Pats problems on D...

[T-ShirtDynasty]

When Thomas went down, that left one high-level pass rusher left in Green.

And Green has been having a pretty off year.

I agree we have to get some pass rush, but I'd try to pick spots and fool them rather than send the house and expose ourselves.

Exactly. Keeping in mind that Warner is actually pretty good against the blitz. I think we've got to disguise it and use it judiciously.

 

[spacecrime]

....has more to do with 1st down pass defense than 3rd down. If the Pats played less off coverage and were more competitve holding teams to less than 5 yds on 1st down they would be in a better position to make stops on 3rd down.

Baloney. You should have watched the Jets game. Beautiful job on 1st and 2nd down. 3rd and 15 and the Jets convert.

Yeah, it'd be great to get every team 3rd and 10 every series, but third down defense is stopping the team on 3rd down.

The Pats have yet to do that. With all the talk early in hte year after Brady went down, the defense saying we'll have to do our job extra hard, the defense has been horrible and Cassel has carried this team all year. He has a bad game and we lose. Can't go deep into the playoffs without a decent defense, and we don't have one.

 

[BPF]

Baloney. You should have watched the Jets game. Beautiful job on 1st and 2nd down. 3rd and 15 and the Jets convert.

Yeah, it'd be great to get every team 3rd and 10 every series, but third down defense is stopping the team on 3rd down.

The Pats have yet to do that. With all the talk early in hte year after Brady went down, the defense saying we'll have to do our job extra hard, the defense has been horrible and Cassel has carried this team all year. He has a bad game and we lose. Can't go deep into the playoffs without a decent defense, and we don't have one.

I was at that game. You are basing your conclusion about the entire season on one game when the numbers say that in 14 games the Pats are 30th in pass yds allowed on 1st down.

In terms of the most important defensive stat, pts allowed, the Pats are 14th in the league. I wouldn't say the defense has been totally awful, average and certainly not what where used to around here. Also I recall the Colts headed into the playoff with a very suspect defense a few yrs ago and they turned it totally around in the playoffs and ended up winning the SB.