Pats' D going into the playoffs

[IllegalContact]

The success teams are having just throwing the ball up there is disturbing.

But what has bothered me the most is how opposing running games have opened up. The 4-3 looks like it has made it easier for opponent to double up with wilfork. I'm seeing him getting locked down more nf more.

I do think that the Reggie bush that was drafted has surfaced.......he is a good RB, and I do think the dolphins will be a good team next year.


The playoffs will be potluck........home field and pray for crappy weather

 

[NYCPatsFan]

But it also goes the other way and there's a huge discrepancy on offense when compared to some of those teams with "top defenses".



"Total defense":
1 Pittsburgh 273.9
5 Jacksonville 314.0
8 Philadelphia 321.4
11 Cleveland 330.5


Now let's look at their offensive efficiency:
22nd Philadelphia 16.6
25th Jacksonville 17.4
26th Pittsburgh 17.9
30th Cleveland 21.0

But their defenses are at the top of the league in yards allowed! Yay? They also have to be because they have terrible offenses who execute poorly, turn over the ball and quarterbacks who are playing bad. So who cares? There's only one team that has an inefficient offense that's mustered up a solid winning record consistently in this league this year and that's Pittsburg. One team out of 32!

For an offense, when you get a lot of yards, but without the points, you are actually WORSE than an offense who gets fewer yards but the matching points. People think they are better because they can move the ball but no...they are not. What's happening is they have stalled drives without points, and give their opponents offense an opportunity to put up points. They drove up the field for nothing and turned over the ball.

Does it matter that Philadelphia's ranked 8th in yards allowed and their offense can put up 400+ yards a game? No, it doesn't. Defense can't save Vick's and that offense's execution unless they Bare against a team with an offense executing worse than their own. Same goes for Carolina and people say the same thing about them. That it's the defense, except they are 6-0 when the QB turns over the ball and defense allows less than 20 points per game and few yards allowed, and 0-9 when the offense doesn't and defense gets blown out. You would think some would kind of.....catch on....but no. People don't.

Teams like the Eagles could have the #1 defense in yards in the league and the #1 offense in yards in the league and they will not make the playoffs if they play like they played earlier this season. Ever. Not when you are executing that badly and that inconsistent on offense. The only time teams like Carolina or Eagles win is when they face teams that are even more inefficient than they are. Jaguars, Tampa Bay, Washington, Indianapolis, Cowboys, etc...

Isn't it amazing that Cam Newton had two back to back games of over 400 passing yards, set records, total offense of 500+ yards, but lost both of them and the team put up less than 24 points? But yesterday he passed for only 170 yards, 17 attempts, less total offensive yards, didn't turn over the ball and Carolina put up 48 points? Did Tampa Bay's offensive inefficiency have anything to do with it maybe? Did Cam Newton's better playing, better ball protection, and more consistent scoring? Isn't it amazing that the #1 rushing team got completely shut down by one of the worst rush defenses in the league yesterday when the Bills faced the Broncos?

Or perhaps those measurements used to crown them #1 were terrible in the first place. Just maybe....it tends to happen every year. It's what makes for great "upsets". Maybe that's what the media's counting on and wants to continue to keep the focus and mis-direction on the least meaningful measurements so the NFL can have these fantastic stories?

Running around like a chicken with your head cut off. That's what the Eagles do. That's what the Panthers did this year. That's what the Cowboys have done for the past decade. No defense can help you. No amount of yards gained or yards allowed, and no amount of talent you can surround yourself with, can ever make up for incompetence and making stupid mistakes all day long. Ever. Not saying those players are stupid, but their offense's execution can best be summarized as such.

one of the best posts on our forum!

Nominate this as the post of the month.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

The playoffs will be potluck........home field and pray for crappy weather

i agree. With this D...you never know what you are going to get..which sucks

 

[AzPatsFan]

Bill Belichick knew his team was getting old in 2007. But he thought there was enough left for a Final Hurrah. It worked but increasingly wobbly until the 19th game.

After Brady went down in early 2008, BB resolved to start out in earnest to rebuild the Team from top to bottom. Other coaches would have turned in 5-11 seasons while he rebuilt. BB turned in 11-5 seasons but couldn't compete in the Playoffs with partially rebuilt clubs.

This year at beginning of the season he thought he had the final pieces in place, until the season started. There were problems in the secondary and at LB and a few other places.

But the Team speed was way, way up. The best way to measure that is turnovers. Speed Kills. In 2010 they had an enormous number of turnovers but way below average number of sacks. This year despite the comedy parade at Safety, we have still had an enormous number of turnovers, but the Pass Rush is now approaching 40/season which is in the vicinity of Bill's championship teams. Bill has never believed in the 50-60 sack seasons, much preferring to get 40+, while playing 2-gap Read & React, and fundamentally sound football. He is right there now. But it hurts that Carter went down,but you would never know it with 4,4, and 5 sack games. The interior ILB sacks a la`the heady days of Tedy Bruschii have returned in earnest.

The Offense is efficient. It scores lots of points for the Yards it accumulates. The Defense is also efficient. Opponents gain lots of yards for every point they score. They have to gain lots of yards for marginal amounts of scoring.

When you boil it all down, the Offense scored 31 points/game. The Defense yields 21 points/game for a differential of 10 points/game. That is an enormous and a very wide difference.

It also answers the question of why they have earned the best W-L record in the AFC. It hasn't been done with flukes or mirrors.

 

[coolguy]

The funny thing about the pats d is every quarter back basically plays the same against them.

Possible playoff match up
The ravens- INCONSISTENT offense and a old defense that could break at any moment
Steelers: TB12 has owned them but he has to play perfect
Both teams would beat each other up before they faced the pats
Texans could shock some teams including the pats, but they are just too inexperienced for me to think they beat the pats or ravens/steelers/jets
raiders could be trouble if they get in, but carson throws too many picks to keep up with the pats offense
Broncos still could be dangerous if they get healthy
the jets- same old jets

Unless the pats get a blizzard or the return of the ice cold Gillette we all grew up with, this will close shootouts until the superbowl.

 

[Ivan]

Hope is all I have. Hope that the return of Fletcher and Spikes will shore up the LB corps and that Chung can have an outstanding play off run. Coupled with a return to a 3-4 for a defense much better suited to it allows me a glimmer to hang my hat on for the Tournament.

 

[Imperator]

The D heading into the playoffs is shaky at best. But if they can get healthy and string together some good games, then before you know it they'll be in Indy...

Allot of focus is on the D, being the apparent Achilles heel, but I think the Pats as a TEAM has what it takes. They've been showing a good deal of mental toughness, coming back into games after starting slow and playing hard to get the win. I'm confident enough in them to believe they have a good shot.

 

[juny]

As bad as our D is ,look at the QB's they might face in the playoffs other then ben roethlisberger..

flacco,sanchez,yates,dalton(good but rookie), matt hasselback,tebows,carson palmer.

really, pats have as good a chance as any of these and better with our QB. Pitt is the most complete team on offense and defense and probably the toughest out.

I was going to say that the Pats have been playing pretty poor QBs during their winning streak. Then I see their potential foes in the playoffs and it's not much better. If they can clinch home field, they have as good a chance as any other team in the AFC.