Defensive Stats

[mgteich]

2021 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics | Pro-Football-Reference.com

No, we aren't as good as Buffalo.

We must improve from these truly awful defensive stats.

 

[borg]

One of the radio mediots mentioned that most Patriots defensive metrics over the last quarter of the season were bottom two (or worse) in the NFL including 'run defense'.

And that includes the Jax bright spot.



And..........Compelling opponents to punt is overrated

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Patriots Defense was actually the reason the Pats won its games. Had a lot of turnovers, excellent pass defense, and smoke and mirrors achilles heel in run defense. Performed admirably given it had fundamentally crappy players in Godchaux, Bentley, and was also missing Jon Jones' talents very much. Pats defense needs fundamental personnel upgrades in the draft while the offense needs a better coordinator to maximize the players (including expensive players).

1-4 to implode on the year isn't good.

 

[TheRainMaker]

D line has been soft like Charmin for many years. Giving up 4.5 yards per carry is pretty bad. Need to get more stout at the LOS. Godsmack is not the guy at NT.

LB’s are terribly slow. Need to find a MLB that is a nuisance. You know, that one guy you see on almost every freaking tackle.

Then you have the secondary. Losing JC is going to be brutal. Bill will have to think about this one a lot on whether he is willing to shell out the big bucks. People on the board that have gone to the games have said McCourty’s time is up.

 

[jmt57]

There were some games when I felt the offense was putting too much onus on the defense. Case in point would be the Week 16 loss to Buffalo.

First Half Drives by the Pats Offense:
1.) 3-and-out, loss of 6 yards
2.) Touchdown
3.) 3 plays, 14 yards, turnover
4.) 3-and-out, 7 yards
5.) 5 plays, 7 yards
Other than the one score that's 22 yards and one first down (roughing the passer penalty), plus the turnover.

Buffalo Starting Drive Position in that same half:
1.) Buff 39
2.) Buff 25
3.) Pats 33
4.) Pats 42
5.) (Kneel down for one play)

While everybody scrutinized the two late drives when the Bills scored and blamed the D for the loss, that is not where that game was decided. It was lost in the first half; Buffalo outscored the Pats by 10 in the first half, while the second half was virtually even.


That is not an apology for the defense; they were very disappointing down the stretch. The Patriots are currently a middle of the pack team, just like half the NFL. Buffalo is a better team at this point, as are all the other teams still in the playoffs. They're in a rebuild with a rookie quarterback. I'm not sure why so many are shocked with this news.

 

[mgteich]

Then you have the secondary. Losing JC is going to be brutal. Bill will have to think about this one a lot on whether he is willing to shell out the big bucks. People on the board that have gone to the games have said McCourty’s time is up.

After re-signing Karras and getting an OT, all the serious focus needs, money and draft picks to be on the defense.

The most serious issue is the secondary. Personally, I would fine with the safety position if Mills is at free safety, making a solid corps with Dugger and Phillips.

This was the best in the NFL just a year ago. Now we have lost Gilmore, and McCourty will likely retire. Will we spend $17M to franchise Jackson? Will Jones come back at 100%?

 

[Deus Irae]

After re-signing Karras and getting an OT, all the serious focus needs, money and draft picks to be on the defense.

WR, preferably a quick-open slotWR.

 

[mgteich]

WR, preferably a quick-open slotWR.

WR is a dream that we will continue to express, and then settle on Agholor, Bourne, Myers and Wilkerson. We will likely have Nixon, a late draft pick, and a couple of low-level free agents, I don't see us using any more resources than that.

 

[Deus Irae]

WR is a dream that we will continue to express, and then settle on Agholor, Bourne, Myers and Wilkerson. We will likely have Nixon, a late draft pick, and a couple of low-level free agents, I don't see us using any more resources than that.

I will hold onto the hope that Scar's opinion carries more weight than your guess.

 

[Huckleberry1]

There were some games when I felt the offense was putting too much onus on the defense. Case in point would be the Week 16 loss to Buffalo.

First Half Drives by the Pats Offense:
1.) 3-and-out, loss of 6 yards
2.) Touchdown
3.) 3 plays, 14 yards, turnover
4.) 3-and-out, 7 yards
5.) 5 plays, 7 yards
Other than the one score that's 22 yards and one first down (roughing the passer penalty), plus the turnover.

Buffalo Starting Drive Position in that same half:
1.) Buff 39
2.) Buff 25
3.) Pats 33
4.) Pats 42
5.) (Kneel down for one play)

While everybody scrutinized the two late drives when the Bills scored and blamed the D for the loss, that is not where that game was decided. It was lost in the first half; Buffalo outscored the Pats by 10 in the first half, while the second half was virtually even.


That is not an apology for the defense; they were very disappointing down the stretch. The Patriots are currently a middle of the pack team, just like half the NFL. Buffalo is a better team at this point, as are all the other teams still in the playoffs. They're in a rebuild with a rookie quarterback. I'm not sure why so many are shocked with this news.

A good friend of mine got to go see the Pats/Saints game snd he was pissed at the defense afterwards, but I felt like that was a game where the offense screwed the defense. I didn’t feel the same about the zBuffalo game. The Patriots offense didn’t give the defense much help in the Bills game, but it didn’t look like anything the offense did was going to matter in the Bills game, the Bills were tearing them up drive after drive, and there was no way the Patriots were going to put up 35 plus, which was their only hope. The Patriots are going to have to focus most of their attention on the defense this off-season. They have some work to do on offense but the heavy investment needs to come on D. The defense had the better season in paper, but free agency and retirements is going to hit them much harder than the offense.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Overall they need to get significantly better in all areas to really contend for a Lombardi. You can look at all 3 areas and find places where they let the other units down in one way or another. The defense was a sieve against the run, the offenses was t nearly potent enough, too many critical penalties, too many bad starts, not enough big plays on ST’s and too many mistakes on them etc etc… And while they aren’t as bad as they looked in Buffalo they still need to treat the off-season as if they were.

 

[Sciz]

Either by some awful coincidence or just the general theme of good teams playing good football, all 5 of the touchdowns allowed not by the defense happened the games where the defense allowed 20 points anyway. Those opposing non-offensive touchdowns pushed three teams over the 25 point barrier, and the Cowboys needed overtime (which all things equal, wouldn't have happened without the pick-6) to get over 25 points scored by the offense. So it's a little bit of a stretch but technically accurate to say the Patriots' defense allowed 25 points in regulation in only two games, and both were against the Bills.

So the good news is that there can be a clear offseason goal to improve the defense's performance against the Bills, and that the blueprint (more Cover 2, and also better Cover 2) is already out there. I'm just not convinced that they're about to put all their resources into becoming a better Cover 2 team when man defense has generally worked so well for them in recent years.

 

[Triumph]

One of the radio mediots mentioned that most Patriots defensive metrics over the last quarter of the season were bottom two (or worse) in the NFL including 'run defense'.

And that includes the Jax bright spot.



And..........Compelling opponents to punt is overrated

The guy is right on the money.

This defense unraveled as the season ended.

 

[Triumph]

Boogeymen 2.;0

Loss - New Orleans - 0 turnovers
Loss - Tampa - 0 turnovers
Loss - Buffalo - 0 turnovers
Loss - Miami - 0 turnovers
Loss - WC Buffalo - 0 turnovers

Win - NYJ - 4 turnovers
Win - NYJ - 3 turnovers
Win - Carolina - 3 turnovers
Win - Atlanta - 4 turnovers
Win - Tennessee - 4 turnovers
Win - Jacksonville - 3 turnovers