Will this defense be top ten? (hint: no)

[FourierSeries]

It has been four games against terrible teams. The steelers without Bell, the ****ing Bills, the Cowboys without Dez and Romo, and the Jaguars. Give me a ****ing break. Let's see what happens when we face a good QB, and I don't mean Andrew Luck.

We won't be playing a good QB until February if GB makes it that far. If we do play GB, then we'll just have to deal with the fact that Rodgers will put up points, regardless of how good the defense is. If it comes down to a shootout between Brady and Rodgers, I'll take Brady any day in a big game.

 

[patsfan13]

It would be interesting to see the pats allowed through the first 3 qtrs. none of these games were in doubt at the start of the 4qtr.

 

[Huckleberry1]

It's too bad the discussion about the defense comes in a troll thread

 

[FourierSeries]

It would be interesting to see the pats allowed through the first 3 qtrs. none of these games were in doubt at the start of the 4qtr.

It doesn't even matter. Even with all of the garbage time stats/points, we're still top 10 in points and 12th in yardage/game. That's more than good enough.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Some individual stats:

Coverage

Dominique Easley: one pressure, one hurry

Easley's poor showing is what sticks out most to me. Hopefully he rectifies that and plays light's out from here on out.

 

[Sicilian]

Yes true but with Dez on the field I don't think the Pats would have double covered whitten etc... might have affected their pass rush on Weeden. Possibly more points for the Cowboys but not 24 more.

That said the Pats defense has delivered better than I have expected this season and it's only going to get better and if you think of a team in a complementary basis this defense is more than good enough.

They didn't have Dez against Atlanta either, so why didn't Atlanta do what you describe?

 

[Tony2046]

If you have an offense that is putting up 35 points a game your defense has to limit the opposing team to 34 points a game. It's a complimentary game.

Fortunately the Pats have a defense that are limiting opposing teams to 19 per game (I know they have not faced a top offense yet) and their offense has put up 37 per game which is an 18 point spread which includes two top defenses. (Buffalo, Cowboys, ....maybe Pittsburg)

Right now the Pats have a +73 point differential through 4 games which is second to the Cardinals +100 through 5 games.

 

[DaBruinz]

It has been four games against terrible teams. The steelers without Bell, the ****ing Bills, the Cowboys without Dez and Romo, and the Jaguars. Give me a ****ing break. Let's see what happens when we face a good QB, and I don't mean Andrew Luck.

Excuses, excuses. You just can't handle the fact you talked out your rear end and are getting it handed back to you..

 

[Tony2046]

They didn't have Dez against Atlanta either, so why didn't Atlanta do what you describe?

I agreed with the point about the Atlanta game. Or are you asking me if I think the Pats defense is better than Atlanta's? Then yes I do think the Pats D is better than Atlanta's but not by much. More importantly I think Pats team is better than Atlanta's.

 

[mikey m]

If you have an offense that is putting up 35 points a game your defense has to limit the opposing team to 34 points a game. It's a complimentary game.

Hate to nitpick but if our D was giving up 34 ppg, then opposing offenses would likely be sustaining a lot of long drives, keeping our offense off the field and out of rhythm. Take the game against GB last year for example. They only scored 26 but had 0 3 & outs and only one punt. That possession which they punted still took nearly 5 min off the clock. Result: we only put up 21 pts.

But ya this doesn't change your point that with our offense, our defense only really needs to be average and they've been better than. It also supports your point that it is very much a complimentary game. Good defense helps the offense and vice versa.

 

[SalemPats]

Just have to say how impressed i am with Sheard. With Sheard and Jones we have two extremely athletic players who can not just rush the passer but drop back (i.e. Jones almost having that int). I still want to see how they do against a good rushing attack, but impressed so far.

 

[Tony2046]

Excuses, excuses. You just can't handle the fact you talked out your rear end and are getting it handed back to you..

It's difficult to determine where one teams defense ranks compared to another simply because other factors are needed to tell the whole story. Strength of Schedule, Matchup differences etc....also play a part but are not part of the ranking system.

Anyways the Pats have a good defense and it's only going to get better by experience and possibly by addition.

The good news about this team is that the offense has the ability to score big against some good defenses this year which means the only way another team will beat them is via a shootout. Tough to imagine especially after LaFell gets back.

 

[VrabelJr]

Our DL is bananas.

 

[Tony2046]

Hate to nitpick but if our D was giving up 34 ppg, then opposing offenses would likely be sustaining a lot of long drives, keeping our offense off the field and out of rhythm. Take the game against GB last year for example. They only scored 26 but had 0 3 & outs and only one punt. That possession which they punted still took nearly 5 min off the clock. Result: we only put up 21 pts.

But ya this doesn't change your point that with our offense, our defense only really needs to be average and they've been better than. It also supports your point that it is very much a complimentary game. Good defense helps the offense and vice versa.

You're right that would become a problem.

 

[BobDigital]

Prediction.

This D will rank is the top 10 in PPG but not play like it for much of the year. By the end of the year they will be playing close to top 10 though.

Not because their D is so good but cause a lot of teams and defenses in general are just bad and our offense will rarely put our D in a bad position like a lot of offenses do for their D.

 

[BradyFTW!]

It'll be fun to see the various forms that Interception's ****posting on this topic take over the year. He panicked early, made a stupid thread, and it looks like now he's going to just keep owning that lane rather than admitting he screwed up.

 

[Sicilian]

I agreed with the point about the Atlanta game. Or are you asking me if I think the Pats defense is better than Atlanta's? Then yes I do think the Pats D is better than Atlanta's but not by much. More importantly I think Pats team is better than Atlanta's.

Looking back, I think I actually mis-read the context of your post. That's what I get for skimming a thread and trying to comment. You can disregard

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

Patriots are currently 7th in points allowed, 12th in yards allowed. 11th against the pass.

That's flirting with a top 10 defense, is it not?

Is that total or per game, because some teams have played fewer games.

 

[FourierSeries]

Is that total or per game, because some teams have played fewer games.

Per game.

 

[TommyD4207]

Is that total or per game, because some teams have played fewer games.

Average per game.

And in another moment of "let's be honest"y -

Those numbers are actually better than last year's - both at this point in the season, and by the end of the season.

I'll grant you it was a much tougher schedule last year - but the numbers are what they are.

Oh, and count me among those who were pretty pissed the Patriots let Revis walk in the offseason.