Patriots defense leads league in opponents' yards per point allowed

[RobertWeathers]

I would be surprised if they did. Wilson has very much improved as a pocket passer since Super Bowl 49.

I agree that he has improved but SEA is very one dimensional and they are not putting points on the board.

With that said, this is the 1st time NE will be facing an elite defense so that may impact their own defensive strategy as points may be at a premium.

 

[PF_SU]

Right now the Seahawks' offensive line is perhaps the worst in all of football. But knowing Belichick's tendency against running QBs the pass rushers won't pin their ears back and storm upfield regardless of that.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Right now the Seahawks' offensive line is perhaps the worst in all of football. But knowing Belichick's tendency against running QBs the pass rushers won't pin their ears back and storm upfield regardless of that.

Yes. Clearly Russell can still move around, it'll be interesting to see how well his ankle has healed when they play him as he is not the same scrambling/running QB that we are accustomed to seeing.

 

[FourierSeries]

I
With that said, this is the 1st time NE will be facing an elite defense so that may impact their own defensive strategy as points may be at a premium.

I feel fairly confident about that matchup. It will depend on how close Edelman is to full health, but I think a similar approach to SB49 should be successful against them. The presence of a legitimate 2TE threat will help as well. Luckily, we have a bye the week before that game, which means two weeks to prepare and two weeks for Edelman to heal his foot. Meanwhile, Seattle will be coming off a Monday night game vs Buffalo and they'll have to travel to Foxboro.

I think NE puts up 24-28 points, which should be more than enough to win that game.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I feel fairly confident about that matchup. It will depend on how close Edelman is to full health, but I think a similar approach to SB49 should be successful against them. The presence of a legitimate 2TE threat will help as well. Luckily, we have a bye the week before that game, which means two weeks to prepare and two weeks for Edelman to heal his foot. Meanwhile, Seattle will be coming off a Monday night game vs Buffalo and they'll have to travel to Foxboro.

I think NE puts up 24-28 points, which should be more than enough to win that game.

I agree. I think they will win as well. I don't think the SEA offense is as good so 27-13 or so sounds about right.

 

[mosslost]

this stat doesn't really make much sense to me. basically it's saying that you'd rather have a defense that gives up 500 yards and 15 ppg over a defense that gives up 250 yards and 15 ppg. i think i would prefer the latter defense.

I get your point. However, I think the point is that the 500 Yard per game D is probably not going to only give up the 15. I looked at the list, and the other teams close to the Pats in this stat are Seattle, Minn, etc. So it clearly means your D is good.

 

[skinnydog]

While somewhat true, it's not like they are allowing 4-5 long drives a game. They are stopping people.

Keep in mind the pressure this offense puts on opposing offenses helps the defense.

Blackbeard and BB make solid 1/2 time adjustments, but when you are up 27-13 in the middle of the 3rd or 4th quarter, opposing offenses need to start taking some chances to try and get back in the game.

BB is more than happy (within reason) to allow a FG or a TD that takes the opposing offense 8 minutes to execute on.

We've seen that type of scenario play out for 3 straight weeks and pretty much over the last 16 years.

I don't really disagree with any of this. But there are a couple of games a year where the O is misfiring or the opposing D comes up with a good
Game plan against the Pats O and with the D allowing long drives, the pressure comes back on our O. Usually it still works out but not always and the times it does not seem to be playoff games

It's fantastic regular season and long term strategy because the vast majority of teams eventually make
Mistakes resulting in turnovers or field goals but some time your D has to go out and win the game and on those situations I want an aggressive D and not a bend but don't break

 

[mosslost]

To me, a better metric would be "minutes per point allowed" or something similar to that. The value of giving up more yards while giving up few points is that you are shortening the game. So if you mesure how long on average the opponent have to possess the ball before they score and then the average lenght of possession, you can have a good mesure, IMO. It isn't a single metric, but both together tells a more complete story. Points per possesion could do the trick I guess, but it doesn't mesure your ability to shorten the game.

People are starting to get way too obsessive about every little defensive stat. The team will rank well in some metrics, and poorly in others, based on their gameplan/scheme from week to week.

Pats are 6-1, are #4 in PPG allowed, and the offense has been playing incredibly well for the most part since Brady's return. STs have generally been on point too, with the exception of a few hiccups.

Does anyone dispute the fact that the Pats are the most complete team in the league at the moment?

The Pats are in their own category in this league. The Pats are great but I partly think the league is very down.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I don't really disagree with any of this. But there are a couple of games a year where the O is misfiring or the opposing D comes up with a good
Game plan against the Pats O and with the D allowing long drives, the pressure comes back on our O. Usually it still works out but not always and the times it does not seem to be playoff games

It's fantastic regular season and long term strategy because the vast majority of teams eventually make
Mistakes resulting in turnovers or field goals but some time your D has to go out and win the game and on those situations I want an aggressive D and not a bend but don't break

I totally get the sentiment and I'd love to see a ballhawking, punishing, attacking D but there is no denying that his philosophy works.

We all just need to deal with it.

 

[PF_SU]

I totally get the sentiment and I'd love to see a ballhawking, punishing, attacking D

I agree, but the problem is, the defensive line by itself is not good enough to enable such kind of a defense. And we can't afford using the LBs to attack all the time.

 

[skinnydog]

I totally get the sentiment and I'd love to see a ballhawking, punishing, attacking D but there is no denying that his philosophy works.

We all just need to deal with it.

What's the fun in that

 

[RobertWeathers]

I agree, but the problem is, the defensive line by itself is not good enough to enable such kind of a defense. And we can't afford using the LBs to attack all the time.

Which is part of the reason why they play the style they do.

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree that he has improved but SEA is very one dimensional and they are not putting points on the board.

With that said, this is the 1st time NE will be facing an elite defense so that may impact their own defensive strategy as points may be at a premium.

One dimensional or not, I don't think the Pats will sit back against him as often as they do against Tyrod Taylor, for example. Wilson is very capable of picking them apart from inside the pocket. I can see the Patriots executing some blitz packages in that game that they haven't used all season (save for maybe the second half of the Bengals game).

 

[RobertWeathers]

Which is part of the reason why they play the style they do.

Hell back in the early part of the century you had Bru, Willie, Roman, Ted J and Vrabel.

They all did something different. When they needed to attack they attacked. When they needed to stop the run, they played some guys more than the other. When they needed to play the pass, they did that well.

BB puts a ton of value in gameplan flexibility.

 

[RobertWeathers]

One dimensional or not, I don't think the Pats will sit back against him as often as they do against Tyrod Taylor, for example. Wilson is very capable of picking them apart from inside the pocket. I can see the Patriots executing some blitz packages in that game that they haven't used all season (save for maybe the second half of the Bengals game).

If Wilson doesn't have 2015 mobility then they will test him by blitzing.

I see them playing more man vs SEA. Their receivers are functional but not dynamic. If they can slow down Wilson's binky Baldwin and bracket Graham they'll be in good shape.

 

[Kontradiction]

If Wilson doesn't have 2015 mobility then they will test him by blitzing.

I see them playing more man vs SEA. Their receivers are functional but not dynamic. If they can slow down Wilson's binky Baldwin and bracket Graham they'll be in good shape.

Thus far, his mobility has still be hampered. Even if it isn't, though, he's no longer a quarterback that you can keep in the pocket and just sit back on. You have to come after him now. I think they'll be sending Collins and Hightower up the A and B gaps on him more often than they have other quarterbacks.

 

[neuronet]

Belichick said last week (I think it was last week) that the best measure of a Defense was "Points Allowed."

So, since I know diddly squat about the game in comparison to him, I've got to accept that.

It's not a subtle thing I would suggest don't overthink it. Points allowed is the stat that matters more than any of those highly processed statistical measures, and I don't think you need to be a genius to see why...BB is a genius partly because he can understand all the nerdy stuff, but he also can immediately see how useless some of it is. If a defense has a Q-score that is number one in the league, but gives up more points than anyone else every week, then he probably isn't going to be too impressed with the Q-score.