Not Getting off the field ""IS" the problem

[goz421]

I believe they weren't that bad for being one of the youngest out there.

 

[patriot lifer]

A lot of our glaring defensive weaknesses were hidden by the prolific scoring of our offense. When we faced better defenses, those weaknesses were our undoing.

Our ability to get off the field WAS the problem. Let's look at the stats compared against the two Superbowl teams.


HERE is the BIGGEST issue:

We allowed 348 first downs. Pittsburgh allowed 272. Green Bay allowed 270.

Teams converted a lot on 1st and 2nd down on us too. Mainly in the passing game. 226 of those 1st downs came via pass.

Allowed third down, conversions: Pats 99, Green Bay 77 and Pitt 70.

You say that's not a huge disparity....fine but those conversions against tough opponents at critical points of the game are costly.

Teams also converted 12 of 20 4th downs against us. Pitt stunk there too with 10 allowed, but GB only allowed 6.

Remember....BB said sacks are a meaningless stat.....But PASS PRESSURE....is not. An NFL caliber QB who is comfortable in the pocket...is deadly..whether it's Peyton Manning or Matt Flynn.

You can have great corners...but they can only cover so long.

Like WhiZa said in an earlier post, we play a bend but don't break defense. We gave up a lot of yards per game (ranked 25), but we didn't give up many points in comparison (ranked 8). We were also ranked 1 in interceptions. The way I interpret these statistics is that the bend but don't break defense was effectively working. We gave up yards but we forced teams to march down the field, which eventually leads to mistakes (hence the interceptions).

What's more, everyone in the league is trying to find a quality passrusher. There is a high premium on these guys during the draft (and all the while it comes down to some luck whether or not the players will be good passrushers or not). And if so many teams are pursuing the same assortment of passrushers, there are two ways to respond: 1) instead of passing a lot, run the ball which will negate the advantages of good passrushers (and good pass defenders i.e. the Jets). Hence we draft a couple new OL's and RB's. 2) Draft some better DB's. The point of good pass rushers is to defend the pass better. This can also be accomplished by having better...DB's.

 

[Ring 6]

The defense must feel like the red haired step child. Tommy Brady gets the highest contract per year of any player at any position ever. Mankins will get over $10 million for next season ( is that the most ever for an OG ? ), the offense gets all the draft picks ( except for the cornerback ).

All the big money and draft picks seem to be going to the offense. Can't the defense get a little love ?

Because we have been drafting defense for years.
Brace
Mayo
Spikes
Cunningham
Butler
Chung
Mccourty
Meriwhether

That is almost a whole starting defense drafted in the first 2 rounds in the last couple of years.