Patriots officially a top 10 Defense!

[randomk1]

Unsurprisingly, given the way the schedule has been laid out, we are repeating the same patterns as last year. The defense sucks but, after being exposed for the lousy defense that it is, it faces crap competition and competition that is struggling when it meets the Patriots, and people begin to overrate the defense.

Hopefully, the end of the pattern is not repeated. Hell, for that matter, hopefully the end of the pattern isn't repeated with the offense, either.

Definately agree with this. I don't like this soft schedule to end the season.

 

[ATippett56]

HOW DARE YOU!! I just spent 3-hours listening to ESPN. They told me the Pats D was terrible. the worst in the league in fact. Apparently giving up 3-points is bad....

Switch to NFL Network

 

[ATippett56]

Definately agree with this. I don't like this soft schedule to end the season.

That depends which Eagles team shows up next week.

 

[TB146]

What are they going to do?

Run me out of town for not chugging the koolaid?

No, but you should find something sweet to at least sip. The bitter cup of pessimism you've been drinking is showing through your sarcasm. You are free to argue against the defense - there certainly are valid concerns - but you seem determined to dismiss even the hope of hope.

 

[randomk1]

That depends which Eagles team shows up next week.

Meh...they have nobody to cover Gronk. And who is actually starting for the eagles?

 

[ALP]

Aaron Rodgers would destroy this defense in the Super Bowl. Pats better hope the Pack don't make it there

no, no he would not....

w/o a running game that team is toast, they just havent figured it out yet...just watch

 

[cmasspatsfan]

What are they going to do?

Run me out of town for not chugging the koolaid?

No ones saying we got a great defense, we're saying that yards dont matter, points do, and in that category we're 10th in the league, it is what it is.
The way the AFC is this year theres no clear cut team thats head and shoulders above any other team, we're right up there with the top teams so success in the playoffs is possible, especially if we can get home field.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Hey, for your own good, don't latch on to me as your lifeline. I'm more persona non grata with the Jonestown-level homers than you are.....

The Patriot defense has been making some stops and holding teams to acceptable levels of scoring. This has been accomplished with a widely accepted concern about a collection of mostly no names in the secondary. So fans that were, justifiably, frightened about the defense are now feeling much better due to some tangible bright spots. I have seen almost no one claiming this D is the second coming of the 85 bears or a top flight defense (where is the "this is a great defense" chorus?). Fans appear to be happy the the D may not be awful (as A LOT of people suspected). If that is kool aid consumption then Patriots Nation is inhabited within a collection of huts in the jungles of Guyana.

 

[Jangles]

No, but you should find something sweet to at least sip. The bitter cup of pessimism you've been drinking is showing through your sarcasm. You are free to argue against the defense - there certainly are valid concerns - but you seem determined to dismiss even the hope of hope.

I guess I'm just trying to balance out some of the people getting way ahead of themselves.

I am being a debbie downer tonight. Pats won big, which is great, and I need to enjoy that.

 

[ATippett56]

Meh...they have nobody to cover Gronk. And who is actually starting for the eagles?

Any given Sunday! Ask the NY Giants who actually beat the New England Patriots in Foxboro, MA and turnaround only to lose to the Eagles at home.

 

[Deus Irae]

The Patriot defense has been making some stops and holding teams to acceptable levels of scoring. This has been accomplished with a widely accepted concern about a collection of mostly no names in the secondary. So fans that were, justifiably, frightened about the defense are now feeling much better due to some tangible bright spots. I have seen almost no one claiming this D is the second coming of the 85 bears or a top flight defense (where is the "this is a great defense" chorus?). Fans appear to be happy the the D may not be awful (as A LOT of people suspected). If that is kool aid consumption then Patriots Nation is inhabited within a collection of huts in the jungles of Guyana.

The Patriots defense has been getting pummeled by the good offenses, and it's been getting moved on almost at will by the bad offenses until they hit the red zone. Stop kidding yourself about that group. It doesn't make games more enjoyable, and it doesn't impact the team in any way at all.

The good thing we're seeing with the defense is that the red zone play has been much better than last year. How much of that is genuinely improved play, and how much of that is just the odds working themselves out, could go a long way to determining the kind of chance this team has in the playoffs.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Meh...they have nobody to cover Gronk. And who is actually starting for the eagles?

Let's hope so. It appears that Welker is going to be double teamed often (or their best defender is put on him). Gronk, and Hernandez, better be the mismatch that Brady can routinely go to or the Jekyll and Hyde offense will be too much Hyde. On an additional note, the Patriots are also lacking enough backfield receiving production. It would be nice to see that come alive soon.

The Patriot O better find a way to be more effective against these man/hybrid man coverages. If it becomes a well entrenched method for stopping the O, opposing D's will become comfortably confident this is how you beat the Patriots. Patriots past kept opposing teams up late wondering how to stop them and that, obviously, is a good thing.

 

[robbomango]

If we rout a bad team, we still suck on D because they racked up a lot of yardage, the score is for delusional people even if it was almost zero..

If we beat a good team holding them to a low score, it's only because they struggled on offense not because our D played well.

We don't create turnovers, opposing QB's make bad throws giving us the ball.

We never stop teams in the redzone in a game holding them to field goals, they missed wide open receivers of course. hence always count field goals as TD's when re adjusting the score.

Definitely never stopped a team at the goal line, the shorter field position works to the strength of our crap D.

Don't compare us to SB champions with bad D's ranked 20-30. those defenses showed up in the play offs, something we're incapable of.

We never sacked a QB, they just held the ball for to long or their O-line sucks.

proof we're the worst defense the nfl has ever seen

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

I guess I'm just trying to balance out some of the people getting way ahead of themselves.

I am being a debbie downer tonight. Pats won big, which is great, and I need to enjoy that.

Balance is not needed. This, as you pointed out, is just some post victory jubilation. Believe me, the tidal wave of recent pessimism hasn't subsided that much. If the Patriots defense lays an egg against Philly next week, I guarantee pessimism will reign supreme.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

The Patriots defense has been getting pummeled by the good offenses, and it's been getting moved on almost at will by the bad offenses until they hit the red zone. Stop kidding yourself about that group. It doesn't make games more enjoyable, and it doesn't impact the team in any way at all.

The good thing we're seeing with the defense is that the red zone play has been much better than last year. How much of that is genuinely improved play, and how much of that is just the odds working themselves out, could go a long way to determining the kind of chance this team has in the playoffs.

Kidding myself? Again, you are seeing kool aid drinking where there is little to none. I believe the D has shown some tangible bright spots and it gives me guarded optimism. If you choose to see the tangible bright spots of the defense as mostly a result of poor competition (and view the yards allowed as proof that the D is a pummeled, incapable bunch), that is not an arguable point. That is a pure judgment call.
What the Patriots defense allows on the scoreboard is where I hang my hat of optimism with this uncertain D. It, for me, does make watching the game more enjoyable. I'm not sure how viewing the D as you described would not affect how enjoyable the game viewing experience is.
Fyi, a sip of kool aid in jonestown probably would only have given you indigestion.

 

[Joker]

man...even when I was a kid I never drank no g-dyamed kool aid...c'mon, let's find something else besides this idiotic metaphor to describe fans who believe in the team and the system

 

[ATippett56]

20.3 PPG puts them at 10th in the league in points against!

Just sayin....:confused2:

I thought statistics were for losers?

 

[ATippett56]

man...even when I was a kid I never drank no g-dyamed kool aid...c'mon, let's find something else besides this idiotic metaphor to describe fans who believe in the team and the system

Jim Jones, Jonestown, Guyana, kool-aid .....

How about we take a ride on comet Hale-Bopp instead?

 

[Joker]

Jim Jones, Jonestown, Guyana, kool-aid .....

How about we take a ride on comet Hale-Bopp instead?

huh???????????????????????

you actually think I'd chop my package off ,dress in a sackcloth and THEN wait for the space ship?????

you gotta show me the spaceship FIRST...Mama Kerr didn't raise no numbnutz..

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Jim Jones, Jonestown, Guyana, kool-aid .....

How about we take a ride on comet Hale-Bopp instead?

Wear white sneakers? (wasn't that one of the trademarks of the Hale-Bopp crew?).