The problem with "bend but don't break"

[BTTA]

Yes, points allowed is the most important stat, no doubt. Yet allowing teams to drive and win the field position game is not a good thing. Without the turnovers, our offense starts deep in our territory, and gets few series with which to get a rhythm and find the holes in the opposition's defensive gameplan.

There is still some work to do before this defense takes us deep into the playoffs.

 

[PatsRI]

Yes, points allowed is the most important stat, no doubt. Yet allowing teams to drive and win the field position game is not a good thing. Without the turnovers, our offense starts deep in our territory, and gets few series with which to get a rhythm and find the holes in the opposition's defensive gameplan.

There is still some work to do before this defense takes us deep into the playoffs.

Turnovers? They had 3 yesterday, 3 against Miami, 2 against Cincy. Not too bad. They've given up 6,10,13 points in the last 3 games. I'd say it's been working so far. This has been the mainstay of their D for years. You can look at all the Indy games where Indy had 400 yards offense but still lost.

 

[RayClay]

Yes, points allowed is the most important stat, no doubt. Yet allowing teams to drive and win the field position game is not a good thing. Without the turnovers, our offense starts deep in our territory, and gets few series with which to get a rhythm and find the holes in the opposition's defensive gameplan.

There is still some work to do before this defense takes us deep into the playoffs.

When you keep the play in front of you and stop the run you force mistakes, or turnovers.

Making teams have 80 play drives is not losing the field position battle.

 

[Amnorix]

Yes, points allowed is the most important stat, no doubt. Yet allowing teams to drive and win the field position game is not a good thing. Without the turnovers, our offense starts deep in our territory, and gets few series with which to get a rhythm and find the holes in the opposition's defensive gameplan.

There is still some work to do before this defense takes us deep into the playoffs.

You know hte Pats never led the league in yards allowed in our SB winning seasons either, right?

This defense, fundamentally, is exactly what BB has been doing for 20+ years.

 

[richpats]

This defense, fundamentally, is exactly what BB has been doing for 20+ years.

Yeah, let's stick with what works.

 

[mgcolby]

I would say to the tune of 12.2 PPG (minus the Bills Defensive TD) our bend but don't break strategy is working rather well. It is and will always be a bend but don't break defense as long as BB is around.

 

[kptmorgan04]

I would say to the tune of 12.2 PPG (minus the Bills Defensive TD) our bend but don't break strategy is working rather well. It is and will always be a bend but don't break defense as long as BB is around.

cant agree more, has this person not watched any of the Pats super bowl runs.... it has always been a motto of the D "bend but dont break".

and gotta say I LOVE your location

 

[mgcolby]

cant agree more, has this person not watched any of the Pats super bowl runs.... it has always been a motto of the D "bend but dont break".

and gotta say I LOVE your location

Thanks, I figured they needed a safe haven after the Broncos game. I should have let them out for some fresh air but then they would have seen that the sky is still firmly in place above us. With Minnesota and Indy coming up over the next two weeks I figured it is best to keep them under the bridge until the Indy game is over. If we win they can get a furlow each week. I need to keep them close because if we drop another game to say Chicago it will be hard to gather them up again.

 

[DarrylS]

As much as I bite my nails during some of those long offensive drives by opposing teams, somehow they come up strong when they have to. The shovel pass to McGee is an excellent choice, after that they buckled down and held them to a FG. This D is playing as well as they ever have, and have exceptional depth.. Anyone who does not understand this basic concept, does not understand the Pats.

 

[Oswlek]

I actually agree with the original poster's point to an extent. We all would gladly trade a bunch of yards allowed for few points any day, but NE has been given several opportunities, including three in the only loss of the year, to pin an opponent deep in their end of the field. They have failed nearly every time. And I use the work "nearly" very loosely because I cannot remember once where they did stop them, but I am assuming that I have forgotten one.

Winning the field position game is a huge part of the "team victories" that NE thrives on. If just one of those drives that started on Denver's 5 yard line ended in a 3 and out, we may be cheering for a 6-0 team right now. (or if the refs could actually figure out what constitutes "pass interference" :enranged: )

Anyway, is it really that odd to want NE to have a "don't even bend in the first place" defense?

BTW, In NE's 2003 and 2004 seasons, they were 7th in ypg allowed. They are 10th now, so they were better even with yards allowed in those seasons.

 

[mgcolby]

BTW, In NE's 2003 and 2004 seasons, they were 7th in ypg allowed. They are 10th now, so they were better even with yards allowed in those seasons.

but we are allowing 5 ppg less and yards allowed ranking is irrelevent to a degree because we could actually be giving up less yards per game and still be lower than we were in those seasons.

Edit: here is the actual yards allowed per game from those seasons:

03 - 291
04 - 310
06 - 299

We are right in the middle this season. Thus far.

 

[patsox23]

allowing teams to drive and win the field position game is not a good thing.

Who says it is, and who says that's what's happening? Bend-don't-break is not tantamount to surrendering the field position game.

 

[BTTA]

Yes I've been a fan through the Super Bowl runs. I'm concerned now with making this year into one.

Yes, I am very concerned that the poster with the most agreement to my post is N.E.M.

Yes, I know BB's philosophy, which is primarily concerned with keeping the other team off of the scoreboard. It is also concerned with giving the ball to our offense as far up the field as possible. There's no way his philosophy involves allowing another team to drive as much as the Bills did yesterday. A better team than the Bills doesn't make all of the turnovers they made yesterday, and perhaps keeps on driving down the field.

I don't care about yards allowed; it is about getting the ball in the hands of our rather average offense in as advantageous a position as possible, and as many times as possible (which may be even more important).

This isn't a toggle switch issue; it isn't "on" of "off", but shades of grey.

 

[Kdo5]

I love the bend but dont break dffense. For example vs the Bengals they could have been up 14-0 rather than 6-0 but a stellar stop both times by the Pats. Now we are creating turnovers, lots of them. I hope this continues.

 

[BelichickFan]

We have been creating plenty of turnovers. And you don't get good field position by having to return kickoffs all the time.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Yes, points allowed is the most important stat, no doubt. Yet allowing teams to drive and win the field position game is not a good thing. Without the turnovers, our offense starts deep in our territory, and gets few series with which to get a rhythm and find the holes in the opposition's defensive gameplan.

There is still some work to do before this defense takes us deep into the playoffs.

A key stat is redzone defense..... do the pats force more field goals or allow more tds?

and look at their red zone offense how productive it has been.

and bend but don't break has only won 3 superbowls.

 

[LA Pats Fan]

I guess you are missing the point.

Bend but don't break is intended to force the opponent to run more plays in order to score. The goal is capitalize on a turn over - more plays means more chances of turnovers.

 

[Oswlek]

I guess you are missing the point.

Bend but don't break is intended to force the opponent to run more plays in order to score. The goal is capitalize on a turn over - more plays means more chances of turnovers.

There is no such thing as a strategy that allows a team to get yardage in order to create more opportunities to get turnovers.

The foundation of the bend but don't break is that big plays are killers. So many things can go wrong on a drive that needs 10-15 plays to score that sometimes it isn't even the defense that is the reason for the end of a possession. As the amount of space that is needed to cover to avoid the bog play gets smaller, it becomes easier to have a man in the way of any play, short or long.

But every coach in the league would use the "don't bend at all" strategy if he had the personel to completely shut down an offense and protect against the big play at the same time. And that includes our NE Patriots.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Thanks, I figured they needed a safe haven after the Broncos game. I should have let them out for some fresh air but then they would have seen that the sky is still firmly in place above us. With Minnesota and Indy coming up over the next two weeks I figured it is best to keep them under the bridge until the Indy game is over. If we win they can get a furlow each week. I need to keep them close because if we drop another game to say Chicago it will be hard to gather them up again.

I remember the advert where some cowpokes are trying to herd cats. These chicken littles are even more skittish...

BB hasn't changed his defesnive philosophy. We often talk about a ball control offense burning the clock; one of the undiscussed aspects of a "bend but don't break" defense is that it is ALSO a clock burning Defense, as well.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

We're not quite as "bend but don't break" as one might think.

The proto-typical "bend but don't break" defense stiffens in the redzone. The Pats tend to stiffen somewhere around midfield -- they've actually allowed the fewest opposing redzone possessions (7) of any team in the league, with the next closest teams (BAl, CHI) at 11.