Kontradiction
On my retirement tour.
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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.I said it earlier this week and I'll say it again: Our defense is bad, but Tebow just cannot match up well with the two gap. Add to that a powerhouse offense that Denver cannot stop, and you have the beautiful end result that we saw tonight.
I think our defense has gone from what many would call 'bad' early in the season to respectably mediocre or middle of the road now.
You have to be pleased with the improved pass rush, the current (and much better) secondary that they are fielding, the resilience, the drive and the heart that they have showed at times throughout the yr.
I certainly recognize the negatives, no doubt. (and to be honest, I would even include the ability to consistently stop the run) But it does seem like the health of the unit has improved dramatically with the return of Fletcher, Spikes, Chung etc. Moore has found a nice niche for himself, and looks like he really belongs.
Long gone are the days of Tracey White, Guyton and #90 being forced to play LB on the regular, long gone are the days of having to use Sergio Brown at starting safety. Long gone are the first few games of getting torched in man coverage against the pass, using a revolving door at CB in the likes of special teamers etc.
This current side of the ball is at the very least, average or mediocre, with the ability to play with a lot of heart.
Certain improvement has been made, no doubt about that.
That all said, I do agree with you that they are definitely not as good as they appeared tonight against the lowly high-school offense of the Broncos; but they definitely look a lot better and you have to give them credit for righting the ship.
It's certainly easy to say this when you're playing a quarterback who can either drop the ball in his receiver's lap or can't hit the broad side of a barn at any given time. Let's do the same to the Ravens next week and then we'll talk.
The performance of the front 3/front 4 is the point I've hung my hat on with the defense. The Broncos O/L aren't mugs. The Pats abused them.On top of that, I think the D-line and front 7 have improved too.
Love, Wilfork, even Deaderick have all been doing pretty well for an 'average' defense. Anderson has been holding his own vs the run (at least better than we thought), and has proved to be a decent pass rusher.
Ninkovich certainly has been playing with a lot of heart. Even Mayo has been more of a playmaker in the past month. Fletcher brings some good aspects to the unit, no doubt. Spikes has looked good, and even is involved on some bigger type plays.
I think that when you throw in the improvement of the secondary, that side of the ball has been gelling more and that has proved to be useful.
You are right, only time will tell.
Like I said, I certainly agree that their performance will be way overblown by beating the lowly Broncos, but just the personnel difference alone has to make you feel a lot better than you did a while back.
I don't even think they're all that great vs the run, let alone the pass, but they have improved in the aspect of switching McCourty in subs, adding Moore, and getting Chung, Fletcher, and Spikes back to health. Even if it comes down to having to use Edelman, he at least plays with a lot of heart and knows how to properly tackle.
Those moves are huge, and they shouldn't be overlooked.
However, I do admire your sense of cautiousness at the same time.
I think it's certainly possible to hold Rice and the BAL offense to around 21 pts or so, and that should be good enough.
I do not think they could hang with Green Bay, but we may not have to worry about that either.
I said it earlier this week and I'll say it again: Our defense is bad, but Tebow just cannot match up well with the two gap. Add to that a powerhouse offense that Denver cannot stop, and you have the beautiful end result that we saw tonight.
Ok, Brady was otherworldly other than a brief stretch early, but I think the story was the defense tonight.
They have been much maligned all year, but other than after the Brady INT they were the exact opposite of what people biatched about them this year,. They were agressive, swarming, disciplined, stingy, and shutdown. The defense was great from start to finish.
Yes, the Denver offense isn't great, but they have played very well at times this year including last week (granted against a depleted Steelers with a stubborn DC who wouldn't adjust). Even against a bad offense, what the defense did today was impressive.
All you "With this defense, the Pats are one and done" crowd have a bit of crow to eat tonight.
Yeah the defense played great.....and yet I have zero confidence they can stop a quality offense.
Last night's game was great (was so nice just to have fun with a playoff game for a change) and at the end of the day it means very little in terms of getting a read on the Patriots defense and how they'll perform against a good offense. That Denver O-line made the Patriots D look like the '85 Bears. My fear going forward is that some players on that D will think they're much better than they actually are and the on-field discipline will be diminished because of it.
Really?!?!...one clap!
They did play well but Denver is not much of a offensive threat.
The good news is whoever they play next week are not the Saints.
Neither team has a great offense but very good defense's.