PromisedLand
Virtual Internet Person
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- Sep 13, 2004
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I've been reading and listening to a lot of "expert" predictions on the games this weekend, and most of them have figured out that the Pats run defense is not the same one which allowed 158 rushing yards to the Broncos in their regular season matchup. In fact, it has been the best in the league of the second half of the year, they point out, allowing only 57 point something yards per game over that stretch (but omitting the week 17 game against the Fins in which the backups played).
What the experts have failed to see, though, is that the passing defense has also been excellent over that stretch. I did some research and put together the numbers over the last eight games of the regular season and the wild card playoff game, (but omitting the Vinny Testeverde stats from the second Jets game and the entire week 17 game, since those stats were achieved against our backups):
Sorry if that's a little hard to read; I tried to format it as a table but wasn't completely successful. Anyway, the point is that over their past eight meaningful games, the New England passing defense has allowed opposing quarterback ratings only a 55.5 passer rating, which is the 0th percentile. Maybe the "much maligned" secondary isn't that bad now, eh?
Granted, there were no Peyton Mannings or Carson Palmers or even Ben Rothlisbergers among the opposition (although Trent Green in KC is pretty good), but I still think that's pretty impressive, and all the more so when considered along with the run D.
What the experts have failed to see, though, is that the passing defense has also been excellent over that stretch. I did some research and put together the numbers over the last eight games of the regular season and the wild card playoff game, (but omitting the Vinny Testeverde stats from the second Jets game and the entire week 17 game, since those stats were achieved against our backups):
Code:
Date Game QB Att Compl Yds TD IN Rating Long
13-Nov @Miami G.Frerotte 47 25 360 2 1 83.6 47
20-Nov New Orleans A.Brooks 50 27 343 2 1 80.7 32
27-Nov @Kansas City T.Green 26 19 323 1 0 127.6 52
4-Dec N.Y. Jets B.Bollinger 37 15 135 0 1 39.8 17
11-Dec @Buffalo J.Losman 27 10 181 1 3 33.6 58
17-Dec Tampa Bay C.Simms 34 21 155 0 0 72.5 22
26-Dec @N.Y. Jets B.Bollinger 19 11 100 1 1 67.9 24
7-Jan Jacksonville B.Leftwich 31 18 179 0 1 61.1 24
7-Jan Jacksonville D.Garrard 8 3 68 0 0 68.8 41
[b]Totals 279 149 1844 7 8 55.5 [/b]
Granted, there were no Peyton Mannings or Carson Palmers or even Ben Rothlisbergers among the opposition (although Trent Green in KC is pretty good), but I still think that's pretty impressive, and all the more so when considered along with the run D.