dtbrks
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2006
- Messages
- 3,877
- Reaction score
- 1,978
Registered Members experience this forum ad and noise-free.
CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.The 2007 numbers are probably a bit askew due to the big leads the Pats often had, they forced teams to plan to throw and thus they likely threw a little better. the offense blew the last SB for the most part. one more field goal in that game and this article is irrelevant, no?
The Pats were second in sacks in 2007, fourth in points allowed, fourth in yds/play allowed, 6th in passing yds/game allowed, 11th in opposing QB rating - clearly a disaster!
2006 featured the leagues 2nd best opposing QB rating at 66.1. Only the vaunted Ravens were better at 63.4. the Pats wre 2nd in points are allowed to that same Ravens D. Clearly another disaster of a year on D.
Sorry, I can't go on with more stats...
However, the author is on to something about BB drafting DB's and pass rushers, as in - BB hasn't drafted ANY of note in years. In fact, he hasn't signed any of note in years either. Meriweather is looking good but it's his 3rd year and he still runs past too many tackles. Um, unless I'm mistaken, that's it in the Pats' DB and pass rushing acquisitions for bona fide success stories , let alone stardom. Sanders? Eh, barely more than JAG. Wilhite? May be not bad but he is far from consistent and certainly not a star. Pass rushers? Zero. You're not going to say Woods, are you? he's invisible, and ironically that's probably why he's still on the team. AD flashes but also completely disappears at times. It's not like killer OLB's or DE's are a dime a dozen but it's been years since we bought or developed one.
His article is about as logical as saying that BB hasn't won a SB since he got divorced. Yes, he has some good points but it's not like the guy has been Mike Shananhan circa 2008..........C'mon...
Kerry's just another guy trying to earn a football related living sitting behind a keyboard. Everyone here loved him when he focused on how much better Tom was than Peyton... He's a patsfan and that has long been used against him in the court of NFL opinion. So this is an attempt to appeal to the broader audience and prove he's an impartial statistical analyst. Sad thing is all it really proves is he's a sadly typical patsfan driven to vent over this teams lack of consistent domination... I mean there is a still chance we will have only played in slightly less than half the superbowls adjudicated in this decade and only won a third of them. What's up with that?!?!
It's absolutely amazing that ackbass thinking like this can dupe so many people.
I love the 3rs down crap.
If my oppponent starts 11 drives on their 20 and he gets 1 first down(on third down) before punting; my defense has a 50% efficency. By "cold hard football facts" that's a disaster.
People need to realize that the little stat known as POINTS matter. 3rd down conversion ONLY matters if you are giving up excessive amounts of points.
Perhaps BB needs to start preaching situational football in umbdass.
Mo
"Spawn of the Dumb Girls"?
I'm pretty sure I've heard BB preach quite a few times about how important it is to get off the field on 3rd down. Third down defense is pretty closely linked to the quality of a defense points wise.
If you want to talk about situational football, you have to see that this defense has been allowing some long drives at inopportune times. Additionally, don't discount the fact that the offense has been good enough to eat up some serious clock time which is limiting the number of opportunities that the opposition has to score and helping the defense out significantly. This defense has only had to face 47 drives against it. That is the lowest number of drives against anyteam that hasn't had a bye. Part of the reason that they are letting up less points is because there have been less opportunities for teams to score against them.
Is it important to get off the field on third down?
Well yeah, because if you don't the drive can only end with a score or turnover. I still haven't observed teams punting on 2nd down.
Long drives at inopportune times
Isn't the opposition scoring always inopportune?
Was the stop at the end of the game (after the fumble) opportune?
What is your objective value of points needed for your subjective evaluation of a defense being "good" or "bad"?
Is a 98 yard drive that ends in a TD situationally worse than a 60 yard drive that ends in a TD?
Only the defense can affect the number of points scored against it. They are equally important in determining how long the offense can keep the ball.
There are so many things wrong with that 'reasoning' that I don't even know where to start. Instead, I think I'll just put you on ignore- the act is wearing thin.
Hence the importance of 3rd down conversion rate as a stat.
How about less points then your offense scores?
If it is a systematic type of drive yes it is worse. Your defense is on the field longer so it wears them down. It eats up clock that prevents your offense from being on the field. It also is indicative of a defense that is struggling for whatever reason. Letting up long drives for TDs is a trait indicitve of bad defenses. The more field you have to cover the harder it is to score.
I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. The offense can certainly affect how many points are scroed against the defense. If brady fumbles at the 2 the other team recovers, has he affected the likelyhood of the defense to let up points? Of course he has. Conversly, if the offense is constantly changing field position by moving the ball at least a bit every drive and having the opposition starting within their 20 every drive then he is also affecting the defense.
As for the second half of your statment, I agree. When the defense lets up long drives it also contributes to the low number of drives.
I know 2007 has some good spots, as does this team. But here is one for 2009: teams have a 41.38% success rate on 3rd down against our defense, which places us on the lower tier sofa with the Rams, Chiefs, Bills, Tampa and Steelers, (and oddly, the Colts).
No one stat rules but I think we all agree this needs to get better. I expect it will as the young D plays together over the season.
When is the last time that you could say the Patriots really frustrated a good QB? It's been years. Orton has his way pretty much all game and the 4th quarter collapses a extremely disturbing. In the Superbowl years, you could count on a big 4th Q stop. Now? It's the opposite. I have to say, I am at a loss to see why Belichick insists on drafting 5'9" defensive backs.
I was really optimistic after the Ravens game. I though the defense was aggressive all game both in the pass rush and in the coverage. I actually thought that at times the coverage was pretty tight against Denver, but Orton had plenty of time to throw and with time he was accurate all day.
In your world, the team that wins 49-48 has a "better" defense than the team that loses 3-2.
Bingo. When I said that there are plenty of good stats that are major red flags for our D, 3rd down success rate was the #1 stat that I was thinking about. You can't win a SB with teams converting that many third downs against you. That's how teams put together 90+ yard drives that kill entire quarters and wear out your D.
It is what it is...