For the record, Lombardi was trashing the whole Patriots defense:
“And so I think at some point they have to send a message to the rest of the team. Their defense is a liability right now. I mean, they’ve made quarterbacks, whether it’s Tyrod Taylor, whether it’s Ryan Tannehill, whether it’s Landry Jones, they’ve made them look pretty good and I think Bill needed to send a message to the team that this is not going to be tolerated and I think this trade does that.”
“I mean, look, he’s [Collins] not going to play any harder for the Browns. He’s not going to do anything. He just did not play well. I watched the game tape this morning and their defense just sticks on blocks, I mean it’s not very good. They’re not playing with any physicality or emotion. And when they play against a good team, they are going to have trouble. And as good as the offense is playing, you can’t score 30 every week to win.”
“The defense hasn’t played well ever. I mean, it hasn’t played well all season. I mean, the people are like, you know, I go on these shows and talk about it, and it’s only because they’re able to outscore people. I mean, Andy Dalton was playing well against them. I mean, every quarterback, the second half of the Miami game, Tyrod Taylor, the Buffalo Bills moved the ball on them. It was just the end of the half and Brady was just too good. They have to fix the defense. They’re not going to Houston to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl with the way the defense has been playing, I can promise you that.”