D 14.8 Points a game, tops in AFC

[ausbacker]

Points for:

Cardinals - 9th
Dolphins - 28th
Texans - 32nd
Bills - 14th
Browns - 29th

That matters too, as do a lot of other things. If it was just about points, we could lie to one another and pretend that the 2011 defense was a middle of the road squad.

The problem with this Deus is you know how the games played out and what the Patriots D focused on. They took away David Johnson against the Cardinals (outside of his one magnificent run), contained the Dolphins until they went soft in the 2nd half, took away Lamar Miller, weren't great on 3rd down against the Bills and still on gave up 16 points, and took away the Browns run game. I agree, the points for aren't a strong indicator that the Pats D is all world but they significantly halted what their opponents did best for 4/5 games. That's really rather reasonable.

I'm not sure what we have in this D and sure, there could be more by way of big plays but I just want to see a solid unit do its job and not lose the game for the Pats.

 

[JMC00]

They are 13th in yards allowed which is the rank they finished in 2014.

 

[mosslost]

Anything is better than the 2011 Superbowl defense

I blame the offense for that SB loss. Yeah the D failed them when they needed them. However they only gave up 19 points (safety) and just 2 TD's. Also they held them to 2 second half field goals on drives instead of 6. They were not good on D but the Offense should have won that SB for them.

 

[chasa]

holy crap.

I kinda hope the patriots have a really bad year next year. like 0-16 just so all these ****ing "14 points per game by the d is too many" "only 30 ppg on offense not enough" jackholes leave for a year.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

holy crap.

I kinda hope the patriots have a really bad year next year. like 0-16 just so all these ****ing "14 points per game by the d is too many" "only 30 ppg on offense not enough" jackholes leave for a year.

I'd love to see where in this thread someone actually said that. They could be better. They could be much worse, but they could be better. I think even Belichick would say the same (and mean it)

 

[VJCPatriot]

I said before the season started that this defense had a chance to be special. The crazy thing is that even giving up only 14.8 points per game, it appears that this defense has room to improve. We still have players growing right before our eyes.

The defense has a good mix of veterans and young improving players. Malcolm Butler, Collins, and Hightower for the young core and veteran guys who have been through it all like Ninkovich, McCourty, Chung.

The crazy thing about this defense is that even the young studs like Butler, Collins, and Hightower have already won a ring and been tested as a championship team. We have a bright future ahead of us as long as we can keep this group healthy.

 

[Gronk]

it's the flying elvis holding them back. if they were in the original uni's the defense would be more motivated to allow less points. or at least pass the eye test to make big plays so it would appear that they were better if even they were worse.

 

[JMC00]

Damn this ****ty defense giving up 17 points today, to raise their Points Per Game Allowed 0.3 to 15.1 on the season

 

[Uptown]

Damn this ****ty defense giving up 17 points today, to raise their Points Per Game Allowed 0.3 to 15.1 on the season

Definitely NOT gonna cut it! Especially with the offense only averaging 34ppg (with the GOAT)

Welp....we're on to 2017

 

[FourierSeries]

Damn this ****ty defense giving up 17 points today, to raise their Points Per Game Allowed 0.3 to 15.1 on the season

Same amount of points the 2014 SB defense gave up to the same team. And without Collins today.

 

[Adam Seward]

Eric Rowe sighting! Can he be the hero this defense REALLY needs? Stay tuned!

 

[mosslost]

Still tops or near tops in NFL

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Damn this ****ty defense giving up 17 points today, to raise their Points Per Game Allowed 0.3 to 15.1 on the season

I'm done with this crap team.

 

[Marqui]

Eric Rowe sighting! Can he be the hero this defense REALLY needs? Stay tuned!

Yup! Rowe provided some real defensive help that I can get excited about.

 

[JMC00]

Same amount of points the 2014 SB defense gave up to the same team. And without Collins today.

Yep.

 

[mgcolby]

That Roberts kid is explosive. Hope his injury isn't serious. What a weapon he will be.

 

[Ring 6]

I believe they moved up to #2 now

 

[2000army]

Obviously we need to go back to the color rush uniforms

0 ppg against

 

[BradyFTW!]

That Roberts kid is explosive. Hope his injury isn't serious. What a weapon he will be.

He came back into the game, so I'm optimistic that he should be fine going forward. That said, durability may be a general issue going forward, since he's a little undersized and seems to make up for it by playing especially ferociously. He's got a bit of Pat Chung in him like that, and those types of guys tend to accumulate nagging injuries. Chung seems to have avoided that in his second stint here, though, so hopefully Roberts can too.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Same amount of points the 2014 SB defense gave up to the same team. And without Collins today.

The 2014 Bengals had Eifert, Jeremy Hill was playing healthy, and were much better in pass protection. Eifert is an elite red zone threat, and Jones came into today leading the NFL in receiving yards. He was a huge element of their passing attack the last couple years.

I agree with the general point that complaints about the defense are being overblown here, but this particular argument doesn't hold water IMO.