I hate to say i told you so

[PatsDeb]

They were but may i remind you that it was bottom feeding San Fran and not SB contender Seahawks that they played better against.

You don't need to remind me, however, SF was touted coming into the game as having improved with Kapernick of late, and getting back to their winning ways with a close loss the week before. Our much maligned D held them to 10 points when the game mattered.

 

[jimnance]

I posted this just over a month ago:
For the 2016 Pats to be in/win SB 51 the D has to improve ALOT

And lo and behold since then NOTHING has changed, if anything they look WORSE on defense. People really, really, REALLY, need to stop looking at in depth analytics or metrics because it simply doesn't work in football. The EYE TEST tells you everything you need to know so please just forget about 'we're second in blah, blah, blah' or 'we give up blah amounts of blah' because none of it matters as football is a game of FEEL. So for those of you banging on about these meaningless stats let me ask: if our own coach (who is the GOAT) doesn't give a crap about these numbers then why do you?

What matters is come playoff time when the teams get REALLY good, based on what your EYES have seen can this team stop a potent offense? Can they make plays so Brady doesn't have to drive us 80 yards on every possession (because they don't get turnovers meaning our offense starts way, way back)

So i'm going to emphasise once again, for the 2016 Pats to be in/win SB 51 the D has to improve ALOT because there is nothing wrong with the offense. They can run it, they can go short, they can go deep, they can go down the seam, basically wherever Tom wants to put it he can so long as the o-line continues to hold up.

This is a joke right? if not, youve revealed yourself as someone who just doesnt understand nfl football.

 

[Deus Irae]

After 10 games the 2014 Patriots were 8-2 and allowed 218 points
After 10 games the 2016 Patriots are 8-2 and allowed 180 points.

I get where you're going with this, but your comparison is misleading.

 

[English Patriot]

Sigh. Can't you people just go away? I'm all for pointing out that the Patriots could improve (there's no doubt they aren't playing to potential on defense), but must it carry with it such gleeful malice? It's reached a level of schadenfreude that is silly for people who claim to be fans of a team. You'd think that we were the Browns or something with the way people carry on around here.

When your quarterback and offense delivers a certain level of excellence i fully expect the defense to rise up and follow suit. Maybe they are and it's just a lack of talent issue.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

When your quarterback and offense delivers a certain level of excellence i fully expect the defense to rise up and follow suit. Maybe they are and it's just a lack of talent issue.

Perfectly reasonable response. I agree with this, and I hope that they improve. I just take exception to the sky is falling, woe-is-me, doom and gloom crowd. It gets old after a while. Sorry to come off a bit harsh.

 

[oldrover]

This thread reminds me of something...








Yep, that's it.

 

[Ring 6]

Another thing to consider.
Since BB the Patriots are 120-50 in the first 10 games of a season, .706 winning percentage, and allow 19.4 ppg.
They are 75-21, .781 in the last 6 of seasons, and allow 18.0 ppg.

Also since BB arrived they are 3rd in points allowed, just as they are this season.
I love our defensive system.

 

[English Patriot]

Perfectly reasonable response. I agree with this, and I hope that they improve. I just take exception to the sky is falling, woe-is-me, doom and gloom crowd. It gets old after a while. Sorry to come off a bit harsh.

No offence taken. It's not doom and gloom i'm trying to spew either, it's just i know that these same people criticising my points will be the same ones that will be in agreement if the Pats fall short in the big games.

I don't try to come off as holier than thou, i just speak what i feel because i love the Pats as much as the next guy and only a SB is ever good enough and if you're a fan of any team that's how you should always think imo.

 

[Ring 6]

I get where you're going with this, but your comparison is misleading.

Could be, just an interesting point mostly regarding what people are saying about the defense rather than what it is doing.

 

[Ring 6]

When your quarterback and offense delivers a certain level of excellence i fully expect the defense to rise up and follow suit. Maybe they are and it's just a lack of talent issue.

If we had the greatest defense in the history of the NFL we would have one more win.

 

[chasa]

humble bragging.

hey man, nice job calling that the patriots would be 8-2 on top of the division, and the heavy favorite to represent the afc int he superbowl.

 

[Sicilian]

The most positive thing I can say about this thread is that it is grossly premature.

(Insert giggity joke here)

 

[Hammer of Thor]

The 2nd half yesterday shows this defense is legit. They didn't quit. They laid the Hammer down. That's right....



sorry, felt like this was called for.....

 

[Deus Irae]

No offence taken. It's not doom and gloom i'm trying to spew either, it's just i know that these same people criticising my points will be the same ones that will be in agreement if the Pats fall short in the big games.

I don't try to come off as holier than thou, i just speak what i feel because i love the Pats as much as the next guy and only a SB is ever good enough and if you're a fan of any team that's how you should always think imo.

I think it's fair to say that most people would have considered the defensive depth to be a question. I think it's fair that most people would have considered the starters to be a damned good group.

What's happened is that:

• the explosive playmaker (Collins) underperformed and is now helping Cleveland in the bid for 0-16
• the solid, dependable LB (Hightower) has been injured and limited
  
• the solid edge defender (Ninkovich) has been injured, and his play has suffered
• the pass rusher (Sheard) has not been able to pick up the slack
• the CB2 position, which was a major question mark, has been a major weakness
• the CB3 position, which was a major question mark, has been a major weakness
• the signings and trades have (at least to this point) not really panned out

In short, pretty much everything that could have been a negative has been a negative. The question moving forward is going to be whether or not any of those issues can be solved/overcome.

 

[Ring 6]

Numbers again.....

You didn't take into account teams played or how good their offenses are/were. What i saw is at home the Pats played a team last week that is more than likely going to get to the NFC title game and got beat up on. Brady and co could only do so much but the defense was SOFT.

Argue that?

It was one game. The 2014 D allowed 41 to KC. They played worse than this in the divisional round against a worse offense in Baltimore. They were Malcolm Butlers Int away from the same game they just played against the same team.
Let me guess, you felt that Butler would get that pick, but don't feel this defense can make a play right?

 

[Deus Irae]

Could be, just an interesting point mostly regarding what people are saying about the defense rather than what it is doing.

Yeah, but remember that Browner was out early, and the offense was a drain on the defense until that Bengals game. It was the 2014 defense, but it wasn't really the 2014 defense until, probably, the Bears game in week 8.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

It was one game. The 2014 D allowed 41 to KC. They played worse than this in the divisional round against a worse offense in Baltimore. They were Malcolm Butlers Int away from the same game they just played against the same team.
Let me guess, you felt that Butler would get that pick, but don't feel this defense can make a play right?

Not to get nerdy but the D gave up 34 to Kansas City, 7 came on a pick 6 thrown by TFB...

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Points Allowed in Patriots Elimination Losses Since 2010

2015: 20 (to Denver)
2013: 26 (to Denver)
2012: 28 (to Baltimore)
2011: 21 (to NYG)
2010: 28 (to NYJ)

I hardly think the offense has been losing shootouts 55-52 in these playoff eliminations. The offenses was more to blame than the defense in almost all of these losses because their high number of 3-and-outs, turnovers, and not being able to get good field position contributed to a lot of these games going the other way. Let's let Belichick figure out the defense and trust he knows what he's doing.

 

[Batman]

It was one game. The 2014 D allowed 41 to KC. They played worse than this in the divisional round against a worse offense in Baltimore. They were Malcolm Butlers Int away from the same game they just played against the same team.
Let me guess, you felt that Butler would get that pick, but don't feel this defense can make a play right?

Every pats fan all season felt Butler would make that pick at the end of the game. We all saw that maturation...

 

[English Patriot]

It was one game. The 2014 D allowed 41 to KC. They played worse than this in the divisional round against a worse offense in Baltimore. They were Malcolm Butlers Int away from the same game they just played against the same team.
Let me guess, you felt that Butler would get that pick, but don't feel this defense can make a play right?

Butler is one of the few playmakers we have, that 2014 team was loaded with playmakers and don't forget that Butler's pick was sweet justice because Seattle had no right to even be close to our endzone if not for one of if not the luckiest catch ever. But for that Kearse play Seattle would not have got near our goal line and you can't pin that lucky bounce on the defense.