Can we criticize the defense now? Is that allowed?

[skinnydog]

Along with the 07 Super Bowl this is the most frustrating game I can remember. It's almost like Belichick asked the guys to play with one hand tied behind their back.

- Patrick Chung on Nelson Agholor? Could there be a bigger miss match on the field? Did Belichick really think Chung could do a better job matching up on a WR then Butler?

- No pressure on Foles. In the 1st half last week we made Bortles look like an All Pro. We cannot let 2nd rate QBs get settled and rip us apart. We need an influx of talent on the D line and LBs.

- Rowe on Jeffrey? Why did we go out and give Gilmore all that money? And why did it take so long to make the change?

- Richards getting playing time ahead of Butler? Did Butler piss in Belichicks Corn Flakes this morning? What did he do to be benched the whole game? It literally cost us a Super Bowl!

At the end of the day, Pederson coached circles around Belichick tonight. So frustrating.

This.

Just a series of bizarre coaching decisions by the defense that had no chance of working.

 

[HailHydra]

Sick of the bend don’t break defensive scheme. Next year I want to see a mean, nasty, aggressive D. But probably not going to happen so bleh.

A boy can only pray for a Patriots team where the Defense is better than the Offense.

 

[DaBruinz]

Not with 1 timeout

It is when you also have the 2 minute warning and the Eagles are giving you the short sidelines..

 

[Ring 6]

Not with 1 timeout

Theee is zero question that without the strip sack brady wins the Game. Zero

 

[HailHydra]

"mean" "nasty" and "aggressive" are words that cost money on a defense. BB can only stretch his resources so far, we can't have the best offense and the best defense every year.

I would much rather have the best defense.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Theee is zero question that without the strip sack brady wins the Game. Zero

That’s on shaq mason

 

[Kontradiction]

Theee is zero question that without the strip sack brady wins the Game. Zero

Of course, but it should not have come down to that. That was disgraceful defense.

 

[chumpchange]

Love Bill, but it sounds like his ego got in the way today, and it's just maddening. I don't know how you defend voluntarily taking away a good corner when the players have sacrificed everything all year to get to this very winnable game. Tom threw for a Superbowl record 505 yards and three touchdowns--just a couple of stops would have won the game.

Butler said ‘i aint got nothing to say’. So likely its mire than just he was sick. I am really angry with BB right now

 

[HailHydra]

When the Patriots have something to play for, it's always amazing. They just didn't have as much fire behind them as before.

 

[Ring 6]

Of course, but it should not have come down to that. That was disgraceful defense.

Sure but there was no chance they stop
Brady.

 

[mosi]

We need Crenel back...his defenses were mean, nasty and just fantastic !

Having a Harrison or Law along with a Bruschi and Vrabel and Seymoor would help even more. Except for Van Noy, most of the front 7 were JAGS.

 

[Racervx54]

Good riddance Matt P He will unemployed in less then 2 years

 

[DaBruinz]

Get ready to give me the thumbs downs... But BB absolutely ****ed us tonight in regards to the Butler situation, and to not let Butler play instead having that scrub Richards go in there and **** on the field all game long, its such a damn slap to Malcolms face that I hope he leaves NE with a giant chip on his shoulder.

No damn player playing WELL not great, but WELL should be benched during the ****ing superbowl unless he killed someone this past week, he sent BBs daughter nudie pics, or he set a co workers pet on fire.

This defense is the result of piss poor decisions finally catching up to us, they made every kind of bum look like a damn all star all season long, and the offense wasnt able to bail them out this time.

You made an asinine statement in the GDT too. Seems you're sticking with that train of thought.

How can you sit there and judge BB when you have no clue what the situation was with Butler.

The defense was a result of injuries. Losing a rookie like Rivers and your best LB in Hightower will hurt any team.

This defense played extremely well in the play-offs up to this game. But you seem oblivious to that. You seem oblivious to the fact that the defense is who accounted for 11 sacks, not the offense. You seem oblivious to the fact that the defense played well since week 5 of the season.

 

[HailHydra]

Why can't we ever field a team in which we DON'T need to come back from a 2 score difference. This was a game where we certainly had an opportunity to win by more than 1 score, but numerous factors made the difference.

 

[Kontradiction]

Sure but there was no chance they stop
Brady.

Of course. Neither team played defense. This was the most yards allowed in a Super Bowl game, period. Not sure about the NFL as a whole. The margin of error was paper thin because the defense was complete and utter garbage tonight. That Philly also played garbage defense doesn't make it excusable for us.

 

[chumpchange]

Here we go. According to Mike Reiss:
-"Just caught up with a very emotional Malcolm Butler, alongside Adam Schefter. "They gave up on me. F—. It is what it is," Butler told us."
-"More from an emotional Malcolm Butler as he walked to the team bus: "I don't know what it was. I guess I wasn't playing good or they didn't feel comfortable. I don't know. But I could have changed that game."

 

[DaBruinz]

Our defense was roasted and toasted. Missed a lot of tackles that allowed short gains to become BIG first downs for the Eagles.

I wouldn't call it roasted and toasted, but yes, a couple of our normally sure tacklers missed some key tackles. That definitely hurt them. It was just a combination of things.

 

[sambam94]

defense cost the game..period

 

[skinnydog]

Someone who just bases their statements on the YARDAGE stat has no business talking in a football forum. It shows how you don't know wtf you are talking about.

BTW, SFBs, here are where the Pats have ranked (just on yardage) since Patricia was the DC:

2016 - 8th
2015 - 9th
2014 - 13th
2013 - 26th
2012 - 25th

8th and 9th aren't "middle of the pack" as you claim.

The Patriots had the following Scoring defenses: (points allowed)
2017 - 5th
2016 - 1st
2015 - 10th
2014 - 8th
2013 - 10th
2012 - 9th

That's a much more important stat.
So is the fact that they were without Rivers, Hightower, and Butler tonight on defense.

The issue is that some think that the yardage stat means nothing at all. It does. No it is not more important than points allowed, but it is not meaningless. And the reality is that having Brady as your QB helps your defense, especially over a 16 game season. Teams press and take chances knowing they have to outscore Brady. This team was really horrible in terms of creating turnovers. When is the last time you saw a DB jump a route and create an interception?

 

[HailHydra]

Of course. Neither team played defense. This was the most yards allowed in a Super Bowl game, period. Not sure about the NFL as a whole. The margin of error was paper thin because the defense was complete and utter garbage tonight. That Philly also played garbage defense doesn't make it excusable for us.

But that Philly D made it difficult for us to score points. Our defense literally allowed numerous long scores that Brady didn't have the luxury of getting. Brady had to work his butt off, get hit, and make stuff happen, while the Eagles offense didn't do anything crazy (except for that 1 TD). They got massive gains off missed tackle runs and deep passes that Foles threw up.