i never said the pats cant get any better but if you think that giveing up 794 yerds passing in two weeks is good then i want with your smokeing, McCourty is leting WR's get inside on him i dont care if your Nnamdi Asomugha or Darrelle Revis if you let a NFL receiver get inside on you your not going to win that battle can that be fixed yes will the pats pass defense get better i think so but dont hold your breath waiting for them to go from worst to top 5
NEGATIVES from the defense:
1) The defensive line allowed 4.1 yards a carry yesterday. Not horrible, but anything over 4 yards a carry isn't exactly 'good' either.
2) They still have yet to get any kind of defensive front 4 push, and even big Haynesworth was easily manhanded. They seem to be losing one-on-one battles. I realize that 'we didn't blitz' is going to be the argument, and that the SD Chargers were in additional protection 1/2 of the time (51%), but if anyone else is happy about the front 4 push, I'd like to know why.
3) The entire defense gave up way too many yards out of RB dump-offs, as it totalled 135 yards on 15 attempts. This is on the LB's and DB's. If a team uses the same type of play 10 times, and is averaging 10 yards per play, that does not bode well.
4) On that same note, they allowed a ridiculous yards per attempt by Rivers of almost 10 yards an attempt (9.45). That is insane.
5) Rivers completed 6 passes of over 20 yards against this secondary. SIX.
6) For the second week in a row, McCourty was targeted many, many times, and failed to rise to the challenge at all. Everyone keeps talking about his strong run support, he had 2 tackles yesterday, and got repeatedly torched by Vincent Jackson.
7) In the same breath, Vincent Jackson had his BEST game ever as an NFL pro. That says alot for someone who has been the highest sought out free agent (restricted or otherwise) at his position 2 yrs in a row now. You'd have thought that an all-pro WR like Jackson has had plenty of big time games, but none as good as his 10 catch/ 172 yard/ 2 TD performance against McCourty.
8) Again..on that same note--Brandon Marshall, also one of the most established WR's in the league, just had one of his top-5 yardage outputs last week against McCourty.
9) They allowed an 83% 3rd down conversion rate, on 10/12 attempts. Since they were worst in the league last yr, that is not a stat that is going to make Belichick very happy.
10) They are continuing to come up nearly last in the league in overall defense, at a ranking of #31.
POSITIVES from the defense:
1) They have 2 goal line stands in 2 weeks now.
2) They are picking up where they left off in terms of forcing turnovers. The Wilfork and Mayo turnovers were very nice, and obviously came in key situations.
3) They were able to get pressure on Rivers when they blitzed, one play which led to a key INT, and another which led to a strip sack.
4) They are ranked 14th overall in points allowed, including one TD which came in garbage time against MIA last week.
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The overall analysis is that they won both games, although yesterday's was a lot closer than the score indicated. Thank God for Tom Brady, and a highly clicking offense. There is obvious reason to think they will improve, as they continue to gel. The conversion to a primary 4-3 will probably take some time, so as long as the offense keeps us atop of the league for the 1st half of the season, we can all hope that the defense will begin to carry the load more down the all-important stretch. There's optimism in thinking that McCourty will start to learn from his mistakes, but anyone who is saying that he has not had 2 very bad games is fooling themselves, in my opinion--and many others' across the country. Just doing a quick intenet search leads to plenty of articles from plenty of publications about his poor performances, and the numbers certainly back this up.
Enough of this "he was up against top talent" argument, as he will be up against top talent every single week. This is the NFL. He was widely believed to be our #1 CB, and there was talk of him being a shutdown CB on the same level as Revis. If we're going to use the "he was up against top tier talent" every single week, that is an obvious copout. Nothing but an excuse. He will be against the Mike Wallaces, Miles Austins, Dez Bryants, Santonio Holmes, Plaxico Burress', DeSaun Jacksons, Reggie Waynes, Brandon Marshalls, and Jeremy Maclins of the league. That's what a supposed #1 CB does.
I don't even understand for one second the argument of "he was up against good WR's the first 2 games." No sh!t...
