ESPN James Walker "Reasons why the Patriots will make it to the Super Bowl"

[RobertWeathers]

I agree with Walker..I do get a different sense with this team. They have been having close games and WINNING them. There has not been any blowout minus the Pitts game, yet they were still very much in it despite being thoroughly outplayed on the road. Has it been pretty with the defense..no! However, the defense has only lost only 1 game this season if you really think about it. They have been consistent despite what the expert say. And its not like any team has layed down for the Pats during their win streak, so they will be playoff ready regardless...

Plus the NE offense is probably the most dominating unit in the AFC right now. Yup, better than the Ravens, Steelers, and Texans defenses.

Bill Walsh, fmr coach of the 49ers always said that the team needs to win games in all different ways to win a SB. He didn't necessarily mean that they needed to demonstrate the ability during the regular season but just do it....once and the way to do that was to be mentally tough and try and be consistent and true to your team's "DNA". IE- Don't try to be a different team in the playoffs. Be confident in what got you there and stick to it.

We can all remember the Pat's run for earlier this decade Defensive battles, shootouts, turnovers, etc. If you have the mental toughness to overcome the bad bounces, the weather, the injuries, the matchup and prove that your will to win in greater than your opponents, you win. If you don't, you loose.

I do believe that there is something funky going on with this team. No question that the offense is hell on wheels and covers up many of the defense's shortcomings, but is does seem that the D makes plays when it absolutely HAS to.

I think this year's team is more consistent that last years's team. They've scored over 30 points in 10 of 13 games and have allowed over 28 points once. Last year, they scored less than 30 5 times and allowed more than 28 or more points four times.

Lastly I think mental toughness leads to consistency and that is what the version of this Pats team has.

 

[NEP4Life]

I stand ready to cheer on the Edelman-Slater powered secondary in Indy!

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Amazing right? I don't know if its the anti-Patriots thing or what..I look at some of these polls online and just laugh how they justify the rankings and often mention the Pats defense but NO and GB defense barely gets a mention.

they won recent super bowls but the pats have not. so they are considered "good enough" on D to get over the hump.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

if history has taught us anything, just get into the playoffs and anything can happen. no one taught the cardinals would win the WS but they did.

 

[mgcolby]

The Patriots are ranked last in Defense, therefore the Saints and Packers do indeed have a better defense....I understand that's not saying much, but let's not pretend that the Pats Defense (specifically the pass defense) is not going to be an issue in the post season.

Yet when I go to NFL.com and sort the total defense page by points allowed per game the Saints are listed below us and the Packers are listed right above because G comes before N in the alphabet. I guess its all in what you rank them by, me I think points are more important than yards.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

This isn't likely to be a big deal, but every little bit counts. Provided the Pats get a #2 seed, they won't have to travel for the next 4 weeks. That should make it easier to get more rest (or film-room.planning done).

Could be 5 weeks if (when) they get the #1 seed.

 

[F0nSY]

I said it some weeks ago and people said I was crazy. We can go to the SuperBowl, why not ?

 

[ausbacker]

Yet when I go to NFL.com and sort the total defense page by points allowed per game the Saints are listed below us and the Packers are listed right above because G comes before N in the alphabet. I guess its all in what you rank them by, me I think points are more important than yards.

Green Bay, New England and New Orleans are mirrors of one another. They're also 3 of the top 5 ranked teams in the NFL. They're the 3 top offenses in the NFL, have arguments to be made for the potential for 3 HOF QB's and all play a complimentary style of defense.

It's interesting that because of the yards allowed argument New England's defense is the only one publicly derided despite allowing the same amount of points as the Packers (297), less than the Saints (309) forcing 28 turnovers compared to the Packers (32) and the Saints (13).

The defense looks abysmal at times and dominant at others. It is what it is.

 

[mgcolby]

Green Bay, New England and New Orleans are mirrors of one another. They're also 3 of the top 5 ranked teams in the NFL. They're the 3 top offenses in the NFL, have arguments to be made for the potential for 3 HOF QB's and all play a complimentary style of defense.

It's interesting that because of the yards allowed argument New England's defense is the only one publicly derided despite allowing the same amount of points as the Packers (297), less than the Saints (309) forcing 28 turnovers compared to the Packers (32) and the Saints (13).

The defense looks abysmal at times and dominant at others. It is what it is.

On the ride home Pat Kirwan was talking about all three teams and said the Pats score every 15 plays and allow a score every 26 plays. And then stated that all three teams fall into that range, but did not give exact numbers. That supports what a lot of us have known all year that the Packers and Saints all have the same game plan. But for some reason national folks only want to focus on our D.

 

[ausbacker]

On the ride home Pat Kirwan was talking about all three teams and said the Pats score every 15 plays and allow a score every 26 plays. And then stated that all three teams fall into that range, but did not give exact numbers. That supports what a lot of us have known all year that the Packers and Saints all have the same game plan. But for some reason national folks only want to focus on our D.

Which is exactly why I should learn to temper my disdain for the Patriots D at times given the stellar 49ers lost to the Cardinals the other week (and I wouldn't put it past the Seahawks to clobber them in Seattle), the anaemic Ravens offense has been able to defeat the Steelers twice, the Chiefs D stoned the Packers and the Saints have lost to the Rams and Bucs.

On closer inspection, there should be no reason why the Patriots should not consider themselves a real shot at winning another Lombardi this season. That said, the Patriots still have two tough divisional games ahead of them.

 

[Guts]

This team the D has showed me that it has the mental toughness to make a playoff run. The Denver and Philly games are perfec examples they started of slow given up big plays and what not but adjusted and allowed Brady and Co to do work. Even in losses it took 4 int by Tom to only be defeated by 3 points at Buffalo. In Pittsburgh it's probably the only time I saw the D pretty bad but they still kept the score within reach and when Giants visited they didn't allow a touchdown in the first half. They generate alot of turnovers and hopefully the offense can keep it's momentum come playoff time and help the D out. Pretty sure they will too Hernandez and Gronk are gonna show up this time I'm certain.

 

[primetime]

That supports what a lot of us have known all year that the Packers and Saints all have the same game plan. But for some reason national folks only want to focus on our D.

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

 

[ausbacker]

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

If the Patriots defense is legitimately worse than the Saints defense why does it concede less points per game and create more turnovers than the Saints defense?

 

[Metaphors]

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

Considering the Steelers had 7 legit drives (not counting the drive before the half and their last 2 drives) and only scored 2 TDs, I'm questioning how that proves they took apart the Pats defense...easily or otherwise. After being "taken apart" while Brady was "merely average", the Pats were down 6 with 2:40 left and all 3 timeouts.

That being said, give the Steelers a ton of credit for throwing out a completely new gameplan on offense and defense while the Pats opened with exactly the wrong schemes (and never really fully countered). Certainly an off day for the Pats on the road against an elite team...and yet a day where winning the turnover battle allowed them to have a realistic shot at a victory late.

Drawing the conclusion from this game that the Pats defense is historically bad and is helpless against good teams is just silly. Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. Simple as that.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

Discounting for the ease at which your mind can be boggled, how about considering that this defense hasn't been fully staffed all year. There were times when the secondary was playing without their top 5 DBs from the week #1 depth chart. Do the same for any other team in the league and let me know how you think their pass defense would be ranked. That isn't even mentioning Wright, Pryor, Spikes and now Carter. If the Pats are able to mount a serious run through the playoffs, the only historical thing about the defense will be its resiliency.

 

[strngplyr]

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

While it may be very bad, the defense and special teams have either scored or given the offense another possession 29 times this year.

How many teams can say that?

 

[Joker]

Here's the number one CL rule here at Patsfan...all 11 wins mean nothing and show nothing about what kind of team the Patriots are.....to determine what kind of team the Patriots are, you have to take every bad play that happened in their THREE losses, not any good plays that happened in their ELEVEN wins. Once you get the idea, the rest is easy...the Patriots are the worst, draft the worst, Belichick should be fired 12 minutes into a road game and Brady does everything with NO HELP....clear as a spring morning in the barnyard...BA-BAWKKKKKK!

 

[Deus Irae]

Here's the number one CL rule here at Patsfan...all 11 wins mean nothing and show nothing about what kind of team the Patriots are.....to determine what kind of team the Patriots are, you have to take every bad play that happened in their THREE losses, not any good plays that happened in their ELEVEN wins. Once you get the idea, the rest is easy...the Patriots are the worst, draft the worst, Belichick should be fired 12 minutes into a road game and Brady does everything with NO HELP....clear as a spring morning in the barnyard...BA-BAWKKKKKK!

How's that any worse than the ostriches who deny their own lying eyes? It doesn't take a scholar to see that this defense isn't good, yet we've got people here trying to pretend precisely that.

 

[glm]

Because the Patriots' defense is legitimately worse than any of them - and may in fact be one of the worst defenses in league history - and the Steelers showed that a good team could very easily beat the Patriots by taking apart their defense and forcing Brady to play merely average.

The Patriots defense is so bad it boggles the mind, that the team has even gotten this far is a testament to Brady and his weapons on offense. Mostly Brady.

 

[SeanBruschi54]

l o ****** l

 

[shmessy]

How's that any worse than the ostriches who deny their own lying eyes? It doesn't take a scholar to see that this defense isn't good, yet we've got people here trying to pretend precisely that.

Yes. The Patriots Defense is not good.

It is as bad as Green Bay's and New Orleans'.