The official "our defense is horrible" thread

[IllegalContact]

Ok... if you say so. I see a bunch of young talented players that are still learning how to play together, especially in the secondary. I mean they only had two picks and if Chung wasn't late on his zone responsibilities they have a 3rd pick, instead it resulted in a TD.

Yup - they are terrible, will that help you sleep better?

Ok....keep making excuses

I'll sleep fine regardless.....I'm sure the secondary gave up 5.6 yards per carry

 

[OldNEPatsFan]

After this week the defense should be ranked around 28th.

 

[mgcolby]

Ok....keep making excuses

I'll sleep fine regardless.....I'm sure the secondary gave up 5.6 yards per carry

What excuses? The defense is going to be up and down while they get experience. No way around that. But for all of the hemming and hawing there are areas that were bright spots today. Improved red zone/short field defense, critical turnovers etc...

The Saints defense was statistically putrid last season. 26th in Total Defense and passing defense, 21st against the run. But they were 13th in points allowed and most importantly they came up with big turnovers in key moments. Stats are not everything.

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

After this week the defense should be ranked around 28th.

It's odd, the quality of our opponent's offense has decreased every week (Bengals -> Jets -> Bills) yet our defense (+ return defense) has gotten worse every week (24 -> 28 -> 30)

 

[Patjew]

It's odd, the quality of our opponent's offense has decreased every week (Bengals -> Jets -> Bills) yet our defense (+ return defense) has gotten worse every week (24 -> 28 -> 30)

Has no one yet mentioned that 7 today came on a KO return and 10 more came from the Bills getting the ball in Pat' territory?

 

[IllegalContact]

What excuses? The defense is going to be up and down while they get experience. No way around that. But for all of the hemming and hawing there are areas that were bright spots today. Improved red zone/short field defense, critical turnovers etc...

The Saints defense was statistically putrid last season. 26th in Total Defense and passing defense, 21st against the run. But they were 13th in points allowed and most importantly they came up with big turnovers in key moments. Stats are not everything.

You're making excuses. The bills offense is younger than the pats defense

And whether they are young or not doesn't change the fact that they stink. They may get better with time, they may not, but the weakest offense in the NFL tore pats a new one

 

[mgcolby]

Has no one yet mentioned that 7 today came on a KO return and 10 more came from the Bills getting the ball in Pat' territory?

See post #66. But quit making excuses.

 

[IllegalContact]

Has no one yet mentioned that 7 today came on a KO return and 10 more came from the Bills getting the ball in Pat' territory?

Part of the whole picture. You can say the same about the pats versus the bengals

 

[Patjew]

Part of the whole picture. You can say the same about the pats versus the bengals

Say "the same" what, exactly? No one said the Pats offense scored all of those points in game 1. It's misleading to say the defense gave up all of the points today.

 

[mgcolby]

You're making excuses. The bills offense is younger than the pats defense

And whether they are young or not doesn't change the fact that they stink. They may get better with time, they may not, but the weakest offense in the NFL tore pats a new one

Again please point out where I made an excuse? Simply pointed out facts that actually happened in the game and that the defense is young, and a roller coaster ride is to be expected, especially early. They have talent, now they just need to learn what they are doing.

The Bills offense is younger? The line maybe? But not at the skill positions.

Edit: Just to expand on the Bills being the worse offense in football. Alot of that starts at the QB position and Fitzpatrick is a better QB than Edwards, particularly when it comes to decision making. Lee Evans is a top 10 receiver who has only caught passes from bottom 5 QB's. Parrish is a solid receiver. Lynch is a damn good back and Spiller is explosive. Its not as if they don't have talent on the offensive side of the ball. Their starters put up 35 points against the Bengals starting defense in week 3 of the preseason.

 

[VectorPrime]

I know this is hard for many on this board and that this will fall on deaf ears and blind eyes.

But here it goes:
Two drives started in NE territory:
NE 40 = FG
NE 37 = TD (bad individual play by Merriweather on 3rd down)

7 points came off a kick return.

That means the Pats Defense allowed 13 points when the Bills had to actually drive more than 40 yards to score.

5 times the Bills were inside the 30 yard line with the following results:

3 FG's (One drive started on the NE 40)
1 TD (again the drive started at NE's 37)
1 INT

Given the fact that our Red Zone defense last season was among the league's worst. I find these stats to be a bigger positive than any negative that can be brought up. This defense is learning how to play NFL defense and the stats above is a huge leap forward.

And for the crowd that will pointing out that the red zone is the 20 yard line and in, I say this: No sh!t, and just to save you time typing. The Bills had 1 TD, 1 FG and 1 INT in the "Red Zone". 33% TD rate is much better than last year's 75% or so (going off memory).

Im gonna just quote this for a new page

 

[Kontradiction]

Thanks Ray...logged on here and thought I was missing something with all the end of the world threads and posts.

I said it in the "Predict the Score" thread. The win will be a lot closer than most expected and the board will go up in flames. Though, to be fair, I said it would be a low scoring game. So I was wrong on that.

Also, people are right to be apprehensive so far. The defense did not look good... at all. But, they're young. And there's always hope for improvement.

 

[drew4008]

We need a lot of work. This secondary is one of the worst I can remember. Even Chung was out of position and missed a couple tackles today, and he's been the steadiest guy back there.

I hate to say it, but Meriweather is overrated. I know he got the pick, but the angle on that TD run was just ugly, and you can clearly see why he was benched if you watch him... he's all over the place, and not in a good way.

Sanders made some rough plays today too, and Butler yet again was out-matched or out of position every time I saw his name come up. Arrington wasn't atrocious, but he didn't instill that much confidence in the secondary either. It was his first career start though, so who knows, maybe he'll progress quick, and he can't possibly be worse than Butler. That break-up in the endzone at least was promising... we could've used that last week.

 

[mgcolby]

We need a lot of work. This secondary is one of the worst I can remember. Even Chung was out of position and missed a couple tackles today, and he's been the steadiest guy back there.

I hate to say it, but Meriweather is overrated. I know he got the pick, but the angle on that TD run was just ugly, and you can clearly see why he was benched if you watch him... he's all over the place, and not in a good way.

Sanders made some rough plays today too, and Butler yet again was out-matched or out of position every time I saw his name come up. Arrington wasn't atrocious, but he didn't instill that much confidence in the secondary either. It was his first career start though, so who knows, maybe he'll progress quick, and he can't possibly be worse than Butler. That break-up in the endzone at least was promising... we could've used that last week.

Merriweather's play on the TD was ugly. I would like to be in the room when he explains what he read on the play. The only thing I can think of for him to be that far out of place was that he read rub instead of screen. Either way it was ugly.

Butler's problem has not been with his coverage skills or him not being in position. It has been his technique at the point. And the breakup from Arrington was the exact same play that happened against Butler in NY, Arrington even played it the same. He was in position, but failed to turn his head. The lone exception was that the ball luckily hit him. And I think the height difference between Edwards and evans had a lot to do with that.

 

[Mossed]

Now go ahead, give this star one thread and try to tell me that our defense has performed well or how we'll magically get better (against better teams at that)

lol. But yea they arent to impressive as it is. Lots of room for growth though (hopefully)

 

[reflexblue]

Now go ahead, give this star one thread and try to tell me that our defense has performed well or how we'll magically get better (against better teams at that)

You know Pete maybe you should just not watch, Seriously. Football is suppose to be a distraction, its suppose to be fun, but it seems it makes you miserable. I can't remember a thread started by you in which you weren't complaining about something.

 

[JoeShmoe]

I hate to say it, but Meriweather is overrated. I know he got the pick, but the angle on that TD run was just ugly, and you can clearly see why he was benched if you watch him... he's all over the place, and not in a good way.

what's happened to Merriweather?

 

[JFK]

After all the growing pains, we better be able to re-sign our defense when they get better.

 

[DocE]

I see a defense that is not able to take anything away from the opposing offense. The secondary gets a lot of blame, but I don't think we stand out on any of the 3 levels of the defenes (even Vince has looked bad at tmes, especially when kicked out to end).

I think there's room for improvement as the year goes on, especially in the secondary. I still have no idea what Coach Belichick's plan was at OLB for this season.

 

[Doctor DDS]

While I agree that our defense played lousy if you take a look around the League the same things were happening all over the place. The Colts gave up 500 yards, SD marched up and down the field on Seattle and still lost, Henne and Sanchez combined for over 600 yards last night (against "good" defenses) Just about every team passes 40 plus times a game and with the rules in place it is difficult to get off the field. The Pats defense is going to give up a lot of yards all year, no doubt. Making some big plays like they did yesterday will be the key in whether or not we have the success we are hoping for.