Patriots have better defense than Steelers

[SteelerSteve]

To be an elite quarterback, you at least have to go two years with that status from YOUR OWN fan base. I refuse to believe Big Ben is the real deal considering that last year most people in Pittsburgh wanted him benched. I'll agree he is very talented and sometimes reminds me of Brady late in games, but you guys are just riding the high right now. Wait until his inevitable meltdown in the playoffs and then come back here.

The dude has proven himself in the playoffs, I know he played like the rookie he was in the 04 playoffs but in 2005 when the pressure was on he carried his team. Btw the only reason we pittsburgh fans wanted him on the bench is because he was brought back to early from all of the crap he went through early on.

 

[SpiderFox53]

The dude has proven himself in the playoffs, I know he played like the rookie he was in the 04 playoffs but in 2005 when the pressure was on he carried his team. Btw the only reason we pittsburgh fans wanted him on the bench is because he was brought back to early from all of the crap he went through early on.

I'm sorry, but that's a load of craphonso. I happen to live in sPittsburgh and the consensus opinion was that Ben needed to be benched last year because of his play. Yes the team probably brought him back too fast, but no one was worried about Ben when they were saying bench him last year. All they cared about was that loud s*cking noise coming from the big Ketchup bottle.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Now about the miami game, I dont know if I would call those points "garbage" points, they were down big, but they obviously made BB uncomfortable enough to put Brady back in to give them a little more cushion,

BB put Brady back in that game to get the attention of back-up QB Matt Cassell, who was not ready to play even though he knew he was going in the game and needed to get his head out of his a**. After Brady came out the second time the 3rd string QB, who was given the appropriate time to warm up on the sidelines, went in the game and finished it.
Point made to Mr. Cassell.

 

[TruthSeeker]

The dude has proven himself in the playoffs, I know he played like the rookie he was in the 04 playoffs but in 2005 when the pressure was on he carried his team. Btw the only reason we pittsburgh fans wanted him on the bench is because he was brought back to early from all of the crap he went through early on.

You're kidding me, right? A QB rating of (I think) 22 in the SuperBowl "proved himself"? He did well in the playoffs before the SB, but it's definately a mixed bag for Ben in the playoffs.

 

[BoltsFan]

Using an objective way, instead of the dumb old "points allowed" method to calculate the better defense, I used adjusted averages to figure out which team's defense is better.

Now, taking away the Patriots and Steelers from their opponents' statistics, here are their opponents averages when not playing the two teams.

Here are my conclusions.

Steelers opponents have scored 1520 points in 72 games, for an average of 21.1 points per game. The Steelers have allowed 14 ppg this season. The Steelers adjusted defensive differential is -7.1 ppg, so their defense is 7.1 points better than the average team against the same opponents.

Patriots opponents have scored 1755 points in 72 games, for an average of 24.4 points per game. The Patriots have allowed 16.3 ppg this season. The Patriots adjusted defensive differential is -8.1 ppg, so their defense is 8.1 points better than the average team against the same opponents.

The Patriots have shut down much tougher offenses, including Indianapolis and Dallas. While no mainstream pundit will bother to use this reasonable formula and will proclaim the Steelers the "#1 ranked defense" just remember that the truth lies here. Steelers fans are in for a rude awakening when they come to the Razor thinking they have an edge on defense.

One more note of interest.

On third down, the Pats' defense leads the league, allowing a first down only 30.3% of the time. The Steelers rank 13th, allowing a first down 41% of the time.

Dude? These numbers are about cherry picking in the extreme. Best to narrow it down to this year only. That's really all you should do.

When doing so it bares mentioning that you're talking about a franchise that does in fact have more rings. Be fair...

 

[Pedrorocks458]

Dude? These numbers are about cherry picking in the extreme. Best to narrow it down to this year only. That's really all you should do.

When doing so it bares mentioning that you're talking about a franchise that does in fact have more rings. Be fair...

I'm not sure you understand. Those statistics are from this year only. It shows how much our opponents score in the games they're not playing us. That's why there are 72 games in each data set. It's the exact opposite of cherry picking, really.

 

[Joker]

heh...this must be hangover Saturday

"let's narrow it down to this year!!!!"

"let's remember the Steelers have more championships from years ago!!!!"

Lay off the Jagr, ya fackin' drunk

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Dude? These numbers are about cherry picking in the extreme. Best to narrow it down to this year only. That's really all you should do.

When doing so it bares mentioning that you're talking about a franchise that does in fact have more rings. Be fair...

If we're going to narrow things down then let's note that rings won 25 to 30 years ago don't count for "this team", only the broader franchise. The Bill Cowher/Ben Roethlisberger Steelers won one ring in this decade and they did it in spite of Ben's abyssmal performance in the Superbowl. Granted he did more in the playoff run up to that game, but Cowher and Whisenhut knew they were taking a calculated desperation risk given his penchant for freedom and maddening inconsistency when it's granted.

With the exception of the road game loss that broke our streak of 21 straight, we have owned the Steelers of this decade, offensively and defensively. And that was before we upgraded our weaponry.

The other night they were showing sideline footage of that game where Porter was spewing they just proved we were not in their league... and the commentators were mocking him for the moronic tool that he persistently proved to be.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Okay, first I have to agree that nobody concerns themselves with the possibility that Terry Bradshaw will sprint down from the booth and lead the Steelers to victory this season. It's nice you guys had a good '70s, but just because Disco Stu got the play then doesn't really add to his kid's social life now, if you follow me.

Steelers fans need to understand that a history and a tradition are nice, and are good things to talk about in Steelers bars with other Steelers fans. And no, there's no "by the same token Randy Moss yadda yaddda yadda" applicable here, because the Brady/Belichick/Kraft juggernaut has shown consistently that it will transmit the aspects of dominance so often exercised against, ohhh let's say the Steelers, with various others playing around them. It's not quite the same as relying on ghosts. There is no necessary supernatural intervention for the Pats to continue their current dynasty, whereas the resurrection of such an outcome for the Steelers would depend on building on a one-year-wonder.

That said, Pittsburgh is probably among the top 3 teams we will have steamrolled by the end of this regular season.

Now as regards the respective defenses, and Ice_Ice's premise: I wouldn't call it cherry-picking "in the extreme," but I do cringe when someone wants to talk about defense as anything other than points allowed. Granted, you can knock out (for instance,) all special teams points and all interception/fumble recovery points, to talk about "pure" defense.

But as for "adjusting" to fit strength of schedule or other factors? Screw that. The strength of schedule the other teams faced to become good or bad offenses then must be considered, and the strengths of their opponents, in an infinite regression that makes any analysis meaningless.

I think the Steelers allow fewer points than we do, though if someone else factors out the return points and comes back with an opposite result, I'm all ears. Otherwise: Do people score points on you?

Then your defense is giving up points.

Do teams win and lose by total yard figures? No?

Then that point total thing is what you're looking for, chief.

PFnV