Evidently, I'm the 2nd to last person on this website to give up the ghost on the Pats D.
I will say this at this point: The D is not as bad as the O and ST's are good - - so the Pats have a very good shot at the SB.
The Pats O and ST's are a 9.5-10. If the D can perform at a 4.5-5 level, then we could be seeing a parade in February.
The D is very bad in certain aspects:
- Total yds allowed: 414.4, 32nd in the NFL
- Pass yds allowed: 296.7, 32nd in the NFL
- Opp QB rating: 87.5, 24th in the NFL
- Opp completion %: 63.0, 26th in the NFL
- Yds per passing attempt allowed: 8.1, 29th in the NFL
(Lump all the passing stuff together and just say they have an awful pass defense)
- 3rd down conversions allowed: 44.5%, 29th in the NFL
- 1st downs allowed: 324, 32nd in the NFL
- defensive penalties: 104, 28th in the NFL
- Rush yds per attempt: 4.6, 26th in the NFL
The D is about average in certain aspects:
- Points allowed: 21.2, t14th in the NFL
- Rush yds allowed: 117.6, 19th in the NFL
- Pass td allowed: 21, t18th in the NFL
- Sacks: 33, 16th in the NFL
- Rush td allowed: 12, t19th in the NFL
The D is good or very good in certain aspects:
- Takeaways: 28, t1st in the AFC, t5th in the NFL
- Red Zone defense (TD %): 50.9%, 13th in the NFL
It's TOTALLY possible that the last two things - the very things NE is good at - are enough for this defense to actually play a positive role for the Pats in the postseason. They are very capable of allowing a team to march down the field on them, but they either stone them in the red zone and hold them to FG (while the Pats' offense gets TDs) or they cause a game-changing turnover.
If those things are not happening, this team will give up a lot of points.