I’m not sure that I said that myself (I hope not), but I don’t think they’ve been playing very well. Hopefully, they’ll get a solid game under them on Monday before “Rodgahs” comes to town next weekend.
I mostly agree with the way you put this. The defense hasn't been playing as well as I think it can. It seems to me that the schemes and playcalls have been generally sound, if a bit ambitious/aggressive at times. I also think that the players on the roster have more than enough ability to execute them with consistent effectiveness - they just haven't been consistent (or effective), so far.
It feels to me that there have been only a few really bad plays that have made them seem like they're worse than they are. Some of it is just sloppiness (same could be said of the pass offense) ... individual players missing an assignment on occasion, or having an uncharacteristic breakdown in fundmental technique ... rookies in the secondary drawing costly flags for being too aggressive (Crossen, Jackson).
The turnovers on offense and a couple ST breakdowns haven't helped. They're not an excuse, but a reality that recent Pats defenses haven't typically had to deal with as frequently. I mean, before KCY, when was the last time Pats' ST coverage units allowed a 90+ yard return? Seems like it's been years, but I really can't remember. And those 3 INTS that came out of the arms/hands of Gronk, Hogan and Develin. We've seen something like that happen maybe once a season in the past, if that. Three times in just seven games??
From 2014-2017, the Pats turned the ball over an average of 12.5 times for the entire season. Their worst season in the past decade was 2009, when they turned the ball over 22 times in one season (also Brady's worst INT% since 2005). The 2018 offense and ST have already turned the ball over 13 times in seven games. They're on pace for 29-30 turnovers. OTOH, they turned the ball over 28 times in 2001 and 27 times in 2004, so ...
But still, each of those turnovers have hypothetically created as much as a 14 point swing. Think about what the scores from the past 4 games could have been with one less turnover in each of them. THAT's the potential that the 2018 Pats team has - IF they can clean up just a few uncharacteristic, fundamental mistakes on both sides of the ball.
So, Monday night in Buffalo ... Is this the game where those mistakes, the sloppiness catches up with them? Or is this where we start to see what they can be when they've cleaned things up?
