JoeSixPat
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2004
- Messages
- 11,667
- Reaction score
- 2,265
The Patriots D is clearly a work in progress with some flashes of great promise and is showing progress, still ranks near last.
I care less about the ranking, knowing that with 8 games near last they could be the best D in the NFL for the rest of the season and the season-long rankings will never show them better than mediocre. I want to see some progress and I think I am seeing that.
Still, poor Time of Posession and 3rd Down defense is going to require the offense to be as efficient as it has been all season. Remember - Brady's generally only had 25 minutes a game to put up more points than other teams in 35 minutes. That can catch up with you in a big way against good teams like the Steelers.
The biggest offensive libability is the lack of a deep game - it allows Defenses to come up on mid and short range pass options and put more pressure on the line of scrimmage, impacting the running game and Brady's health.
The important thing to remember is that we didn't even have a legitimate deep game before Moss was traded - he didn't have one pass caught thrown over 20 yards... leading me to ponder the possibility of whether Brady's plant foot has been a problem before now.
If you've got a QB limited in his ability to throw it deep, then it makes little sense to keep a petulant Moss on your team and you might as well get something for him. But that doesn't help address the Offensive liability we now have to deal with.
It is what it is, and until the TOP and 3rd Down Defensive liabilities are addressed, the game will continue to ride on how efficient Brady can be in 25 minutes a game.
I care less about the ranking, knowing that with 8 games near last they could be the best D in the NFL for the rest of the season and the season-long rankings will never show them better than mediocre. I want to see some progress and I think I am seeing that.
Still, poor Time of Posession and 3rd Down defense is going to require the offense to be as efficient as it has been all season. Remember - Brady's generally only had 25 minutes a game to put up more points than other teams in 35 minutes. That can catch up with you in a big way against good teams like the Steelers.
The biggest offensive libability is the lack of a deep game - it allows Defenses to come up on mid and short range pass options and put more pressure on the line of scrimmage, impacting the running game and Brady's health.
The important thing to remember is that we didn't even have a legitimate deep game before Moss was traded - he didn't have one pass caught thrown over 20 yards... leading me to ponder the possibility of whether Brady's plant foot has been a problem before now.
If you've got a QB limited in his ability to throw it deep, then it makes little sense to keep a petulant Moss on your team and you might as well get something for him. But that doesn't help address the Offensive liability we now have to deal with.
It is what it is, and until the TOP and 3rd Down Defensive liabilities are addressed, the game will continue to ride on how efficient Brady can be in 25 minutes a game.
