Props to the defense

[Uncle Rico]

...

Not sure when I last had more confidence in the Pats defense than offense.

For me, not since 2001-2004. ...

 

[BananaRepublican]

Are we ever going to be able to field a complete team again? When the defense is great, the O is not as good. When the O is great, the D is not as good. Why can't we have both again?

Well it's one game that you're referring to. In any one game any team can have catastrophic failure in one phase.

The Ravens gave up a ton of yards today. Nobody is perfect in every game. It's rare to put it all together in any one game. The key for the Pats is that they do have the personnel and coaching. What they haven't figured out yet is how to create chemistry on offense. I guess it's not that easy.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Are we ever going to be able to field a complete team again? When the defense is great, the O is not as good. When the O is great, the D is not as good. Why can't we have both again?

Today was like my golf game. My chipping was great the other day..but couldn't put it in the fairway. Need both parts to be good enough to win. O wasn't good enough until the 4th Q

 

[stcjones]

It's unfortunate that with this loss, the performance of the defense will get lost in the shuffle. The patriots defense was put in bad position by our offense, yet they were easily the most consistent unit out there. we didn't have much of a shot to win but our defense caused a timely fumble. hopefully the patriots offense can compliment our new look defense.

You are correct here and agree....MAJOR props to the defensive unit today. They did EVERYTHING possible to secure a win........The Offense just couldn't pull their own weight today....and McD had one of the worst playcalling outings that I can recall as a Patsfan...just putrid!!!!

 

[PatsBoy12]

Well it's one game that you're referring to. In any one game any team can have catastrophic failure in one phase.

The Ravens gave up a ton of yards today. Nobody is perfect in every game. It's rare to put it all together in any one game. The key for the Pats is that they do have the personnel and coaching. What they haven't figured out yet is how to create chemistry on offense. I guess it's not that easy.

Today was like my golf game. My chipping was great the other day..but couldn't put it in the fairway. Need both parts to be good enough to win. O wasn't good enough until the 4th Q

I hear you both. It's still supremely early in the season to panic. This could be nothing at all or a harbinger of things to come. Who knows? However, I think it's okay to question a few of the things we saw today. The Cardinals played very well, but I still think that losing the game had more to do with the Pats mental mishaps and lack of execution than anything specific that the Cardinals were doing. Were it not for the blocked punt, the touchdown that NE scored late in the game would have been enough for the win.

I just don't want to see a whole season of this kind of game. The defense was stellar, but the O put up a stinker. The next week, the offense looks unstoppable, but the defense is nowhere near good enough. I don't want that kind of ebb and flow. We need to be complete, but I know the team already knows that.

 

[gmtaxi27]

The defense does look good, and Chandler Jones is a beast, but I am going to temper my euthusiam until they face a good offense with a good QB. You should put a good showing when you are facing Locker and Kolb.

 

[Bhelmet]

Defense played excellent and made some great plays. Special Teams and an offense that seemed disinterested after Hernandez went down cost us this game.

There was no Plan B for Hernandez going down - that proved a HUGE adjustment that ended up being too daunting a task. Josh blew having a contingency, but an AH loss - would be tough for any team to overcome. I expect better now that he has to game plan w/o AH.

 

[Observer]

The defense was very good. They are becoming consistently good, and capable of making big plays when it matters.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I think in the next 2-3 years they can be a top 5 D in this league. Young, fast and athletic. Love it

 

[Bhelmet]

If they keep playing like they are with a little trickle of improvement - this D has a chance to be really close to top 5 this year.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I just don't want to see a whole season of this kind of game. The defense was stellar, but the O put up a stinker. The next week, the offense looks unstoppable, but the defense is nowhere near good enough. I don't want that kind of ebb and flow. We need to be complete, but I know the team already knows that.

i don't think we will. Hopefully the team will learn from this and now plan to not have AH out there so the game plan should be better rather than scrambling mid game to decide what they are going to do. That and they need a good week of practice

 

[juny]

Defense looking good so far. They're able to shut down the strength of the other team something they were incapable of last year.

The game plan this week is to shut down Ray Rice, a huge challenge. Hopefully practice goes well this week.

OT: Chris Johnson should be called CJ200 cause he's on pace for that for the year. 17 yd performance to follow his 4 yd game last week.

 

[hodgey]

We'll know next week if the defense is for real. Ravens at home should be our toughest regular season game short of maybe the SF game. Agreed they've played well so far but weak competition.

 

[Joey007]

OT: Chris Johnson should be called CJ200 cause he's on pace for that for the year. 17 yd performance to follow his 4 yd game last week.

I prefer to call it CJ.2K, but whatever works.

 

[Reckedtrek]

It's the opposite of what we're used to as Pats fans- the D looking solid, and the O not looking developed and cohesive. However they are not opposite ends of the same spectrum. Assuming the D can remain solid, and I think it can, and the offense can pull itself together (and do it soon) things will be fine. If it's week 7 or 8 and the team is still "finding itself" then things probably aren't going to end well.

Having said that, despite the loss of AH for the next 6 weeks or so, the Pats still have plenty of talent on the field and in the coaching department. They just need to find their groove. Seeing one of a couple of familiar faces (read as instant chemistry with Brady) on O return to the lineup this week wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Nikolai]

I'm more excited for the defensive sequences than the offensive sequences, and as people have alluded already, it's the first time since the 2001-2004 era. I find myself just watching what Jones does on every play. He's a force.

Given how complicated the Pats O can be, I expect some rustiness in the early going, especially with less practice time than normal. By the Jest game at home, I expect things to be going swimmingly.

 

[ivanvamp]

Nothing wrong with the Pats defense. The Pats offense, however, is hurting.

Not sure when I last had more confidence in the Pats defense than offense.

Well next week will be a stiff test for both units. The way the OL has been struggling in pass protection, I can see Brady getting abused by the Ravens, and the Pats getting 17 or fewer points.

And the defense will have its hands full against a suddenly pretty explosive Raven offense.

I hate to say it, but I can easily see this team coming out of next week's game with a 1-2 record.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Through 2 games, you can say defense has been the strength of the team thus far in the season

 

[JJDChE]

The Pats are currently 2nd in yards allowed with 264.5 per game. After two games last year we had allowed 479 yards per game. :ugh:

Big improvement is an understatement. The D doesn't yet look dominating, but they are definitely solid. I'm expecting top 10 in yds and points.

I appreciate the people who are saying 'wait for a real QB', but even the crappiest QBs in the league have been tearing us a new one the last few years. Chad Henne went off for 419 yds in the opener last year. We aren't the Texans or 9ers, but this defense has made a big step from the last few years. Forget the loss, it was a terrible game, this team is better positioned to win it all than we have been since probably 2007.

 

[SVN]

defense looked good but lets not get carried away like we did with the offense after the titans game. They have played jake locker and kevin kolb. kolb missed easy throws for TD in the first drive and threw some ducks which couldve been intercepted. not exactly manning back there. The D is promising but lets wait, they havent been tested yet.