Do you feel better about the D?

[Willie55]

The Bills put up 37 points this week with approx. 370 yards of offense.

The Bucs put up 27 points with approx. 460 yards of offense.

Does this make you feel better about the D since the biggest excuse was "yeah but" look at the offenses they played? I for one feel better.

 

[bigsid05]

Seeing that the Bills did beat Cincy does make me feel better. Did Holcomb start, or was it Losman? That's another factor as well...

edit: It was Holcomb, who is a bit better than Losman... although still not very good.

 

[skri65]

We do have to keep in mind Losman played in our game Holcomb played in todays game. JP is a veyr young quarterback and thats what Belicheck loves to feast on.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Were we worried?

 

[Willie55]

Were we worried?

Plenty of people on this board said yeah but it was only the Bucs and Bills they played and not a good gauge.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Plenty of people on this board said yeah but it was only the Bucs and Bills they played and not a good gauge.

Ah, the voices of dooooooom. :bricks:

If only they took the time to read the breakdowns courtesy of PatsFan37, Pats1, and myself. I was right/correct/prescient about Colvin busting loose as Sey started hitting his stride. :snob:

 

[PatsSteve1]

I don't think you can look at how teams do against one team as a gauge of how another team will do against them. The Chargers beat the Colts and Patriots yet aren't even going to make the playoffs because they lost to teams you'd have thought they'd beat. As BB says, each week is different and you can't take what happened one week as meaning anything for the next week. Some teams don't play as well each week and some match up better against others, despite the records they may have.

 

[ZippyBongHits]

Lets be honest here, our defense has the ability to be just as dominating as it was the last few years. Yeah we lost Ted Johnson and Harrison(Law too but he didnt play sh!t last year).

But Colvin is finally performing like a Pro bowl player, Brushci is back in top form, and the rest of the LB's are playing their roles well. Our D line is finally all healthy and Wilfork is becoming a force in the middle. Our D backs are finally starting to gel too.

Hobbs, I like this kid, ALOT, he plays agressive and physical like Ty Law, but I think he has better speed and his leaqrning curve is showing to be very quick. Eugene Wilson is starting to look comfortable in Harrison's role and Samuals has always been steady and consistent.

If we get the 3rd seed and progress to the AFC conference championship, I will feel very confident playing Indy or whoever else makes it to that game with the group we have. Remember a strong and dominating front 7 helps the back 4.

If we keep 100% healthy the last 2 regular season games and continue to gel and improve on D I see reason why we cant 3peat.

There is no team in the AFC that makes me cringe to play against.

I mean, lets be real here, we took on a heavy amount of KEY injuries(D line,db,lb,3 rb's,TE's,O-linemen) in the beginning of the year, add the fact we lost 3-4 key coaches and a nasty beginning schedule and look where we are at?

Patriots are OK, and its unanimous that nobody wants to play us

 

[Krugman]

In word,yes.There has been steady improvement,no doubt about that.It doesnt have to the best D,just decent,then we have a chance..

 

[PatsFan-NH]

Yes I feel better about our D. I think we also have a chance now to get past the first round of the playoffs.

I think our D and our play are not just better than before the injuries, but better than at the start of the season. Our problems were more than just injuries. We hadn't gelled at the start, and we had people who were playing as starters who didn't belong (Starks, Brown, Biesel...). We won against Oakland, but we seemed to be sleepwalking. Our problems were there before all the injuries, they just made them worse. We seem to be past those problems, and getting the injured back is only gravy.

 

[DarrylS]

As I talk with friends and family across the nation during the holiday season, the consensus is watch out for the Pats as they all believe that this team is not only peaking at the right time and can take out the Colts on the way to the Superbowl. Most of these folks follow the Pats, but are not Pats Fans. This is a very consistent thought and one done without any hesitation.

 

[ilduce06410]

i was scared...

In word,yes.There has been steady improvement,no doubt about that.It doesnt have to the best D,just decent,then we have a chance..

i thought we'd have big problems stoppoing the inside run with bruschi and johnson out of there and phifer cut. in patriots d the ILBs have to fill the correct hole or there's nobody left but the safeties to stop the play.
up to game 8 i despaired.
now i see last year's d out there. they make me smile. opponents' running plays don't get stopped, they get trampled. our boys are once again swarming, it's sometimes like we sneaked a 12th player out there.
the return of of seymour, bruschi. another fine year from vrabel. wiilfork seeing the light after 24 games (whew!). some really gutty safety play by eugene wilson.
and i must point out, the d really came together with the return og the patriots talisman, HANK POTEAT!!

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

and i must point out, the d really came together with the return og the patriots talisman, HANK POTEAT!!

The irresistible beat of the all bongo bandwagon! :singing:

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I unexpectedly watched Patriots GameDay this Christmas morning (guess they wanted to show it on Sunday AM rather than a live show before Monday night?). Steve Burton called TJ out on his NFL Network interview, but he says he isn't backing down and he still believes our secondary is just to suspect to beat the Colts in Indy. While he certainly could be right, I also think there has been enough improvement in the front 7 that - if our offense is in synche from the get go - there is now the distinct possibility they could combine to make that suspect secondary something of a non-factor. They've never been a perfect team, just good enough in most areas to cover for their own weaknesses.

TJ also did a great sit down interview with Tedy in the locker room. He is all the way back. No problems, no lingering issues, no regrets. He talked about the coaches calling them out at half time in the KC game. Tedy said it got through - just a case of too little too late. He also spoke about how the whole dynamic changed when he came back. His ability to do the Mike's job freed up everyone else to do their job and not be worrying about overlapping responsibility for calls and reads. Especially Vrabel who was trying to carry the entire load. He said in his opinion Vrabel may be the MVP of the team - certainly of the defense - for adapting and performing as he has this season.

Part of me thinks that while mostly TJ is trying to project the rational NFL analyst image he wants to cultivate, part of him may just be a bit surprised (and perhaps wistful) that they have in fact turned it around dramatically for the most part. And I agree with PatsFan-NH that in-season injuries alone were not the sole problem, but rather they exposed something that was missing from the get go this season. Perhaps it was in part Tedy's leadership and ability (followed closely by the sudden loss of TJ's) - perhaps coupled with the sense of "what if" those situations raised in the minds of all the players (it's only a game vs. this is my life and I do already have a ring or two or three). I think getting Tedy back helped not only with communication and skill level, but it helped a lot of guys get refocused on playing the game they love with a certain level of reckless abandon. I think to an extent TJ is still coping with the fact that he was forced to choose to leave, but somehow Tedy (whom I don't think he believed could or should come back) has made it all the way back - and the team appears to be following his lead, getting better each week and enjoying the hell out of playing again.

The secondary will remain a concern, Asante is still a worrisome weak link and playing nothing like the player of 2004 (except in maddeningly brief flashes). But Hobbs while raw appears to be fairly gifted, and along with Hawkins play and veteran presence it's helped moderate that concern somewhat, at least for me.

And as far as TJ's contention that the Colts D has improved so dramatically - I call BS. They're better, but against the few really good offenses they have faced they are still not very good. I think the Colts peaked way early, the injury bug is beginning to bite, the down time could really throw them out of synche on both sides on the ball, and the tragic circumstances of this week will inevitably play some role.

 

[billikens]

Yes I feel better about our D. I think we also have a chance now to get past the first round of the playoffs.

I think our D and our play are not just better than before the injuries, but better than at the start of the season. Our problems were more than just injuries. We hadn't gelled at the start, and we had people who were playing as starters who didn't belong (Starks, Brown, Biesel...). We won against Oakland, but we seemed to be sleepwalking. Our problems were there before all the injuries, they just made them worse. We seem to be past those problems, and getting the injured back is only gravy.

I agree. It seems as if the team has found its groove, which it didn't have at the start of the season. The Carolina game was before any significant injuries, and we got our butts kicked. Right now, I think we have the ability to beat any team out there, especially in the playoffs. Whether we will or not, of course, is yet to be seen.

 

[Terry Glenn is a cowgirl]

I feel that TJ just doesn't want the Pats to get a ring without him!!!!

 

[Cantabrigian]

I wish that the secondary will get a chance to be tested. The problem with having to play the bills, bucs, dolphins, and jets is that they all have younger QBs who can be easily pressured by the front 7, allowing the back 4 to have an easier time of it. TJ maybe have some valid concerns about the seconday being the weak link but I think that the Pats are used to having problems in that particular spot.

Last year, the team was so light at CB that Troy Brown was playing there. With that in mind, I think the Pats have become very adapt at playing with a slightly weaker back 4 and the front 7 picks up the slack in a big way.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Plenty of people on this board said yeah but it was only the Bucs and Bills they played and not a good gauge.

Come on, Willie. I hoped that now the Pats had put together a few good games we would see the end of people pointing the finger at supposed doomsayers. I don't know who you mean by those "plenty of people".

As I recall, there have been two threads in which some posters have said "hang on, let's not go overboard". One was about a piece from the New York Times comparing our D to the Steel Curtain. Enough already! The other was a thread asking whether this year's D is better than last year's.

A much better question, because the fact is that last year's D wasn't dominant all the way through the season. Sure, there were two dominant games -- and what dominant games! -- in the play-offs: Indy and Pitt. If memory serves, they were pretty dominant @ Jets, maybe also at home to Buffalo. Otherwise, competitive is more like it.

What last year's defense didn't have was any games as horrible as some of this year's. The games at Kansas City are a good bench-mark. Last year it was probably our secondary's worst game, but we stopped the run, stayed competitive and won. This year ... enough said.

So now we've had three dominant games in a row. The defense was terrific against Tampa, no question. But going to Indy or Denver is a very tough ask indeed, so I don't think it's unreasonable to say "wait and see".

 

[Willie55]

Here's one but I couldn't find any others because they got wiped out by our little mishap last week:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=27938

And believe me I wasn't a naysayer about the D. IMO they weren't just playing good during these past three games, they have been dominant. To give up 10 points (7 of which was in garbage time) and to not have any team run for more than 41 yards is pretty damn good.

 

[Mike the Brit]

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=27938

I agree with you that you can't say that Tampa Bay wasn't a real test. Sure, Simms looked flustered and missed some easy throws, but that surely had a lot to do with the pass rushing he was facing. And the solidity on runs up the middle was extraordinary. I can't believe that Bruschi and Vrabel can be making such a difference; but it looks like they are.

But Simms is not Manning, Tampa Bay were in our stadium in December, playing their third successive game on the road.

How can you not be optimistic after last week? But the tests ahead are MUCH tougher.