268 517 -249
3 DET 2009 16 2 14 0 0.125 262 494 -232
4 NOR 1980 16 1 15 0 0.063 291 487 -196
5 IND 2001 16 6 10 0 0.375 413 486 -73
6 MIN 1984 16 3 13 0 0.188 276 484 -208
7 TAM 1986 16 2 14 0 0.125 239 473 -234
8 DEN 2010 16 4 12 0 0.250 344 471 -127
9 STL 2000 16 10 6 0 0.625 540 471 69
10 STL 2008 16 2 14 0 0.125 232 465 -233

 

[shmessy]

[B]Defense       YPG P Rank YPG R Rank YPG Total Rank Points Rank INT Rank  FR Rank[/B]

Green Bay     289.4   31 108.4   12     397.8   31   21.2   14  27   01  05   27
New England   296.7   32 117.6   19     414.4   32   21.2   14  18   04  10   08
New Orleans   256.1   28 109.9   13     366.1   28   21.8   18  08   28  05   27

Put this away!!! Put this away!!!!

Deus Irae has proclaimed the Patriots defense is worse than Green Bay's and New Orleans' and that is that!!!!!

The Proclamation Rules All Reality.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

My main concern with the defense is the lack of playmakers in the secondary, particularly at safety. We miss Rodney, maybe even Sanders, in that regard. The front seven has its highs and lows, but they can get better pressure, raise hell, and stand their ground. The secondary will get torched here and there, but they need to create turnovers. Right now, they don't. Aside from Arrington, they haven't all season.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

No.

They are not ranked "last in Defense". They are last in one measure of a Defense.

Don't hand in sloppy work.

shmessy

There is a further caveat.

The defense is ranked last in a statistic that has zero bearing on overall team record.

It's just doesn't seem to click with the village idiots that the three teams with the three best records are "worst" in this stat.

The village idiots

Don't comprehend
Can't comprehend
Don't want to comprehend

 

[shmessy]

shmessy

There is a further caveat.

The defense is ranked last in a statistic that has zero bearing on overall team record.

It's just doesn't seem to click with the village idiots that the three teams with the three best records are "worst" in this stat.

The village idiots

Don't comprehend
Can't comprehend
Don't want to comprehend

OK, let's cut with the name calling. It takes away from the substance of the arguments on either side.

Ostriches, chicken littles, idiots, etc. Just make the point. This website is far higher quality than a Gangreen or Finhaven.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Folks, it's not Jet fan heresy to point out that the 2011 Pats D has serious deficiencies. I'm with the camp that says it's not as bad as the YPG indicator but the D represents a serious risk when playing an elite offense in the playoffs. If Brady and Co aren't completely on their game vs another high powered offense sane analysis says we're probably gonna lose.

I'm optimistic that we can get some further improvement from this talent starved young D in January, maybe even enough to be playing in February, but then I'm a major Pats homo.

 

[ivanvamp]

My main concern with the defense is the lack of playmakers in the secondary, particularly at safety. We miss Rodney, maybe even Sanders, in that regard. The front seven has its highs and lows, but they can get better pressure, raise hell, and stand their ground. The secondary will get torched here and there, but they need to create turnovers. Right now, they don't. Aside from Arrington, they haven't all season.

I know it doesn't feel like the Pats have a lot of playmakers, but they are #1 in the AFC in turnovers created, and tied for 4th in the NFL in interceptions. How do you get there if you don't have guys that can make plays?

 

[NEP4Life]

Folks, it's not Jet fan heresy to point out that the 2011 Pats D has serious deficiencies. I'm with the camp that says it's not as bad as the YPG indicator but the D represents a serious risk when playing an elite offense in the playoffs. If Brady and Co aren't completely on their game vs another high powered offense sane analysis says we're probably gonna lose.

I'm optimistic that we can get some further improvement from this talent starved young D in January, maybe even enough to be playing in February, but then I'm a major Pats homo.

Somewhat concur. To me, the jury's out on the D until the playoffs. If the Pats clinch a first-round bye, I can see BB using his usual smoke and mirrors to get this D through 2 wins.

Then the fun really starts.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Folks, it's not Jet fan heresy to point out that the 2011 Pats D has serious deficiencies. I'm with the camp that says it's not as bad as the YPG indicator but the D represents a serious risk when playing an elite offense in the playoffs. If Brady and Co aren't completely on their game vs another high powered offense sane analysis says we're probably gonna lose.

I'm optimistic that we can get some further improvement from this talent starved young D in January, maybe even enough to be playing in February, but then I'm a major Pats homo.

If our D returns to health - i.e., Chung-Spikes-McCourty at full strength - then I'm not worried. Those guys are among our biggest playmakers and they've been missing or playing hurt for the past 2 months.

Our DL is deep and solid, even with the loss of Carter. LB's are very solid with Spikes back. DB has been bad, but Chung stabilizes safety and I like the CB combo of McCourty-Arrington if they're healthy. We've also developed a little depth there over the season for nickle and dime situations.

This D does have playmakers, it's similar to GB and NO that way. The numbers belie the talent on that unit.

 

[JoeShmoe]

Last year, Brady just didnt show up for the Jets game, he was off from the start and looked jittery all game

This year so far he's looked focus and hes not been afraid to scramble when he's had to (if he'd done that in the jets game we might have won it)

Bottom line we've every chance to win the whole thing but No.12 has to be lights out in Jan

 

[ay-yo]

. . . The d represents a serious risk when playing an elite offense in the playoffs. If ***rodgers / brees *** aren't completely on their game vs another high powered offense sane analysis says ***Packers / Saints *** probably gonna lose.

See what I did there?